Kitchen furniture with 1mm veneer- sanding tips

charley1968

charley1968

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Hi all!
Our kitchen needs a facelift. Due to my Festool-addiction i can't afford to buy new doors for the cupboards.
So. I've decided to try to fix it myself.
Mission: sanding down kitchen doors made of MDF with approx. 1mm  beech veneer. Probably staining them. Certainly giving them an oil finish.
My questions: 1. Feasible? I was planning on using the ETS150/3 with Brilliant 2 180 grid for 'cleaning up'( remove grit etc.), then 240+ 320 for a nice surface. Nay or yeah?
2. Is it better to use the soft slipdisc as not to go through the veneer which might be a bit 'wavy' after 20plus years?
3. What stain( brand) could you recommend? I'm furthermore planning to oil the doors with Heavy Duty Oil of our favorite tool-producer. Good idea or not so clever?
Thank you very much to anyone who's willing to give his/her 2 cent.
 
If the cabinets  were stained already you will probably have trouble sanding it completely out without going through the veneer.

Seth
 
Do the doors have the same or similar thickness veneer on the back side?  That would be a good place to practice. 

Do you already own the ETS150/3?

And I think Granat will be a better type for removing the finish.

Seth
 
Good thinking, Seth. I'm not sure about the veneers thickness on the backside, but i'll give it a try. If anything, it ought to be thinner there, right? And i think i' ll follow your recommendation on the Granat as i stripped a tabletop with Rubin which wasn't so effective. Thanks, Seth.
P.S. Yup. I have the sander. But i got a little Makita as well , with about 2mm orbit. But it got about half the surface area of the ETS. That's why i thought i'd use the ETS. Different opinion?
 
No, if you have the 150/3 I'd use that.

Seth
 
charley1968 said:
My questions: 1. Feasible? I was planning on using the ETS150/3 with Brilliant 2 180 grid for 'cleaning up'( remove grit etc.), then 240+ 320 for a nice surface. Nay or yeah?
Click to expand...
I would use a chemical stripper and clean up with the sander.

charley1968 said:
2. Is it better to use the soft slipdisc as not to go through the veneer which might be a bit 'wavy' after 20plus years?
Click to expand...
If it's wavy all the more reason to chemically strip. Test before you do all the doors to make sure the stripper doesn't react with the adhesion of the veneer to the slab.

charley1968 said:
3. What stain( brand) could you recommend? I'm furthermore planning to oil the doors with Heavy Duty Oil of our favorite tool-producer. Good idea or not so clever?
Click to expand...
If you must stain beach, (i like it clear coated) I would use a good gel stain vs a dye as it will cover any areas in the beach that retain the previous finish. The old finish will act more like a sealer in the areas where it has penetrated the wood fibers deeper than others and you might get a mottled blotchy look using a dye stain. The gel stain will go on more evenly, but make sure you test on the back of the doors before you go all in.
Good luck.
Tim
 
Thanks again, Tim. I have to read up on gel-stains and dyes, but the tip about the gel-stain is appreciated.
Normally, one uses PVA ( normal wood glue) to fasten veneer on MDF, so i'm not sure i dare using solvents on the doors. But have to read up on that as well. The idea certainly has its merits in regard to materiel thickness.
Tack, Tim!
 
charley1968 said:
Thanks again, Tim. I have to read up on gel-stains and dyes, but the tip about the gel-stain is appreciated.
Normally, one uses PVA ( normal wood glue) to fasten veneer on MDF, so i'm not sure i dare using solvents on the doors. But have to read up on that as well. The idea certainly has its merits in regard to materiel thickness.
Tack, Tim!
Click to expand...

Soya based strippers should not react with pva glue.
 
Is it possible that only the front face of the doors are venneered and the backside has some plastic beech veneer?
 
charley1968 said:
Is it possible that only the front face of the doors are venneered and the backside has some plastic beech veneer?
Click to expand...

Anything is possible. My bad, for assuming the backs were veneered with the same material as the front.
Test it.
Tim
 
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