Processing reclaimed oak

[Packard]

When I re-faced my kitchen cabinets, I kept the 1990s era honey oak cabinet doors. 

I don’t know what type of clear coat they put on these, but they have been a chore to get back to bare wood.

My process was, using a random orbital sander, to first hit the boards with 80 grit, then 150 grit and finally 220 grit.  Slow going.

Contrary to my way of thinking, starting with 150 grit worked much faster.

Does that make any sense to anyone?

In any case the boards are taking stain nicely, and I am happy with the result.

Just on a lark, I also tried starting with 220 grit.  That was the slowest method. 

I’m about half way done.  Just curious about the sequence of the grits.

 

[squall_line]

My best guess is that since they were already sanded up to 120-150 before finishing, the 80 was just skipping over the top of the finish rather than intuitively "digging in" to the finish.  The 150 was closer to the extant surface finish, allowing the paper to do the work more efficiently.

With paint, the low grit paper is both cutting into and tearing away small chunks of paint while it moves, making removal quicker.  With a stain or thin top coat finish, you don't get the same effect as with paint, so a higher starting grit may be necessary.

At least, that's how it goes in my head.

 

[Packard]

Thanks for the reply.

I did not have a plan for these door panels when I put them in a pile in the corner of my shop. 

I am spending as much time removing the old finish and re-finishing as I am doing the fabrication. 

Your reasoning seems to make sense.  I do recall renting a floor sander which was made of four random orbital sanders set in the four corners.  The idiots’ floor sander.  It cut slowly, but with little risk to the condition of the substrate.  No edge sander needed.

But the instructions said to start out using a fine grit, then to switch to a coarse grit, and final sanding with the fine grit.

I was guessing back then that the fine grit was to cut through the finish, the course to smooth out the wood, and the final sanding to smooth out everything else.

The unit I used weighed a ton, and worked well.  I see that the new ones are very light.  I do wonder if the light weight sanders will work as well.