Restoring dark Ercol table to natural wood

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Hello,

Indeed, the table top is solid. The close up photo does not show the same stripe along the edge of the first photo, which had alarm bells ringing!
A Random orbit sander would be your best friend to get the look of the restoration you have posted, if this is the way you want to go.

Mike.
 
I stripped a vintage Oak refectory table a few years back, the brown stain was so deep in the grain nothing could lift it out.
 
I stripped and refinished one of these for a customer about 20 years ago, the top was solid.

But the wood had been stained first so and as I was refinishing to the original colour it did not matter, but I think you will struggle to get stain out of the grain and back to a natural elm colour.

I think that the elm was not that good any way being fairly variable in colour as well, I guess Ercol will have kept the better colour tops for the natural tables and stained the ones which did not look as good.
 
Thank you for all the advice everyone. I don't mind some of the original stain remaining post sanding, or some colour variability. Looks like lidl are selling random orbital sanders this week, so I plan to sand the top with one of those and then paint the legs. I will post pictures when I am done, in case it is of use to anyone else..
 

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