Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

  1. #1

    Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

    Our cherry kitchen cabinets are almost 16 yrs old and some (primarily the base units) are a bit scratched and/or scuffed up. My plan is to sand those down to bare wood, stain and apply clear finish. I've found a stain/dye combo that matches the original color very well taking into account that the freshly sanded cherry will dark a bit over time. Since most of the uppers still look pretty good I'm going to lightly scuff sand them and shoot a coat of clear finish so that the sheen matches the lowers.
    I will take the door and drawer faces to my basement finishing room but am a bit unsure about the best approach to the fronts of the cabinet boxes. They are frameless so I'm only dealing with a 3/4" surface on most.
    I've done a lot of finishing over the years but this project is uncharted water to me. I'd appreciate any critique or suggestion to help me pull this off.

  2. Shellac or something similar after sanding/before staining so you're in better control of color, particularly since you're color matching. Everything I've read, and heard here, cautions that cherry can take stain unpredictably (haven't worked with it personally).

  3. #3
    If you are using a finish with low toxicity/ flammability you can mask the carcass elements and spray them in place with a window fan. Depending on the finish you probably can brush the parts, perhaps with an extender or flowout additive. Sounds like you have a fairly easy situation with frameless boxes

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,694
    Ken, if you intend to sand the cabinets, etc., to bare wood you need to be absolutely, unequivocally sure that they are solid wood. If you made them, then you'll know what's there. If not, be very careful as there is a lot of veneer work used in commercial cabinetry even when they are marketed as (substantially) solid wood. Sanding through a veneer on something would not make your day. Example...the front exposures of those carcases may only have a thin edge banding while the carcass is made of plywood or a composite material. If you have any doubts at all, consider using a stripper for your first step at refinishing. Also, be sure you thoroughly clean the cabinets before you even start whatever method you choose to remove the existing finish...you must get rid of any residual grease from hands and cooking. it may not be fully removed and even might be redistributed. TSP is a common product for this purpose.

    I'm not going to comment on the staining thing since I generally do not do that to cherry. While I don't prefer in general to use oil based finishes, in this case, wiping may be easier for you in the actual kitchen, so I'd consider that pretty seriously. If will look good on the cherry, too. Even without artificial coloration, you'll get to a nice darker shade in 6 mos to a year naturally. If you do want to spray and can properly mask off, waterborne is necessary for safety in the house, so you'll want to do either a coat of wax free garnet shellac or oil and wax free shellac first to warm the color before applying the waterborne finish.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  5. #5
    Thanks everyone for your comments. Jim the doors and drawer faces are cope & stick construction with flat plywood panels. I’m pretty sure that’s the only place there’s veneer is on those panels. I’m going to use Emtec 9300 polycarbonate urethane for the clear finish. Since it’s water based I should be ok with spraying.
    I took a piece of sanded cherry and an existing drawer front into my Woodcraft and they took about 25 minutes trying combinations of several dyes and came up with a match that looks very close.
    I had considered getting a touch up gun for the edges of the cabinet boxes. Anyone love or hate them?
    Thanks again for your suggestions.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
    Posts
    924
    Cherry has a wide range of colors, from a pinkish beige to moderately dark red after aging. You may see some differences as you strip the current finish from the wood.

    I was recently looking at cherry cabinets from a reputable manufacturer. I love cherry and use it for most furniture, so I was surprised to see the range of colors across each of the door panels. A little distracting for my eyes.
    Rustic? Well, no. That was not my intention!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,694
    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Krawford View Post
    ... I’m going to use Emtec 9300 polycarbonate urethane for the clear finish.


    ...I had considered getting a touch up gun for the edges of the cabinet boxes. Anyone love or hate them?
    A very large percentage of "touch up" guns have N/N that's way to small for the EM9300 or any other waterborne finish due to viscosity. Work on "dialing down" your regular gun if you can for the edges...it will burn some finish setting up and practicing, but it will be worth it. The Accuspray gun I have from Jeff Jewitt with the PPS system has been a lot more flexible for me than my old guy when I needed to use it on small thing or for detail work like a burst on a guitar body.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    WNY
    Posts
    9,648
    I think EM-9300 is brushable, but even if it's not advertised as such you can brush most WB products on small areas w/o issues, like lap marks. And you could always add a little extender to it if you do find it sets up too quickly, but I can't envision that happening on the edge banding.

    My 2 cents on removing the old finish is stripping. Sanding is the means of last resort in my finishing tool kit. Sanding removes the aging, stripping does not. Sanding causes new scratches that have to be dealt with, stripping does not.

    John

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •