Scott strips it all off in this tantalizing how-to about removing a botched polyurethane finish from a table top. Find us on FaceBook: / sanjuancarpentry
Spot on my guy. I was on my 3rd PBR scratching my 3 day old scruff in stumpedness, when I came upon your video. So I finished my pbr and started up the torch. Wife came out in her daisy dukes, and her belly was looking tight on week 3 post JR, whom she had on her hip. Anyway, me holding the torch got her hotter than a sinner in hell and we got to making sweet love on the bench I was a torching. Swear to God! Then like the heavens were giving us their blessing, she's my cherry pie came on over my garage stereo! Well long story short, all our rubba dub fucking on that bench along with the sweat nectar our bodies produced took that finish right off! Like me getting her off got it off! Swear to God, so I don't know if your torchy thing works but by God it sure got JR #2 on the way and I just wanted to say thanks!
I just want to say something... what I do in this video is dumb. The comments that call me out on that are spot on. I appreciate all of the respectful feedback - always! Some great suggestions on better techniques in the comments if you care to read through them! LIVE AND LEARN!
thanks for the video, I learned the hard way recently in the refinishing of my strat body that's on my channel that it was a tinted poly & a heatgun would have saved me ALOT of hassle to bring the body back to wood.
Another good tool for future reference. Thanks for posting.... also appreciate the comments about fumes. It is too easy to get careless. I think I'll practice on a few scraps to see how it works on water-based finishes.
Thanks for the video, I tried everything 80grit paper, acetone, commercial oil stripper, brake fluid, industrial grease remover. Nothing put a dent into it. Will try this method!
Watched this video, then went with MEK stripper, ventilation, gloves, and a razor blade perpendicular to surface for scraping. It takes several applications and a final wipedown with mineral spirits, then quick sanding to get to virgin wood, but the surface is immaculate. Looks like it will take up the stain evenly as if nothing ever happened!
Thanks for the video, but burning is unnecessary. Go find your heat gun and a SHARPENED 2" putty knife (flexible). Working in small areas about a foot square at a time to keep the poly hot will let the scraper peel that stuff straight down to bare wood like running a hand plane. After that, a quick pass with the sander will prep the surface to start over with new urethane.
how can you remove polyurethane from vinyal siding on a house I was putting on the foam but it was out dated and liquid wiped it with paper towel and made it worse I have a white/yellow now do to this stuff the polyurethane is a yellow color
do you have a motorized hand plane?.....that's what I have used in similar situations. I hate using sanders on poly because the pads clog up so darn fast
You're absolutely right about clogging up the pads. Torching the stuff first seems to make it less gooey so it doesn't clog up the sander. I have not tried using a hand plane but that's definitely a good suggestion. If you make a video about it, please respond with a link so everyone can see it! Thanks!
I did a shitty poly application to my table a few months ago and the part where my arms and hands go is peeling off. I can probably peel off half of it without doing this, but the other half is gonna need something else
I wish you would of shown if some of the polyurethane has come off, and some of the natural wood is showing, how to sand. Because I don’t want to over sand the natural wood of my table. And citrus stripper changed their formula. So after using that. Plus my orbital sander 150 im left with bare wood in some spots, a thin coat of polyurethane and stain in others. Not wanting to damage the natural wood by over sanding the table top, trying to see what I can put in the surface to eat the remaining without damaging the wood! Send help!
Really can't say, Dusten. I would suggest using just a sander at first and if it starts feeling really sticky and gooey, then break out the torch. Good luck!
You Can Build That, it does work the poly I had to remove was at least 3yrs old. During moving someone wrapped my girl's cedar chest with duct tape. Ripped off some of the finish Had same issues gumming up went through 5 belts of sandpaper. Made me search for a answer. Found your video. Burned it up a little with the torch. Still gummed up a little but nothing like before. Used 1 sanding belt. You saved me a lot of time. Thank you
Wow! I've been making furniture for 21 years and I've never seen dis-information this bad. The lack of understanding by Scott on the difference between epoxy resin and Polyurethane is proof of lack of professionalism. Lastly Scott seems to not understand that "burning" the wood also causes the wood to crystalize the sugars in the wood "technically known as Polymerization" therefore destroying the woods ability to have consistent cellular structure close to the surface for absorption of a consistent finish. This would be devastating to any wood like Cherry, Apple, Pear, or other fruitwoods. Heart pine is another that would do poorly becasue of the natural resins in the wood.
Ouch! Ha ha yeah you're right. I had no idea what I was doing there. But that's why I post, it's fun to share my blunders along side my successes. Im not so proud to present myself as some kind of master. And I openly encourage folks to correct me. I do also ask that we're all at least nice about it. There are probably a ton of videos about how to be nice that you could watch and get more out of. Seems like you've got the woodworking thing figured out. 😉
That has to be the best "nicesty" response I've read in the last decade. You should quit woodworking and get a job in PR lol. Good job. That's some grade A humility.
Agreed - he tries his best and made it clear he was “trying” to fix it. The kind gentleman, Zach, adds some useful new info... but no solution...I’m curious how the electric planer worked
Not sure what he said that would suggest he doesn't know the difference between epoxy and polyurethane... he simply stated he wanted to add more coats of poly to appear similar to epoxy I'm inferring in relation to thickness of the clear coat layer. Using the torch didn't seem like a good idea to me but thanks for the information explaining exactly why. I can see you are quite protective of wood working but claiming PROOF of lack of professionalism over such a minor statement and directing your words toward the audience instead of to Scott himself is an obvious attempt to tarnish his reputation and it comes off quite cowardly and callous. Maybe spend LESS time in your wood shop and more time practicing being an effective social creature.
Just get to the stripping, we get a minutes of BS then a commercial- Nobody wants to hear intro music or over explaining what you got there, just get to the stripping
Epoxy or Polyurethane; Scott does not seem to know which is which and, reflects on this poor technique of finish removal. Needless to say, the mindless use of a forced air heater as well.... If one is removing a poly finish from furniture, this is absolutely the worst thing one could do by using a "torch" and belt sander..... The only true way to remove polyurethane is through a chemical, solvent based stripper..... Never use a caustic base stripper either......
@@Irwhodunit, caustic soda (Lye) is a chemical reaction of heat and osmosis whereby the brine will heat react with the finish that completely breaks down whatever coating is applied to wood, plaster or masonry and, will penetrate those surfaces, base materials. With this penetration, migration into the fabric, the brine will continue to react with the cellulose in the wood, the lime and calcite's in both the masonry and plaster systems. Per record, one is supposed to clean the surfaces of the "soda" via scrapper, steel wool, or rag and, when a vapor barrier is used, "Peel-away" the barrier that now holds the stripped finishes and remnants of the soda/base stripper. One then neutralizes the "clean" surfaces with an acid solution with steel wool till all of the lye is removed. The problem is that the caustic base has penetrated into the surfaces one wishes to preserve but, it is all but impossible to remove the caustic material. You will be left with a mess that will continue to breakdown and, fail. In addition, one must use protective clothing, gloves, face shield and safety glasses. What burns the paints, varnishes-finishes will burn YOU too... In short, do not use caustic based strippers for anything.....
@@matthewhall9692, the girlfriend or the cat??? Perhaps both were not of visual appreciation. I guess that is one of the facets of skinning the cat and, dumping a relationship.....
Spot on my guy. I was on my 3rd PBR scratching my 3 day old scruff in stumpedness, when I came upon your video. So I finished my pbr and started up the torch. Wife came out in her daisy dukes, and her belly was looking tight on week 3 post JR, whom she had on her hip. Anyway, me holding the torch got her hotter than a sinner in hell and we got to making sweet love on the bench I was a torching. Swear to God! Then like the heavens were giving us their blessing, she's my cherry pie came on over my garage stereo! Well long story short, all our rubba dub fucking on that bench along with the sweat nectar our bodies produced took that finish right off! Like me getting her off got it off! Swear to God, so I don't know if your torchy thing works but by God it sure got JR #2 on the way and I just wanted to say thanks!
Reading this at 3am with 5 sheets of 4x8 plywood I gotta get the poly off of to re stain and this comment is keeping me going 😂This is great
I just want to say something... what I do in this video is dumb. The comments that call me out on that are spot on. I appreciate all of the respectful feedback - always! Some great suggestions on better techniques in the comments if you care to read through them!
LIVE AND LEARN!
No need to appologize - experimentation is fine by me. How else do we learn?
Just wanted to say top man for adding this comment! 👍 I am looking to take the clear coat of my guitar and it’s nice to see your honest comment 👍
thanks for the video, I learned the hard way recently in the refinishing of my strat body that's on my channel that it was a tinted poly & a heatgun would have saved me ALOT of hassle to bring the body back to wood.
Another good tool for future reference. Thanks for posting.... also appreciate the comments about fumes. It is too easy to get careless. I think I'll practice on a few scraps to see how it works on water-based finishes.
Thanks for the video, I tried everything 80grit paper, acetone, commercial oil stripper, brake fluid, industrial grease remover. Nothing put a dent into it. Will try this method!
Watched this video, then went with MEK stripper, ventilation, gloves, and a razor blade perpendicular to surface for scraping. It takes several applications and a final wipedown with mineral spirits, then quick sanding to get to virgin wood, but the surface is immaculate. Looks like it will take up the stain evenly as if nothing ever happened!
Thanks for the video, but burning is unnecessary. Go find your heat gun and a SHARPENED 2" putty knife (flexible). Working in small areas about a foot square at a time to keep the poly hot will let the scraper peel that stuff straight down to bare wood like running a hand plane. After that, a quick pass with the sander will prep the surface to start over with new urethane.
how would do this for finer grooves where you couldn't fit a flat knife?
@@amal-ti2zzHyde makes a decent paint scraper tool. It has a bunch of blades for getting in tight spaces
Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for this advice.
Pretty informative! Thank you, very helpful
What could possibly happen if I passed out while holding a live torch?
What if you get a burnspot on the table top while you torch it? I got one from a heat lamp I let in one spot too long. Thanks.
how can you remove polyurethane from vinyal siding on a house I was putting on the foam but it was out dated and liquid wiped it with paper towel and made it worse I have a white/yellow now do to this stuff the polyurethane is a yellow color
Great idea! I’m currently refinishing a guitar and the stripper doesn’t seem to be doing the job.
do you have a motorized hand plane?.....that's what I have used in similar situations. I hate using sanders on poly because the pads clog up so darn fast
You're absolutely right about clogging up the pads. Torching the stuff first seems to make it less gooey so it doesn't clog up the sander. I have not tried using a hand plane but that's definitely a good suggestion. If you make a video about it, please respond with a link so everyone can see it! Thanks!
+superdave0002 how far did you want to take it down?
superdave0002 i have big baseboards in my house. very old. do you think the hand planner would work easily? i might try it today
I did a shitty poly application to my table a few months ago and the part where my arms and hands go is peeling off. I can probably peel off half of it without doing this, but the other half is gonna need something else
I wish you would of shown if some of the polyurethane has come off, and some of the natural wood is showing, how to sand. Because I don’t want to over sand the natural wood of my table. And citrus stripper changed their formula. So after using that. Plus my orbital sander 150 im left with bare wood in some spots, a thin coat of polyurethane and stain in others. Not wanting to damage the natural wood by over sanding the table top, trying to see what I can put in the surface to eat the remaining without damaging the wood! Send help!
Ouch that's a lotta work
why not scrape instead of sanding?
I hate poly! I'll never use it again. Tung oil is much better
Yeah, there are several types of oil, and lots of different types of wax that give a nice finish ..butchers wax is one of my favorites ..
I may sound like an idiot but a chemical stripper wouldnt work?
Would that work on poly that is a lot older?
Really can't say, Dusten. I would suggest using just a sander at first and if it starts feeling really sticky and gooey, then break out the torch. Good luck!
You Can Build That, it does work the poly I had to remove was at least 3yrs old. During moving someone wrapped my girl's cedar chest with duct tape. Ripped off some of the finish
Had same issues gumming up went through 5 belts of sandpaper. Made me search for a answer. Found your video. Burned it up a little with the torch. Still gummed up a little but nothing like before. Used 1 sanding belt. You saved me a lot of time. Thank you
Wow! I've been making furniture for 21 years and I've never seen dis-information this bad. The lack of understanding by Scott on the difference between epoxy resin and Polyurethane is proof of lack of professionalism. Lastly Scott seems to not understand that "burning" the wood also causes the wood to crystalize the sugars in the wood "technically known as Polymerization" therefore destroying the woods ability to have consistent cellular structure close to the surface for absorption of a consistent finish. This would be devastating to any wood like Cherry, Apple, Pear, or other fruitwoods. Heart pine is another that would do poorly becasue of the natural resins in the wood.
Ouch! Ha ha yeah you're right. I had no idea what I was doing there. But that's why I post, it's fun to share my blunders along side my successes. Im not so proud to present myself as some kind of master. And I openly encourage folks to correct me. I do also ask that we're all at least nice about it. There are probably a ton of videos about how to be nice that you could watch and get more out of. Seems like you've got the woodworking thing figured out. 😉
That has to be the best "nicesty" response I've read in the last decade. You should quit woodworking and get a job in PR lol. Good job. That's some grade A humility.
Agreed - he tries his best and made it clear he was “trying” to fix it. The kind gentleman, Zach, adds some useful new info... but no solution...I’m curious how the electric planer worked
zack worrell , how would you strip poly from a table like this?
Not sure what he said that would suggest he doesn't know the difference between epoxy and polyurethane... he simply stated he wanted to add more coats of poly to appear similar to epoxy I'm inferring in relation to thickness of the clear coat layer. Using the torch didn't seem like a good idea to me but thanks for the information explaining exactly why. I can see you are quite protective of wood working but claiming PROOF of lack of professionalism over such a minor statement and directing your words toward the audience instead of to Scott himself is an obvious attempt to tarnish his reputation and it comes off quite cowardly and callous. Maybe spend LESS time in your wood shop and more time practicing being an effective social creature.
Just get to the stripping, we get a minutes of BS then a commercial- Nobody wants to hear intro music or over explaining what you got there, just get to the stripping
Tantalizing?? Nice copy.
Don’t do that
Epoxy or Polyurethane; Scott does not seem to know which is which and, reflects on this poor technique of finish removal. Needless to say, the mindless use of a forced air heater as well.... If one is removing a poly finish from furniture, this is absolutely the worst thing one could do by using a "torch" and belt sander..... The only true way to remove polyurethane is through a chemical, solvent based stripper..... Never use a caustic base stripper either......
Stephen Brown, good comments. Why not use a caustic based stripper? I've got nearly a gallon out in the garage, but the CAUTIONS scare me.
O no you are wrong about one thing. There are definitely worse ways. My neighbor used Goof-Off and his girlfriend's cat... wasn't pretty.
@@Irwhodunit, caustic soda (Lye) is a chemical reaction of heat and osmosis whereby the brine will heat react with the finish that completely breaks down whatever coating is applied to wood, plaster or masonry and, will penetrate those surfaces, base materials. With this penetration, migration into the fabric, the brine will continue to react with the cellulose in the wood, the lime and calcite's in both the masonry and plaster systems. Per record, one is supposed to clean the surfaces of the "soda" via scrapper, steel wool, or rag and, when a vapor barrier is used, "Peel-away" the barrier that now holds the stripped finishes and remnants of the soda/base stripper. One then neutralizes the "clean" surfaces with an acid solution with steel wool till all of the lye is removed. The problem is that the caustic base has penetrated into the surfaces one wishes to preserve but, it is all but impossible to remove the caustic material. You will be left with a mess that will continue to breakdown and, fail. In addition, one must use protective clothing, gloves, face shield and safety glasses. What burns the paints, varnishes-finishes will burn YOU too... In short, do not use caustic based strippers for anything.....
@@matthewhall9692, the girlfriend or the cat??? Perhaps both were not of visual appreciation. I guess that is one of the facets of skinning the cat and, dumping a relationship.....
Too much talking