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Need help to find the right finish for old chair

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  • 31-10-2011 1:39pm
    #1
    Blumentopf
    Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭


    I hope someone can help, I could kick myself as ruined a perfectly nice old chair that I bought - a nice old chair with the typical brownish (walnut type coloured) weathered look. It was just very greasy and dirty (think it must have been in someone's kitchen), so I thought I give it a really good wash - with sugarsoap which I remembered to be an excellent grime remover. Only, the sugarsoap removed the finishing and all! So now the chair is stripped back to bare wood (if only all paint stripping was this easy!) and it looks like old weathered oak - which is nice, but I want it to go with a table I have, which luckily I did not wash, so it still has its nice old weathered brown colour.
    I've been researching finishings and I think maybe it is shellac that was used? So any advice greatly received, and also where I might get the particular type finishing (went to B&Q and had a look, but very limited selection there and I'm sure there's better places to get what I'm after)

    Would appreciate all help. Attached 3 pics - leg of the table, which is what I'd like the chair to look like (again). Leg of the poor stripped chair and photo of another chair I have which looks somewhat similar to what the poor stripped chair looked like before I mangled it.


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    #2
    slowburner
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,220 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Blumentopf wrote: »
    I hope someone can help, I could kick myself as ruined a perfectly nice old chair that I bought - a nice old chair with the typical brownish (walnut type coloured) weathered look. It was just very greasy and dirty (think it must have been in someone's kitchen), so I thought I give it a really good wash - with sugarsoap which I remembered to be an excellent grime remover. Only, the sugarsoap removed the finishing and all! So now the chair is stripped back to bare wood (if only all paint stripping was this easy!) and it looks like old weathered oak - which is nice, but I want it to go with a table I have, which luckily I did not wash, so it still has its nice old weathered brown colour.
    I've been researching finishings and I think maybe it is shellac that was used? So any advice greatly received, and also where I might get the particular type finishing (went to B&Q and had a look, but very limited selection there and I'm sure there's better places to get what I'm after)

    Would appreciate all help. Attached 3 pics - leg of the table, which is what I'd like the chair to look like (again). Leg of the poor stripped chair and photo of another chair I have which looks somewhat similar to what the poor stripped chair looked like before I mangled it.
    So nice to see good pictures with a question like this.:)
    The biggest problem you will face is matching the patina of the turning on the similar leg (pic. 1) - if it matters.
    See how there is an accumulation of dark grime in the crevices of the coves and a light wear on the beads. Subconsciously, these are the things we read as age.Achieving this kind of patina without it being noticeable, is the highest level of the restorer's art. But for you to get a reasonable match of the stripped wood in pic 2 with the wood in pic 3 is straightforward enough.

    1. Sand down the leg with 240 grit sandpaper or 0000 wire wool.

    2. Clean off any dust/residue with a clean lint free cloth

    3. Apply a Jacobean dark oak spirit based stain and wear a mask; it's smelly stuff.
    (if you have a spare piece of the same wood in a similar condition - use this to practice on before you start)

    4. Allow to dry for a minimum of 24 hours.

    5. Rub up and down vigorously all over with a piece of hessian or linen to 'close the wood fibres' and remove any surplus stain - you might feel a bit of coarseness in the wood after applying the stain.

    6. Apply French polish according to the instructions on the container.


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    #3
    Blumentopf
    Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭Blumentopf


    Many thanks for your reply. Just wondering, any tips where I could get the "Jacobean dark oak spirit based stain" - do I need to go to a specialist paint shop? And for the french polish, will any of the ready mixed products one can buy do? Have never put my hand to restoring anything, but I'm usually fairly good at painting and things, so am reasonably confident...


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    #4
    slowburner
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,220 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Blumentopf wrote: »
    Many thanks for your reply. Just wondering, any tips where I could get the "Jacobean dark oak spirit based stain" - do I need to go to a specialist paint shop? And for the french polish, will any of the ready mixed products one can buy do? Have never put my hand to restoring anything, but I'm usually fairly good at painting and things, so am reasonably confident...
    Most builders' providers/large DIY stores will sell a range of these spirit stains.
    Any commercially available French polish will do.
    Another great finish which I use all the time is a mix of
    1/3 boiled linseed oil,
    1/3 polyurethane varnish
    1/3 white spirit,
    all well mixed together.
    It is a fair bit tougher than F.P. but not so high a shine. You simply apply it with a cloth giving as many coats as you like until you get the required level of sheen.


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    #5
    TheGrump
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭TheGrump


    slowburner wrote: »
    Most builders' providers/large DIY stores will sell a range of these spirit stains.
    Any commercially available French polish will do.
    Another great finish which I use all the time is a mix of
    1/3 boiled linseed oil,
    1/3 polyurethane varnish
    1/3 white spirit,
    all well mixed together.
    It is a fair bit tougher than F.P. but not so high a shine. You simply apply it with a cloth giving as many coats as you like until you get the required level of sheen.


    +1 on the 1/3 BLO, 1/3 Poly, 1/3 white spirit. I've used it loads of times since a recommendation on here and it's a great way of finishing, it's now my 'go to finish'


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    #6
    slowburner
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,220 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    You just can't beat it for a finish. Easy to apply, fast drying, controllable sheen, cheap and tough ;)


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    #7
    Blumentopf
    Registered Users Posts: 26 ✭Blumentopf


    That sounds great, as don't want high gloss finish really, so less shiny sounds good to me. So for staining something like Rustin's dark oak stain will do? And the polyurethane varnish - do you use gloss, matt or satin?


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    #8
    slowburner
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,220 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Blumentopf wrote: »
    That sounds great, as don't want high gloss finish really, so less shiny sounds good to me. So for staining something like Rustin's dark oak stain will do? And the polyurethane varnish - do you use gloss, matt or satin?
    Gloss.
    Rustin's will probably be fine - best thing is to test on an unobtrusive part first for colour match. Bear in mind that the finish coat will darken the overall appearance another bit.


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