Restoring a varnished oak kitchen/dining table

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cambournepete

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A friend of mine has a varnished Oak kitchen/dining table which is several years old. The base is still fine, but on the top the (clear, matt) varnish is now very tired - almost non-existent in places and with some rings.

They are wondering how best to restore the top to stand up to heat, damp, useage and 2 young children.

Obviously there'll be lots of sanding first but what next?

At first I thought of oil and wax, but given the legs are fine and don't need doing the top probably wouldn't match the legs. So I'm now thinking varnish - is this sensible and does anyone have any recommendations for durability?

TIA
 
I don't personally recommend varnish for table tops with such a high usage as this. The varnish forms a barrier that can be broken (such as scratches and knocks) that will then allow water in.
I too have been looking for a suitable finish for table tops recently and have settled on Patina (from Screwfix).
There's been recent discussion about this in the Finishing section - have a look there.
My Patina'd coffee table gets used for everything including a 3 year old doing drawings on it etc, and it's holding up really well.

A
 
cambournepete
I will second Aragons suggestion, I have used patina on some internal doors as well as a couple of small tables, all of which stand up to drawing, painting, hot drinks and two carefree girls

Bean
 
My friends have now sanded the varnish off their kitchen table and finished it with 5 coats of Patina and are very happy with it. It looks great, water wipes off easily and another of their friends thought that they had bought a new table.

Looks like our pine cheapo from Ikea will get the same treatment one day...
(Yes, I know I should have built it myself, but £99 for table and 4 chairs ain't bad!)
 
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