I bought a shaver for full retail (around $700)for a job I did. It paid for itself on the first job. When I found a second one in a pawn shop for $150,00, I jumped on it. They are what they say they are in terms of paint removal. When running mine I always run off a vacuum (otherwise the motor will burn up). I hook my vacuum to a Dust Deputy cyclone, which removes about ninety percent of the debris before it gets to my vac filters. For $70.00/$200.00, it's an investment you'll use over and again. Team this with a HEPA filter and you have a winning combo. When I'm done with the shaver, if I don't like the rough surface. I blow over the siding with my Porter Cable siding sander and as fine a disk as I can get. I can fine sand the entire side of an average house in one day. Another option I've used for find detail is my Porter Cable variable speed, random orbit sander with hook and loop disks. This may make more sense for most, since you can use it in your shop to polish and sand other things. I've even used it for edge work on hard wood floors. It only takes a bit longer than the very expensive edge sanders.

scrappy2, there's really not much to show. Any cell phone pic I'd post would look like an unfinished door. My stuff was stripped before I applied the paint base. I used exterior so it had all the weather and UV protection elements in it. Just figured it couldn't hurt. I did use latex, because it was inside. I'm thinking you could use a tougher, oil base for cabinets that get a lot of action. Now, I did do a credenza, which I sold. I scuffed the finish with a 220 sanding block, being careful to get into detail with an emery board. I then applied the paint base and boom. No shine. Smooooooth and beautiful. 2 coats. Water proof against glass condensation, etc. My person is still thrilled with it a year+ and I'm using it all the time. I also used it to glue chipping paint down without it looking gummy. Other top coats (even DecoArt's supposedly matte finish) leave a discernible shine. Haven't tried Modern Masters, when my paint base is so inexpensive. Anyway, the chips glue down without any hint of glue, or looking top coated. I don't know how to explain how it Doesn't look top coated! I'm considering scuffing (or even sanding hard) the unfinished cherry face frame and drawer fronts I got from The Cabinet Joint. I love them, but I polyacryliced them (not polyurethane!) and even the satin is just too shiny. I'm eyeing my can of paint base for them instead.

Ok.. i kno thay im ab two y too l, but i have a relative personal expexperience to share! i am a single mom of 2 teens & after hurricane Florence hit our town, i got an SBA loan to make repairs & update a few things on my wish list. But after getting duped a couple of very shady ”contractors” i was left w/ out of $ & a house in shambles. Over the past 2 years, I have taught myself how to install lights, ceiling fans, ceramic & glass tile, plus drywall, mudding, caulking & painting in every room.. all 2,800 sq ft of it. Anyway, my house was all shades of poo when i bought it.. a reddish-brown pergo floor, dark brown, tan eggshell walls, dark brown cabinets & the UGLIEST brown & black faux granite-looking laminate. I’d planned on getting granite or quartz, but that was prior to being swindled out of almost $68,000! My budget on E, i did my research on an alternate solution & went w/ the Giani paint kit. However, i too read the reviews & knew the glitter topcoat wouldnt last in my house, so i bought a few boxes of epoxy resin & taught myself how to use that too cause i hadnt a clue! i had my issues along the way, ie: sticky batches, uneven application, kids touching it before dry, etc.. but i am happy w/ them. Now idk how realistic they actually look, but I had few people ask if id gotten new counters, & others reach out to touch them, not believing they werent “real”, but Epoxied over painted laminate. Gianis claim of it being “a wkend“ project is BULLSHH & I much perferr the outcome of my own application technique, over what their instructions offer.. but to each their own, right!? Sanded, then SCRUBBED COUNTERS CLEAN Giani White Diamond kit Glitter Topcoat Epoxy Resin, sand where necessary, clean, repeat.. i personally dont like a super high gloss, so i went over them w, an 800 grit sandpaperjust to tome ghat down a bit & i can still see the topcoat sparkling underneath. i also bought several nice trivets to guard against hot items , Blue & red will leave stain if let to sit ill try to post a few before/ after photos Original color palette Did the hallway built in too

Your floors are pretty light in color. If you want the top of the bench to have that light appearance, which I think would look great with the dark gray framing around it, you might not need any stain at all. This is assuming you will be using another finish on the wood -- polyurethane or oil finish, etc. It's hard to know how much sanding would be necessary to get rid of the overly stained dark areas. Hopefully you have a machine for this! On the other hand, if you don't want to bother will more sanding, you could make a cushion to exactly cover the bench top and forget the bad stain experience. It looks like the front edge didn't soak up the stain so much, so that might be just fine. Some people use a "grain filler" kind of product before staining a porous wood to keep the stain from soaking in some areas more than others.