Refinishing an old water bed frame

[woodmats]

I am converting a 40 year old 4-post pine water bed frame to a regular bed frame and discarding the piedestal carrying the mattress. The surface is a litle tired and dull and needs a touch-up but the base finish is in good shape on the head/foot boards and the 2 head posts and I would like just refinish/topcoat them without stripping them down to the wood. The question is how best to do that? I'm not sure what the manufacturer used as a topcoat but you can almost make a scratch down to the wood with your nail. The side rails and the foot posts are oxidized and the coating comes off easily with 100 grit sandpaper so they get refinished completely. Luckily, Brown Mahogony Transtint Dye matches the original finish perfectly.

For the pieces that don't get a total refinish, I was thinking using the following steps:

• Clean them with soap and water
  
• Scuff the surface with 320 grit sand paper
  
• Apply, at least, 2 coats of wax-free shellac
  
• Finish with GF High Performance gloss.
  

Is this a reasonable process?

Mats

[KC]

I am converting a 40 year old 4-post pine water bed frame to a regular bed frame and discarding the piedestal carrying the mattress. The surface is a litle tired and dull and needs a touch-up but the base finish is in good shape on the head/foot boards and the 2 head posts and I would like just refinish/topcoat them without stripping them down to the wood. The question is how best to do that? I'm not sure what the manufacturer used as a topcoat but you can almost make a scratch down to the wood with your nail. The side rails and the foot posts are oxidized and the coating comes off easily with 100 grit sandpaper so they get refinished completely. Luckily, Brown Mahogony Transtint Dye matches the original finish perfectly.

For the pieces that don't get a total refinish, I was thinking using the following steps:

• Clean them with soap and water
  
• Scuff the surface with 320 grit sand paper
  
• Apply, at least, 2 coats of wax-free shellac
  
• Finish with GF High Performance gloss.
  

Is this a reasonable process?

Mats

Why discard the platform?

[woodmats]

Why discard the platform?

We decided that we would prefer the clean look of just the 4-post bedframe without the hard to reach bank of drawers that served as the platform. The platform as well  as the corner brackets that held the rails to the posts were getting reallty loose so it was time to do something. The rails are now held with loose tenons and a bolts to hidden cross dowel nuts.

Mats

[jteneyck]

I am converting a 40 year old 4-post pine water bed frame to a regular bed frame and discarding the piedestal carrying the mattress. The surface is a litle tired and dull and needs a touch-up but the base finish is in good shape on the head/foot boards and the 2 head posts and I would like just refinish/topcoat them without stripping them down to the wood. The question is how best to do that? I'm not sure what the manufacturer used as a topcoat but you can almost make a scratch down to the wood with your nail. The side rails and the foot posts are oxidized and the coating comes off easily with 100 grit sandpaper so they get refinished completely. Luckily, Brown Mahogony Transtint Dye matches the original finish perfectly.

For the pieces that don't get a total refinish, I was thinking using the following steps:

• Clean them with soap and water
  
• Scuff the surface with 320 grit sand paper
  
• Apply, at least, 2 coats of wax-free shellac
  
• Finish with GF High Performance gloss.
  

Is this a reasonable process?

Mats

Sounds like a good plan to me.  One coat of shellac should be plenty, though.  I would test it somewhere inconspicuous first to make sure it doesn't lift the original finish, especially if you plan to brush/wipe it on.  

I think what you're noticing with your fingernail easily denting it is the soft pine underneath.  It doesn't matter how hard the finish is if the wood underneath is soft.  And trying to build up a hard finish on a soft substrate just increases the chance of chipping, so avoid doing that.  

John

[woodmats]

Sounds like a good plan to me.  One coat of shellac should be plenty, though.  I would test it somewhere inconspicuous first to make sure it doesn't lift the original finish, especially if you plan to brush/wipe it on.  

I think what you're noticing with your fingernail easily denting it is the soft pine underneath.  It doesn't matter how hard the finish is if the wood underneath is soft.  And trying to build up a hard finish on a soft substrate just increases the chance of chipping, so avoid doing that.  

John

Thanks John! I tried the shellac and it seemed to work fine, the surface really improved a lot. I will stop at one coat as you suggested. 

I think you are right with the softness of the pine. In resurfacing the rails and the foot cornes posts down to bare wood, I was amazed how soft this pine is. 

On a side note, I want to thank you for sharing the plans for your horizontal mortiser! I built it a couple of months ago (which was a snap) to help routing handles in 6 cutting board  Christmas presents. I used a 3/4" round nosed router bit to route a 5/8" deep groove in each short end and the horizontal mortiser worked great! I loved the ease of operation and the control of the process! I mentioned that for the bed rails, I fasten them to the posts with 2 each 1.25" wide loose tenons and was thinking about usong the horizontal mortiser for the rails but decited that maneuvering the heavy rails required too much setup. I think it would have worked fine.

Mats

[jteneyck]

Thanks John! I tried the shellac and it seemed to work fine, the surface really improved a lot. I will stop at one coat as you suggested. 

I think you are right with the softness of the pine. In resurfacing the rails and the foot cornes posts down to bare wood, I was amazed how soft this pine is. 

On a side note, I want to thank you for sharing the plans for your horizontal mortiser! I built it a couple of months ago (which was a snap) to help routing handles in 6 cutting board  Christmas presents. I used a 3/4" round nosed router bit to route a 5/8" deep groove in each short end and the horizontal mortiser worked great! I loved the ease of operation and the control of the process! I mentioned that for the bed rails, I fasten them to the posts with 2 each 1.25" wide loose tenons and was thinking about usong the horizontal mortiser for the rails but decited that maneuvering the heavy rails required too much setup. I think it would have worked fine.

Mats

Glad the shellac is working well.  And thanks for the kind words about the mortiser.  I'm happy to hear you were able to build it w/o any problems.  As you have found, it is such a simple yet effective and safe machine for making mortises, and much more, and does away with the shortcomings of cutting mortise and tenon joints most any other way.  Enjoy.

John