Finishing pine doors

[cycas]

I've just bought a house, and it's kitted out throughout with knotty pine doors which have not been sanded properly. If it was just one or two, I'd sand them myself, but it's literally every internal door in the place and I can't face it.

Is there any other process that would eliminate the roughness? Could I take them all off and send them to a sandblaster or something?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Sand or shot blasting will leave them looking as rough as anything. Some people like that look - on beams, though

 

[cycas]

Ah, I wondered about that. I would be OK with the harder parts of the door standing out and looking knobbly, but at the moment it's got that just-sawn, slightly splintery feel. House is 20 years old and the previous owners clearly weren't bothered. I guess I could paint them, but that might just highlight the rough patches.

Maybe I will have to just get the sander out and get it done, but it feels like it's going to take forever to do 12 doors. How are they done commercially? Surely they aren't hand-sanded when you buy finished doors new?

 

[foxhole]

The timber is finished in the factory before assembly. Can be easier to remove the door and sand flat, [electric sander] if panelled doors then 000 wire wool for the panel edges.

 

[^woody^]

The best thing to use on knotty pine is petrol. In the garden, petrol and a match and then stamp on the ashes.

But for rough timber generally, what do you mean by rough? Roughly done (quality) or actual rough (smoothness)? A couple of grades of sandpaper or even a scotch-brite pad will smooth timber, but don't use water as that raises the grain. Clean off with white spirit.

 

[cycas]

Ah, of course, @foxhole that would make sense, finish then assemble. So no way to sort them except individually now?

@^woody^ they certainly wouldn't have been my choice, but torching 12 doors and replacing them seems so wasteful! I'd rather make the best of them.

They are unfinished, essentially - the kind of doors where when you buy them, the description says 'sand before painting', and the edges of the panels are rough to the touch, particularly where the grain is cut into. I don't think the quality is terrible, though it's certainly not fabulous. I have never bought doors that way because I just hate sanding, I'd rather spend a bit more on a finished door that just needs a little trimming to hang. But now 12 unsanded doors have ambushed me :-/ Yes, I know not to use water on them.

 

[cycas]

... and yes, I do have an electric sander, but ... TWELVE?!!!

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The best thing to use on knotty pine is petrol. In the garden, petrol and a match and then stamp on the ashes.

That's not very environmentally friendly, Woody. Far better for the environment to simply bury it 6ft under

 

[Deleted member 174758]

... and yes, I do have an electric sander, but ... TWELVE?!!!

Don't consider any sort of job in the trades, then

 

[^woody^]

That's not very environmentally friendly, Woody. Far better for the environment to simply bury it 6ft under

But what if someone finds them? Fire is the best and surest option, and could act as a deterrent against anyone considering these in the future.