Table top time

I have put in a lot of hours the last few days out in the sunshine.  I forgot the sunscreen and now I am officially a red-neck.  ;)

Here is last where we saw This table.  I have been working on surface prep still getting ready for stain.  

I taped off the painted area around the top so when I sand, I don't risk slipping and destroying the clean paint.  See the color on the lip? It all needs to come off and the top needs to be stepped up to being smooth.  

Here are the different grits of sanding disks I am using.  60 to get through the tough varnish down to the bare wood, then going over the table with 80, 120, and finally 220 to get a smooth texture. 

The little lip around the table is especially tricky.  I have to get every speck of poly off the table or it won't properly stain the wood.  The stain we have chosen is a beautiful cherry color.  When staining,  you don't have to get all the previous stain off the table if you are going darker, only if you are going lighter.  It's much like hair dye,  if I went to red or brown it would go quicker on my hair but if a brunette went to blonde,  it takes more work. 

I am just about to stain the top.  I thought I was going to be ready yesterday but as I checked it over and over I still see some stubborn spots on the lip of the table that  are not giving up the poly.  Probably today I can get the first coat on and then another light 220 sanding tomorrow and a second coat.  Then I will go back and check for paint touch ups on all and fix if needed.  After clear coat all the chairs and the table.  

 Here are the chairs now.  All are a uniform and sweet light mint color,  just like the table base.  

If you remember before we had one not uniform in color to the rest.  Now they all look like a perfectly matched set.   Have a great day and I hope to see you soon.  

Love, Lori