Restoring antique finish

[Thomas Kohler]

Hi, I am new to this forum and happy to have found you out there.

I have found an 1760 (give-or-take) George III Wash stand in very good condition. However the varnish has gone very dull and the wood must have dried out over the 250 years or so and made cracks in the main wood and the outside veneer. We live in South Africa and the humidity is much drier out here.  I am not too worried about that but would like to restore the old varnish without having to sand the whole project down. This would certainly take away the beauty of this piece. I have now read that some people use Danish Oil after having cleaned the object with turpentine? I mix my own as we can't buy the product in Africa. I had good results on sanded down objects but have not tried it on varnished objects. Is there anyone out there who might have tried this out?

Greetings from the West Coast of South Africa.

Thomas

 

[T-astragal]

1760? Leave it alone. Do not touch it. It looks great as is.

Steve

[Trip]

==>1760? Leave it alone. Do not touch it

+1760

 

If you absolutely believe the piece needs some work, I'd reach out to Don Williams -- he's a member of WTO, but forget his user name... As a Sr. Furniture Conservator at the Smithsonian, his input would be quite valuable... You can go to his website directly... http://donsbarn.com/

 

Good Luck...

 

 

 

[Tom Crawford]

Agree - do nothing.  If it has the original finish you will reduce it's value by as much as 60% if you refinish.