I’ve recently acquired a walnut Eames LCW which was made in 2002. There are a number of scratches and scuffs on the seat and back. I’d like to minimize the appearance of the scratches, ideally without doing a full refinishing of the chair. From what I understand, the chair came with a lacquer finish from the factory. Is there a way to test what sort of finish is on the chair or to confirm whether it is indeed a lacquer finish?Any suggestions of how one might approach this process? I’m not very experienced with finishing.
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I'm not an expert. So, just suggestions that may or may not be appropriate.
If you can find an inconspicuous place, try a dab of lacquer thinner and see if the finish softens. If so, it is likely a lacquer finish.
That is a very well known furniture name. You might be able to find the answer with a web search or two. Try finding some forums that deal with antiques and antique restoration.
If you have a friendly local antique dealer, they might be able to answer your question. However, I think such knowledge among dealers is variable.
I have repaired scratches on automobiles by carefully cleaning the scratch of loose debris and then with a very very fine brush, lay in a coat of the same finish being sure that it doesn't spill over the edge of the scratch. This usually takes several coats to build to the thickness of the original paint but, it works.
Thanks for the suggestions. Indeed this chair is well-known... but I did plenty of internet searching prior to commenting on this forum and did not find anything very helpful that is aimed at moulded plywood chairs made by Herman Miller from that period. Very early versions of this chair manufactured by Evans used shellac. But I’m fairly confident my version is lacquer. Was really just looking for advice about how to deal with scratches on a clear lacquer surface without completely refinishing the chair. I don’t mind putting a coat of lacquer on top after some surface prep if that’s what an expert suggests.
If it is lacquer, or shellac for that matter, it is relatively easy and simple to touch up. Both finishes melt into the layers before them.
As Bilyo stated, find an inconspicuous place on the chair, and give it a gentle wipe with lacquer thinner. If it melts, it's lacquer. If not, try denatured alcohol... if it melts this time, it's shellac.
Both can be touched up with a light coat... With lacquer, spray a light few coats, and then sand and polish to the correct sheen. With shellac, you can do the same (I have done this a few times, including sanding, but that takes some patience) or you can rub it on with a rag and blend it in.
Thanks for that. I’ve confirmed that the finish is lacquer. Knowing that, could I use shellac on top of lacquer? I’d prefer to work with shellac if possible.
Well..... Shellac sticks to about anything. It would certainly go on top of the lacquer.
But.... there are a few problems. First, the scratch may not disappear... In fact, the shellac may have more color than the lacquer and make the scratches darker.
The second problem is color. The shellac is probably darker than the lacquer, so it may require putting some shellac over the whole thing.
I've used shellac to mimic aged nitrocellulose lacquer on instruments and had really good results. But, there were no scratches that might have gotten filled in.
I'd really suggest filling the scratch first. If the lacquer has darkened a lot with age... That's might take a bit of creativity and maybe messing with some dye to match perfectly. It's not too terribly hard, but takes a good eye for color.
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