Unwarp wooden desk top?

[patonb]

Through a hardwood vaneer on it.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

IMO, strip it down, if you can leave an indent with your fingernail very easily, then use some minwax wood hardener, follow them directions, then stain or seal the wood how ever you want. I plan on doing that this spring to my table that is in the closet because of how soft the wood on it really is.

Or you can throw a vaneer on it, you get millions of options that way, and can easily do the edges to match, didn't think of that till I made my post and saw what paton said. Though vaneer will cost more, depending on the kind you get, it can be faster than stripping, hardening, and finishing again.

 

[Jayce]

I suppose vaneer would be an option too. I have no idea what to expect to pay though. I have some decent sized tables to do. One of the table tops is about 8x2 ft, the other is 6x3 ft, and my actual desk is in the area of 32"x65". Each of them have a 2 inch side at the top (I think a picture might help when I get home, assuming I have internet activated there tonight).

Vaneer would at least ensure uniformity. If I go that route would I have to strip it down or could I just go to town with them as-is?

About the original option with wood hardener, would I have to strip the paint off?

Wood hardener > Paint > Polycrylic?

EDIT - Nobody sells "veneer" in larger rolls, only small 2 inch strips for facing and whatnot. Someone else suggested I look into Formica, which is what is used on kitchen counters. They noted it as being extremely hard and should do the job I'm after. I think we're going to look into this a little more...

EDIT II - http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/video/0,,1639675,00.html

Looks easy enough, and looks like it would be up my alley for what I want to do. Only thing is, it could ultimately get kind of pricey. a 36x96 sheet of black Formica is 41 bucks, and 30x90 is 37. That could cover my desk and I'm sure the extra I wouldn't use could be used on the sides. My two tables, however, of course have the top as well as a bottom shelf. I'd like to keep everything the same, so I wonder if I should end up doing the bottoms as well. That essentially means I would need 2x as much for the two tables.

So you figure:

Table 1 - Top + Bottom = 37x2
Table 2 - Top + Bottom = 37x2
Desk - Only Top Needed = 41x1
Comes out to 189 just to top off these desks...

This actually makes me think if I should just build new ones down the road (therefore not care if they get marked up for now) and just Formica the main desk.

 

[patonb]

I've seen, on some diy, they used a 2 part epoxy spread over the surface.

I'd assume you'd just have to sand and go.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I would use wood hardener > stain > poly, or just the hardener and that minwax 2 in 1 stuff, I loved the results of the 2 in 1 on my table, I just didn't use a hardener.

In the end, it's what ever you wanna spend money on, I have never heard of or worked with formica.

 

[Jayce]

I would use wood hardener > stain > poly, or just the hardener and that minwax 2 in 1 stuff, I loved the results of the 2 in 1 on my table, I just didn't use a hardener.

In the end, it's what ever you wanna spend money on, I have never heard of or worked with formica.

Formica is just a brand, similar to Wilsonart, etc. It's just a hard kitchen countertop laminate that allows people to rather easily change their countertops without ripping everything out.

I'm going to look more into the wood hardener... Nonetheless, that formica is something I'll have to keep in mind. It may serve nicely for certain purposes. The fact they were making a drying table for laundry alone is an idea I may actually run with...

About wood hardener, is this what you were referring to?

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...zVoice-_-RLP-_-100649619-_-x&locStoreNum=4131

It looks like there's really no competition on it. I can't find any similar products, only this one in a 16oz and 1 gallon size. I wonder how exactly it... works?? Not to mention, it's meant for rotten wood, etc. I wonder how it would do in terms of helping my case out. I'm not sure it'll be a home run because even if I harden the wood, the finish I would put on would still mark with rubber feet on towers being slid across, etc. I think I'm going to do the formica regardless, but only on my main desk and future table builds.

 

[Jayce]

Another fun idea... there's a tub of this clear epoxy grease stuff available at Lowes for 22 bucks. He said it's the equivalent of putting a hundred coats of polyurethane down. He said it's the same stuff you see in bars where there's a clear counter but there's newspapers underneath that you can read.

At any rate, that sounds like a crazy awesome idea for a permanent picture frame! I'm already brewing up some ideas with that, but at 22 bucks it's still pricey (and it would be hard to control with a desk top) to top everything off.

I'm also toying with just doing the top level and painting the bottom levels black. After all, the top is where the bulk of my work will be done. The bottom shelves are just to house my tower, printer, stereo, etc. It won't be as high traffic, I suppose. I was disappointed though as Lowes didn't carry that stuff in stock when I went by... I suppose I'll have to order it??

EDIT - Some users on the Ubuntu Forums are suggesting to me that a polyurethane varnish would have done the trick, citing that oil based stuff (especially a second coat) will harden much nicer than water based stuff. I think I'm going to have some heavy sanding in my future... Glad I impulse-bought a stack of 60 grit sandpaper (just in case)!

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I would just use stripper to get the old off. There are several tutorials on diynetwork.com on how to use the epoxy table top coating, the stuff is REALLY nice, but can become messy. Also, a finish usually takes 1-4 weeks it self to harden fully, it may be dry, but it takes awhile to actually become HARD. I think if you go with the epoxy route, putting copies of family photos and such in it would be a rather interesting thing, some people do leafs, some people do coins that have no value, it's really up to you in the end.

Also, I was looking at the min-wax brand, but the stuff you linked seems like the same stuff, but I am not 100% sure, I know the min-wax stuff is made to soak into the wood and stiffen it up, then allow stains and sealers to go straight on with no issues. And yea, that epoxy coating is just like having a few hundred coats of poly down, a lot of it is also heat/scratch resistant.

 

[Jayce]

Well I ended up getting some oil based enamel and some regular oil based poly urethane. The more I read the more I realized that should be a solid combo. I'm going to do it to a test piece of wood tomorrow to see how it goes before I commit and do the entire table tops.

What do you guys think? Good idea? I'm assuming I can poly urethane over paint... Label says just be wary of lead paint with how much exposure you get...

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Why poly over paint? Why not clear coat?