Is this table wood though or will I️ sand to find plastic? I️ have enough time to sand... what does conditioning the wood entail?

It’s real wood. It’s made of scrap smaller pieces and “finger jointed” and glued together to create long pieces. But you can sand and refinish.

Conditioning wood means brushing on a product called conditioner that is applied after sanding to help the wood absorb paint or stain evenly.

If you don’t have one buy an electric palm sander and use that. It won’t take weeks. Do a tiny bit of research on finger jointed wood so you have an idea what your project might look like after it’s redone. It’s not the “nicest” wood. Totally functional, but you’ll be spending some time on it as if it were nice wood. If that makes sense.

Weathy! Thank you so much for your help! That makes a lot more sense to me now. From what I️ see, I️ definitely need to condition the wood to make the wood stain look even all around the table? Or do you recommend some sort of varnish/sealant before the stain?

Theres no possibility that the finger joints come apart during sanding is there? Thank you again, from this DIY newbie!

The juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Not unless you’re attempting this to further your education to work on better quality products down the road. If you don’t want refinishing as a hobby, leave it alone.