Good Afternoon,
We recently bought a 1920-40s mahogany chest of drawers in the Queen Anne style. It’s very solid with thick attractive veneers, machine dovetails, etc. It was only $45.
The finish is fairly good but I could not leave well enough alone. As I guess is typical of the age, it is covered in nasty thick dark varnish. When I began cleaning with a naphtha rag portions of the varnish were removed and those portions looked amazing after buffing with a dark wax.
The problem is that removing all the varnish is very hard. I have progressed to using #1 steel wool and many, many paper towels, but at this rate my wife will leave me for someone who’s less anal than me.
Should I get more aggressive? 400 grit paper? Or should I just ride it out and stock up on Advil for my elbow pain? I really don’t want to strip all the way to bare wood.
The pictures show portions where the original finish is intact and other portions where some of the varnish is removed. BTW the newspaper with the “Sexy and Free Together” advertisement is only the Philadelphia Metro.
Thanks
Replies
TWG,
I've worked many a piece like yours but each one was its own adventure. In other words, I'm no expert. I buy the green stuff and glop it on and cover with a sheet of plastic(environment friendly). The risk you run from pieces of that era is a lot of mixed pieces of mahogany all matched through dark staining. Usually that gets it clean in a hurry with lots of scraping and paper towels.
Most times I'll then varnish using a wipe-on. However, if the wood warrants it, I may attempt a shellac finish. Recently I attempted a french polish and it came out beautiful...the wood dances.
After more sanding and wiping I have come to the conclusion that I must strip all of the finish as you suggest.Unfortunately, I don't have time to refinish mahogany at this time and I need a dresser. So another project for another day.
you can strip it in a matter of hours. Use real stripper, put it on, wipe it off with steel wool, and be sure to remove all the remains with paint thinner. Truth be told, you could have done it by now!! Paint is a pain to remove (sometimes/usually) but clear finishes are a breeze.Gretchen
I hear you. Stripping everything off is easy. I was trying to only remove the varnish w/out the color but this does not seem possible this time.The hard part is the refinishing mahogany. It requires dying, sealing, pore filling then shellac and wax. That's the part I don't have time for.
If your dresser was truly produced in the 1940s, the winning bet is likely to be laquer, not truly a varnish, as the original finish. If that's the case, laquer thinner will remove all of the finish is short order without the bother (and potential damage) of sanding.
If the piece was made during the Victorian or Empire periods (about 1830-1900), the finish is likely to be shellac, in which case denatured alcohol will completely remove it.
Test to see which by dampening a white paper towel with both solvents, and drag it over the undisturbed portion of the finish. Choose whichever solvent was most effective at removing it.
When you've figured out the solvent, buy a package of lint-free cotton buffing rags from the local Advance Auto store. Thoroughly wet a couple of these with the solvent in question, place them on the dresser, then cover them with painter's polyethylene plastic film (do this outside if it's laquer thinner!!!). Wait about 20 minutes, remove the plastic film, and you should be able to remove all of the finish with a quick wipe with the soaked rag.
It's a little unfortunate you've gone this far already - even relatively damaged shella and/or laquer finishes chan be renewed by just removing the top layer with the proper solvent.
You really don't have to do all that in my opinion. And the stain may not come out with the stripper. After you have stripped it, wipe it down with mineral spirits, and that will be the color you get with new clear finish.Gretchen
Thanks Gretchen. I hope your right.
Citristrip will take the old finish right off.
I wonder how this turned out
Ironically my husband has the same exact dresser-- although his had been painted blue at some point in the 70's. Under the blue was a layer of black paint, and then a layer of crackled varnish. The wood appears to have been dyed with the varnish which is a deep red.
I've been trying to date the piece based on the varnish and construction. The dovetails are machine, but the piece is overall solid mahogany (not veneer). After scraping down the piece with CitriStrip I'm getting the last layer of dye and varnish off right now with steel wool, and the wood under there has some potential (its nice enough looking that its worth refinishing I think).
I know machine pieces are post 1860, based on the construction I guess this is later. It seems too high quality (drawer sides are oak with solid mahogany fronts) of an item to have been made in the 20's when lots of veneer was used. A strange puzzle.
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