Refinishing Wooden Mates

rossv1

Well, after a bit of trying to decide whether I could hold off for a few months until I got settled where I'd have space for a table or if I should just go ahead and get a set of wooden egg mates, I decided on the egg mates were best for my current situation. It was too hard trying balance everything while using the egg. I could just not use it as much but, screw that. Lol

As I was searching I saw where a member had refinished his mates by sanding, staining, then using a few coats of urethane to seal them up. The pics he posted of his finished product were part of what sold me on going ahead with the mates. 

So now I ask for opinions from ya'll. If you had a brand new set of mates, would you worry about refinishing them from the start? Mine are cedar (I think) and the ones pictures are cypress. Not sure if BGE changed what type of wood they used but man are the ones pictured beautiful! I'd plan on doing the handle as well so everything matched. 

Im debating if I could get away with just sanding and sealing with urethane or if I need to stain them also. I'm not sure if the handle is also cedar, I'd want the color of the wood to all match. I'm thinking if I stain them all that would help them to look the same? Haven't done anything like this before so I'm hoping some of ya'll have or can offer some insight.  

And of course, thanks to @sparky for the pics of his awesome looking mates!

Sookie

Well, we didn't treat our original ones, and they went bad pretty quickly (about 3 years anyway).  Fortunately I just took one into my boss and told him "hey make me 8 of these this weekend please" and he did.  So super treating them is not so much a priority to us in that we can get more easily, but I probably would have done it better had I known the short life span of them. 

WeberWho

I bought some sad looking mates off Craigslist that were sun faded and dirty. I sanded the mates down, spray painted them, and put on a couple coats of polyurethane on them.  I figure camo will help hide any dirt and grime.  

Toxarch

Different wood will take a stain differently. So they might not be a perfect match after it's done, but you might be lucky and get them close using the same stain.

Even on a new set, if you want them to last, you will want to use a marine spar urethane on them. Put about 5 coats on them if you want them to look like that picture. That will give the finish you want and make them water and UV resistant so they look the same for a long time.

rossv1

^
That's what I'm hoping is that if I stain them I'll have more likelihood of them all matching. But then again I still haven't been able to find out what type of wood was used for the handle so I may get lucky and it be cedar also. I stopped by Ace yesterday to look at the colors and "natural" and "golden pecan" seemed to look pretty nice.

When I go to sand, I'm planning on using about a 250 grit throughout the entire process. Does that sound like that should be fine or do I need to bump up to a higher grit when sanding the urethane? Or should I maybe even start out at a higher grit than 250 then move up?

DoubleEgger

I sanded, stained and poly'ed mine before they were ever used. Replaced the existing hardware with brass screws.  

pgprescott

The true beauty of wood is the variances within the species itself. Uniform or not they will look great as demonstrated here. 

rossv1

Shpuld I put the urethane on while they're laying flat or should I hang them up? I'm thinking if I hang them it'll be easier to get all of the sides and the bottom coated. 

DoubleEgger

rossv1 said:

Shpuld I put the urethane on while they're laying flat or should I hang them up? I'm thinking if I hang them it'll be easier to get all of the sides and the bottom coated. 

I hung mine and hit them with some spray spar urethane. Several coats letting dry between each. 

rossv1

@DoubleEgger, did you have an actual spray gun or did it come in a can like spay paint?

The thing I'm worried about if I apply the urethane while they're hanging is that I may get runs in the coat which I definitely don't want. 

DoubleEgger

I used this. Light coats...wide sweeping motion....

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Minwax-11-5-oz-Satin-Helmsman-Indoor-Outdoor-Spar-Urethane-Aerosol-Spray-33255/100376144

Toxarch

250 grit will be fine. I used 220 when I did my table. You don't want to put it on thick enough to get runs. Multiple thin coats is best. If you get a run, sand off the run with your 250, give the whole thing a light sanding and add another coat. And ALWAYS sand with the grain or you will see it through the urethane coats. I will say that I get a MUCH nicer finish on stuff I laid flat vs stuff that is vertical. Might be because I put the coats on a little thicker when they were flat. Spray is fine, but I would still brush it flat after spraying.
Use something with a UV inhibitor if it's not going to be covered and you want it to last.

rossv1

The biggest question I have is if I lay them flat, how in the world do I do put the urethane on the bottoms? I obviously can't hold it while it's wet so would I need to do the tops and sides, let it dry, then do the bottom? But then if I do it in the tops and bottoms in 2 stages would there be a seam and if so could it just be sanded out, if that makes sense? Now it gets me thinking if it's actually even necessary to seal the bottoms or just doing the tops and sides will be sufficient.

Maybe I'm overthinking this way too much. lol

Ragtop99

I put three coats of a marine urethane on mine when they were new.  They looked really nice.  After a couple years they don't look great from dirt, spills, or the occasional hot item.  I did them by laying them flat on dowel rods to raise them off the surface and flipped them over to do the bottoms.  If you do the bottom coats first, you can sand off any runs on the side, then do the tops.

I might paint them black next time so the dirt doesn't show.  I'll look for something like an epoxy type paint that produces a hard shell.

Toxarch

Seal the bottom. When that is done, flip them over and do the top and sides.

Chubbs

+1 bottom first