I have a coffee table made of particle/presed wood that has raised worped places in it from water. Can I sand this to make it smooth again?
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Dear Lakejo,
You can sand it to smoothness, but you will remove the finish on it. If you do, I would locate a lumber supply that handles wood veneer. Cut to size 3/4" over on all sides, contact cement both surfaces, let dry to the touch and stick it together remembering that you only get one chance to stick it. Get a hand laminate trimmer, trim the overage, sand lightly to finish and use a marine polyurathane called Helmsman to seal. This stuff is the best. You'll have no more problems with water damage.
Good Luck, Len
You can sand it to smoothness, but you will remove the finish on it. If you do, I would locate a lumber supply that handles wood veneer. Cut to size 3/4" over on all sides, contact cement both surfaces, let dry to the touch and stick it together remembering that you only get one chance to stick it. Get a hand laminate trimmer, trim the overage, sand lightly to finish and use a marine polyurathane called Helmsman to seal. This stuff is the best. You'll have no more problems with water damage.
Good Luck, Len
Usually, you cannot. If I understand your description correctly, it sounds as if the warping comes from the laminated veneer separating from the particle board undermeath of it. Water or humidity usually causes it by weakening the glue that holds the veneer down and then warping the wood veneer. More often than not, the veneer is so thin such that sanding it will just remove/shred the veneer entirely in the warped spots so as to expose the particle board underneath. The only way to fix it would be to re-glue it, which is fairly impractical. More often than not, the table is just ruined and not worth the effort.
If the warped spots are not too bad (too high), then you might be able to sand them down and re-finish the top. However, usually the veneer is as thin as it can be already, such that sanding it any further will make it unstable and subject to cracking/shredding.















