J S Machine

I have some furniture pieces that I would like to refinish. They have been in the family for three generations, and I just can't get rid of them. The pieces consist of a vanity type piece with drawers and a mirror, a bed and a chest of drawers. The bed is in storage and it looks pretty good. I will be doing the chest of drawers and the vanity. I'm pretty sure I set the albums up as public, so please click on the my photos link up under my avatar pic and check the pics out. The vanity is the only thing I have pics of, but the chest is in the same shape. This stuff was redone about 15 years ago, so i'm pretty sure it has fairly modern coatings/materials. Everything I have read says the first step is to tear it down and strip everything. I am going to lowes this afternoon to get the stripper, and I was hoping to get some advice on exactly what kind to buy. I will be starting the project this after noon. Some notes on the pieces : the reason the pieces are so damaged because they were in my mother's possesion for a couple of years and she is a very bad drug addict. Her continued drug use is what caused all of the burn marks and general neglect. Luckily they are in my possession now, and they will be taken care of from now on.

Any help or guidance will be appreciated as I start this project. Thanks.

cabinetman

Stripping will likely be your first step. There are basically two types of chemical strippers. The first is basically an MC...Methylene Chloride, or Dichloromethane (DCM), and a non-MC based stripper, like Citra Strip.

The MC based stripper is highly toxic, but works very fast. The non-MC stripper may take many applications but can be used indoors. Stripping directions for each of the types should be followed exactly.

Once the existing finished is stripped off, you may have to do some sanding, and maybe some repair. You should determine what areas are solid wood and where there is veneer if any. You will have to be careful with sanding the veneer parts as to not sand through.

Once the pieces are cleaned and prepared for finishing, then you should decide about stains and dyes, and what will be used as to an oil finish, or some type of film finish.

bradnailer

Have to agree with the Cabinetman. You need to start by stripping the pieces. The method I use is to brush on some stripper then rub it off using planer chips. The chips are slightly abrasive and soak up the stripper. If you don't have planer chips but know someone who had a wood shop, they can give you a bag of them. After the first round of stripping, I rub the piece down with paint thinner to remove any residue. After you get the piece cleaned up, a little light sanding will smooth it out then the rest is just normal stain and oil.

J S Machine

I guess I will be using the mc type, because I will be doing it on my back patio. I expect to have to do some sanding, but I have a question. How deep does the existing stain actually penetrate? Like .005 -.008" deep
? I mean how deep are we talking about? It is also my understanding that the stripper won't actually take the stain off too. Am I correct?

I would think I would need to het all the existing stain off, since stain is transparent and it will cause uneven areas when the new stain is applied.

J S Machine

I also meant to ask if there is a way to identify the wood the pieces are made of. If there are pieces that are covered with veneer and the stain is penetrated through the whole thickness what do I do?

bradnailer

For some reason, I can't look at the pictures now so I can't help you with the wood type.

As far as the finishing, you'll just need to experiment with it. Once you get it stripped, wipe it down really well with paint thinner or mineral spirits and see how it looks. You may be surprised how much of the old stain comes out. To cover old damage, I have had to at times rub on several coats of a mix of wiping poly and stain.

GeorgeC

The picture is so dark I cannot tell if the furniture is painted or stained.

If it is stained it is also possible that the finish is lacquer. If it is lacquer all you need is lacquer thinner to remove the old lacquer.

George

cabinetman

In over 35 years of woodworking, the only measurements to the right of the decimal that I concerned myself with was my blood alcohol level.

Once you get the surfaces stripped as much as you can, a good wipe down with lacquer thinner, or acetone will remove much of remaining finish, Continually use clean parts of the rag so as to not smear residual stain over clean wood.

Veneered wood may have been penetrated throughout, and if so, get as clean as possible, and lightly sand. Applying a new finish may be near the shade of the old, which could blend questionable areas and not be that noticeable.

J S Machine

It is stained mahogany with a topcoat of something like polyurethane or lacquer. Like I said above the pieces were redone about 15years ago, so whatever was used was probably pretty modern. There are 5 pics in the album, and there should be enough info in the pics to make an assessment.

J S Machine

Cabinetman- sorry, i'm a tool maker for a living, I eat-sleep-and breath tolerances and the pursuit of perfection lol

For those who are wondering, I will be going back with mahogany.

bradnailer

Looking at the pictures, it appears that the top is a piece of solid mahogany. If so, then I'd suspect the rest of the piece is solid wood as wall with no veneer. But again, you'll probably be surprised how much of the stain comes off with the stripper and mineral spirits.

A word of caution, if you use rags to wipe down the piece, stain and rub on the finish, make sure you let the rags air dry. Sometimes a few solvent coated wadded up rags will combust.

J S Machine

Hey guys, please check out the album in my pics labeled "stage 1 strip". I picked up some stripper and got started today when I got home from work. There is a picture of the can of stripper that I bought, and also some pictures of the work in progress. The first coat which wasn't exactly "slathered on" did not pull up everything. The pictures of the pieces are as they were right after I put the second "heavy" coat of stripper on. The stuff on the newspaper is the stuff that is coming off. It kind of has a wax paper consistency.

Am I going in the right direction?

thanks

J S Machine

Bump - anybody?

creative novice

i learned from a television show (joe and Ed) a few years ago to use sawdust while strippping furniture....tried it a few times and loved it. the idea was to apply your stripper, let it set the defined time period and then sprinkle saw dust onto the piece...and if needed also use your spatula too, but then using a scrub style brush quickly brush away at the gel remover...it worked really well with painted pieces and stripper that was difficult to actually remove from the piece without chasing it. mother nature needs to be on your side as this is best method to use outside! CN

chesterboyd

Sounds like you have had some good advice---wish I had gotten in earlier to suggest you plug the holes in drawers etc. with a piece of cloth so stripper doesnt run inside them.I assume you took the hardware off.I c ut a piece of a cotton rag to about the size of a half dollar and use a nail set to push it through from the bottom so it doesnt protrude enough to interfere with sanding the surface after stripping.I leave it untill all staining and finishing is done----so I then just clean the dust out of the drawers and reassemble hard ware.There are other ways to plug the holes, I just use this method.Good luck.

bradnailer

Man, I forgot about the "furniture geeks" show. Those guys were sort of goofy but sure had some good ideas. Watching their show is where I got the idea of using planer chips.