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So I never loved the different and slightly orange tones in our kitchen bench top, truth be told I would have a stone or laminate over timer but hubby made this. So after installing our new grey and black kitchen I got him to sand it back, and then had a complete brain snap and bought a chocolate walnut stain. I’m too embarrassed to even post the photos but will to give perspective. I have just spent 5 hours cleaning the dust from the sanding and now know that it will all have to be sanded and stripped again. I am going to post the before and after pictures so you can see what it was. You will also see how it tied in with the table and chairs and the other 2 benchtops in the kitchen. My biggest concern is the dust from the sanding, and I have phoned a few hire companies but they don’t have bagged sanders except floor ones. The bench top cannot be removed and taken outside. My wish is to get rid of the 70s mahogany look and have 1 shade or tone which I guess will be hard as it’s made up of different Timbers. Then have a NON
shiny finish.
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Celticgyosies. It's marvellous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about restoring a benchtop.
I'm so sorry to hear that your plans did not work out. You will need to sand the coating back in order to change the colouring. You'll find that most handheld sanders come with a dust collector that should limit the amount of dust escaping into the kitchen. You can keep a secondary vacuum ready for any dust that escapes being captured by the tool's collector. I'd recommend something along the lines of a Ryobi 300W Random Orbital Sander or Ryobi 280W 1 / 3 Sheet Sander. Both come with dust collector units.
I think the issue you're going to have and why you've likely ended up in this predicament, is that you're looking for one shade or tone on the bench. You can't make the darker timber lighter, so the only option is to make the lighter timber darker. To get one uniform colour you need to stain the lighter timber to the darkest colour present. The darkest colour present is almost the same as the Mahogany stain you've used. So, if you'd stained in a lighter shade to the Mohogany, you wouldn't have ended up with one solid colour. Of course with the redo you could choose a darker colour that doesn't mimic the "70s mahogany look".
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Just to add to the fantastic suggestions @MitchellMc has made, I recommend creating a sealed area with drop sheets. It's just like creating your own painting booth, attach the drop sheets to your ceiling with masking tape to isolate the section you are going to be sanding in. Put drop sheets on the cabinetry so that dust does not enter or settle on the doors. The only thing that is supposed to be exposed is the benchtop.
One of the best investments you can make is to have a shop vac. They can be attached to almost any tool and will prevent the spread of dust in your work area. Make sure to add your sawdust to your compost pile rather than throwing it in the bin.
Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing the new finish of your benchtop.
Eric
