Help with refinishing

[Kevinartman]

Hi everyone, I could use some advice. I took on a job as a favor to Father in Law. Two L and J.G Stickley side chairs that had been painted white, stripped(probably dipped), and than coated with latex polyurethane. In the photos you can see my problem. I sanded relentlessly from 80 to 180 and thought that I could cover up the white in the grain with paste wax after the Dye, sealer, stain and Waterlox. The photo shows the oak after the Dye. Any suggestions?

[wtnhighlander]

Paint is really, REALLY hard to remove from oak, but I don't see any that I can positively identify. If you still see flecks in the grain, I'd suggest taking a card scraper to those spots.

[Barron]

If the top photo is after the dye, what is the problem?  You have done a good job of blending the sap wood into the heartwood. Once stained and finished, the sap wood should be pretty well blended in.  I would probably test finish that one slat to confirm (and limit the sanding if it doesn’t work).

 

 

 

[Kevinartman]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:25 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Paint is really, REALLY hard to remove from oak, but I don't see any that I can positively identify. If you still see flecks in the grain, I'd suggest taking a card scraper to those spots.

Yeah,I really got myself in a pickle(no pun intended). Thanks for your input.

Kevinartman

[Kevinartman]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:30 PM, Barron said:

If the top photo is after the dye, what is the problem?  You have done a good job of blending the sap wood into the heartwood. Once stained and finished, the sap wood should be pretty well blended in.  I would probably test finish that one slat to confirm (and limit the sanding if it doesn’t work).

 

 

 

Hi Barron, Yes the dye, Trans tint is a great product, but maybe these are not the best photos to illustrate my problem. There is white paint in the grain that I will have to hide somehow. Here is a better photo.

Thanks for your comments,

Kevinartman

[Coop]

It’s hard for me to see the prob. Perhaps go to the next step on a section underneath and see the results. 

[Barron]

I’d try a little stain. Stain has larger sized pigments than dye that may fill the pores enough to hide the little specs of paint. As suggested above, try it on a small area to see if it helps. Good luck. 

[Kevinartman]

On 7/15/2021 at 12:05 AM, Barron said:

I’d try a little stain. Stain has larger sized pigments than dye that may fill the pores enough to hide the little specs of paint. As suggested above, try it on a small area to see if it helps. Good luck. 

I hope you are right, I was uncertain if the stain would solve the problem. I am using GF antique walnut gel stain. I will post my progress.

Thanks

[Kevinartman]

Hello again,

As promised, I am posting some photos of the finished product. I feel a little defeated, but the lessons learned were worth the effort. One lesson is, when you see an antique piece that has been painted white, keep walking! I decided to go "old school" at the end using shellac and wax.

Thanks again for your comments.

Kevinartman

[gee-dub]

I'd say you won that battle.  I refinished one dresser for LOML.  The lesson I learned is similar to yours but I would probably not keep walking . . . I would start running.  There are a few folks on the forums that make a living doing restoration and they are true artists.  They are not me

[Kevinartman]

On 8/1/2021 at 11:09 AM, gee-dub said:

I'd say you won that battle.  I refinished one dresser for LOML.  The lesson I learned is similar to yours but I would probably not keep walking . . . I would start running.  There are a few folks on the forums that make a living doing restoration and they are true artists.  They are not me

Thanks Gee-Dub,

Misery loves company.

[Chestnut]

I think you did the right thing bringing a Stickley piece back to life and looking great. Good work. Your thread gave me a bit of a push to restore a couple pieces I've had sitting around. The first is a QSWO office char from a rural post office. I know nothing about it other than it had a shellac finish.

The second piece is a oval table. It needed some repair but was in overall good shape. The table has a drawer and is on casters which confuses me. This is after the finish was scraped off but before sanding and dyeing.

I'll be finishing them both with the same recipie. I mixed a quart of warm water with 4:1 parts of dark mission brown and Light Oak. I applied the dye then did an initial coat of dewaxed shellac then 3-4 coats of wiping poly.

[Kevinartman]

On 8/2/2021 at 9:26 AM, Chestnut said:

I think you did the right thing bringing a Stickley piece back to life and looking great. Good work. Your thread gave me a bit of a push to restore a couple pieces I've had sitting around. The first is a QSWO office char from a rural post office. I know nothing about it other than it had a shellac finish.

The second piece is a oval table. It needed some repair but was in overall good shape. The table has a drawer and is on casters which confuses me. This is after the finish was scraped off but before sanding and dyeing.

I'll be finishing them both with the same recipie. I mixed a quart of warm water with 4:1 parts of dark mission brown and Light Oak. I applied the dye then did an initial coat of dewaxed shellac then 3-4 coats of wiping poly.

Hey Chestnut,

Yeah, there is something rewarding about pumping life back into a piece of furniture that someone, a long time ago, worked on. It feels like traveling back in time and that you almost know the craftsman who built these. Looks like you are doing a great job. Keep doing what you do.

Cheers,

Kevinartman