Questions For A Cabinet Maker

[Offline]

Hi guys,

Any suggestions on how to revamp an old mahogany beer cabinet. I'm not exactly sure of what type of timber it is made from but it is from the UK if that helps.


close-up of damaged varnish on front panel


close-up of unvarnished (i think) back of front panel


I'm guessing a light sand and a revarnish, but any advice on what type and how would be appreciated.

Off'y

 

[arsenewenger]

Offy is it solid timner or laminated the last photo looks like it might be laminated , hard to say from that picture though .

When you are going to repaint it use a marine grade varnish because it is much harder wearing than other varnishes.

AW

 

[newguy]

Buy stripper - paint/varnish stripper. It's a foul smelling gel that eats away any finish. Paint it on with a brush, wait 10 minutes, then scrape off what you can with a paint scraper. Reapply more stripper, then use steel wool (like 0000 grade) and rub madly with the grain. Any finish that the initial scrape doesn't get will come off with the steel wool. Wear gloves. Don't use inside - you need ventilation. Once the finish is off, give the wood a day or two to dry out and then revarnish/refinish with whatever you wish (varnish, poly, lacquer).

 

[arsenewenger]

A much better and easier product is called ESP (easp surface preparation) wipe it on then off after 5 min then paint after 90 min simple as

 

[masculator002]

It appears that it has been shellac or french varnished to me in which case paint stripper wouldnt be the answer.you should be able to find good advice on repairing a shelacked finish online or most hardware shops. I know that my local dahlsens has ready to paint on shellac which has instructions or a lot of paint places will stock shellac flakes which you dissolve in metho before applying.i would NOT reccomend using paint stripper on such a nice piece of timber work.

 

[katzke]

Can not tell from the picture it is just the finish that is missing or if the wood is damaged.

As to fixing it, it all depends on what look you are going for. If you want it to look old then stripping it is not the answer. We have a few products in the USA that are for restoring the finish on old wood. They basically just clean and kind of even out the finish. Can not help you with what to get in OZ.

If you strip it you will kill any value it has from being old.

You may be happy with just cleaning it and using one of the wax color sticks to cover up the damage then a nice coat of oil finish or wax. That would be about the easiest and least damaging to it.

 

[bradsbrew]

If it is french polished or shellac just use metho and course steel wool to remove the finish giving it a wash over with a wet metho rag in between. If you want to re-french polish send me a pm and I,ll email some notes on french polish (It is fairly involved and not very durable against cold/heat and cleaning products. If re-clearing no matter what product you use make sure all the previous coatings are removed. Use a sanding sealer then a marine grade clear there are also some good waterborne floor coating that are quite good as well.

If you want to just paint it make sure you give it a good sand and use a metho based sealer first to make it bind. Dont agree with the FLOOD ESP(easy surface preparation) it is more suitable for glazed or laminate surfaces.
Hope this halps a bit
Brad

 

[newguy]

i would NOT reccomend using paint stripper on such a nice piece of timber work.

My best friend worked in a furniture repair shop for ~10 years. They got a lot of restoration work on some very nice furniture. They always used paint stripper to remove the old finishes. It certainly didn't ruin the wood. That aside, I've used it on my wife's antique oak table. No issues there either.

 

[bradsbrew]

My best friend worked in a furniture repair shop for ~10 years. They got a lot of restoration work on some very nice furniture. They always used paint stripper to remove the old finishes. It certainly didn't ruin the wood. That aside, I've used it on my wife's antique oak table. No issues there either.

In most cases paint paint stripper(methylene chloride) is ok for quick removal of multiple coats as is a caustic dip. problem is the cellulose liquid which prevents the solvent from evaporating to quickly and the water content of the caustic can swell the timbers and take away from the ornate features they can also , especially caustic, cause staining of the timbers and dissolve glues in laminates and joinery. I have seen red cedar turn black after a caustic dip, it took lots of sanding and oxalic acid solution to get it back somewhere near natural.
I once spent 4 weeks in a 3 level staiway of a heritage listed mansion removing 120 years of paint and shellac from the ballustrading,handrail and steps with nothing more than metho, skarsken and steel wool and a shit load of rags because the architect didnt want any swelling to take away the age.

Cheers

 

[blackbock]

Paint stripper is fine if you use it properly, personally I would be tempted to try a product like Restore-a-finish like katzke alluded to. To put polyurethane on something like that would be a crying shame and the purists would never forgive you, however shellac is not really any good in contact with alcohol or moisture either. You might want to keep that in mind for a beer cabinet.

 

[Offline]

Thanks for the replies guys.



I'm interested in restoring it to look something like it would have when new.

The shellac is completely missing in parts and the timber in some of these areas has been bleached a pail colour (probably by beer). There is a small piece that is split and I can see the original colour of the timber. I'll take some more photos of this later.

Offy is it solid timner or laminated the last photo looks like it might be laminated , hard to say from that picture though .

When you are going to repaint it use a marine grade varnish because it is much harder wearing than other varnishes.

AW

When checking to see if it was a laminate, which it is not, I noticed that the back does have something brushed on it but not a shinny varnish type finish like the front.



Off'y

 

[3G]

to have the pattern of the grain like it is it may well be veneered. I could be wrong though.
I spent about 5 hours removing paint and varnish from a 50's chair and the timber is perfect with no swelling so i wouldnt hesitate using paint stripper and 0000 wire wool.

 

[bradsbrew]

I spent about 5 hours removing paint and varnish from a 50's chair and the timber is perfect with no swelling so i wouldnt hesitate using paint stripper and 0000 wire wool.

But was the chair a open grain hardwood like this one or a tight grain like hoop pine?
Why does a character to the grain make it veneer. Ive got slabs of timber waiting to be convertered to my kitchen bench with heaps of character.
brad

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

go for a Tung oil or Scandanavion oil finish, both are tough and give a nice luster to timber, and can be repaired easy if scratched

 

[white.grant]

Nice piece. I'm guessing it would have originally been varnished and should come up well again if you cut it back to the wood with meths and steel wool then apply the varnish. You need to be very careful with the cleanliness of the wood and let the coats dry properly before recoating.

Paint stripper will remove the varnish quickly but it can burn the wood or create other forms of staining. Test a small area first if you want to go that way.

Cheers

grant

 

[3G]

But was the chair a open grain hardwood like this one or a tight grain like hoop pine?
Why does a character to the grain make it veneer. Ive got slabs of timber waiting to be convertered to my kitchen bench with heaps of character.
brad

The chairs were silky oak and the other is tassie oak. It is more the way the figure/pattern repeats itself in the way it does that made me think it may be veneer, similar to how alot of Danish rosewood furniture looks. Oxalic acid is great i agree for cleaning timber.

 

[newguy]

go for a Tung oil or Scandanavion oil finish, both are tough and give a nice luster to timber, and can be repaired easy if scratched

I really like tung oil too but when I built my mother-in-law's kitchen cabinets, I wiped them with boiled linseed oil and then lacquered them. I'll definitely use that combination again as the BLO really made the grain pop without darkening the wood too much. At least it seemed as if the wood was lighter than when I used tung oil. YMMV.