Restoring maple kitchen

[ben5575]

I have a house with a hand built maple kitchen in it. It apparently had a wax finish to applied when new but this has obviously deteriorated over many years and has stained etc. Wood is back on trend so I would like to restore it.

I appreciate this will take elbow grease, but is it a case of white spirit to remove the wax then a sand with different grades of sandpaper?

What type of finish would work in a kitchen to leave a durable, natural looking finish? A varnish? Any recommendations please?

[allegro]

Osmo oil with the white tint is you best bet for a finish that is hard wearing and doesn't add too much colour. Getting grubby maple back to a natural finish could be a ball buster though. pics would help

[Aluminati]

Turps to clean then fine grade wet/dry.

[loughran]

Cn you post a picture of the kitchen or perhaps just a door. Do you think the kitchen is solid maple or is it veneered ?

[ben5575]

It's solid rather than veneered, with pine carcasses. At least I think it's maple





Inside

[loughran]

Yep, it certainly looks like solid maple. You could start by taking one door or panel from somewhere that isn't on full view and experimenting before tackling the whole kitchen.

Sugar soap would be a good start, with 3m Scotchbrite pads just to give it a good clean and see where you're at.

Have you ever considered a painted kitchen ?

[Mr_J]

That's crying out for some nice handles as part of the refurb.

[Lotobear]

Superfine steel wool and meths will gently strip it, then wipe down with white spirit.

PS: looks more like poplar/tulipwood

[ben5575]

loughran said:

Yep, it certainly looks like solid maple. You could start by taking one door or panel from somewhere that isn't on full view and experimenting before tackling the whole kitchen.

Sugar soap would be a good start, with 3m Scotchbrite pads just to give it a good clean and see where you're at.

Have you ever considered a painted kitchen ?

Ask me in three hours time! I would paint it but to do a proper job means stripping it down which is easy on a normal kitchen not so much on one that's been built.

Yeah I'll give that a go, then the turps/white spirit/sand.

Osmo for the varnish is a good shout. I've used it well on floors and panelling previously.

And yes to new handles!

[wolfracesonic]

Have a look at Bahco scrapers, it’s amazing what they can remove.

[Simpo Two]

It's a huge job; getting into those 'shaker style' corners will be nigh on impossible so you might end up a bit two-tone.

Get vast quantities of good quality sandpaper down to 400 grit, a 1/3 sheet sander and a large tub of elbow grease! Applying the finish will be the easy bit.



Mad idea - how about turning the doors round to get a fresh face for no work?

[ben5575]

Not a mad idea at all. I was thinking just that as the reality of it is sinking in. I'd just have to fill some small screw holes where the latches have been fixed. I'd still need to sand down the frame, but that's a lot smaller area!

[Simpo Two]

ben5575 said:

I'd just have to fill some small screw holes where the latches have been fixed.

You could make little plugs from similar coloured wood, tap them in then chisel flush.

[ben5575]

wolfracesonic said:

Have a look at Bahco scrapers, it’s amazing what they can remove.

This. This right here was the answer. What an amazing thing these are!! Heading off to the Tools you'd wished you'd bought sooner thread!

[wolfracesonic]

Awesome aren’t they, I used one to shift a bazillion layers of paint off some old church pews, scrape scrape scrape= bare timber!

[Lotobear]

In days gone by you would make your own cabinet scraper by cutting a rectangular section from an old saw blade (the proper old high carbon steel saws) - they would last a lifetime and could simply be sharpened by dragging the edge, perpendicular, across an oil stone.

I still have couple (from Mrs Lotos cabinet maker grandfather) and they are superb for stripping doors, table tops etc. I guess the Bahco tools are a development of that idea

[Simpo Two]

Lotobear said:

In days gone by you would make your own cabinet scraper by cutting a rectangular section from an old saw blade (the proper old high carbon steel saws) - they would last a lifetime and could simply be sharpened by dragging the edge, perpendicular, across an oil stone.

They could be sharpened - well, the burred edge restored because that's what does the scraping - in a vice using a steel rod.