Any wood specialists here? (staining)

Guys I have a wood question. I just purchased 3 units book case that looks similar to a dresser on bottom and book shelves on top part. Well any way it is real wood and is already stained in light color. So I do not have to sand the entire shelf down to original wood; can I use light sandpaper just to take clear coat off and stain in in darker cherry wood type finish?

If so what sandpaper to use and what stain? I was thinking maybe 800 grit or is that too little? Probly water based stain with finish in one ?

Thank you.

 

In order for the new stain to penetrate the wood the clear coat needs to be removed.

 

Thats what I figured. What grit sandpaper should I use? I also found this product, maybe I could just use this ? Klean-Strip 1 qt. Easy Liquid Sander - QWN285 at The Home Depot

 

Once the polyurethane is removed you can stain any color that is darker than what you have. The minwax water basd stain and poly in one is a great product but not as durable as oil based.

 

Yup the stripper works well too but stinks...80 grit sandpaper is fine just remaove all of it to get an even finish.

 

Thanks guys. Now about the stain, do I use all in one stain and poly that is oil based or do I use gel based stain and then separate poly ? I have been reading online and if I understand correctly that oil wont bond as well if at all to an existing stain finish, even once polyurethane is taken off. Gel will bond however; is this correct ?

 

If you want to do it the "right" way, you will need to mechanically and/or chemically strip the finish to bare wood. Many finishes are incompatible and if you do not know what the original finish is then you can get very bad results attempting to apply one finish over another.

 

If you are really interested then you should read this book:

Amazon.com: UNDERSTANDING WOOD FINISHING by BOB FLEXNER: Home Improvement

 

Ok, I have done some reading and am backtracking on my previous response.

It sounds like you should be able to scuff sand your current finish and apply whatever finish you desire over the old.

My suggestion would be to scuff sand and apply a coat of dewaxed shellac followed by a quality gel stain then an oil based wiping varnish to top it off...

 

I would use 100 grit. If you are going for a darker stain, then you won't have to sand the old stain off, just the clear coat. When I did my stand, I used a stain with polyurethane and it turned out great.