Japanning Black how to restore 1870s cabinet

[MarkCoffs]

Can anyone direct me to information concerning the process of Japanning I understand it is labour intensive but the cabinet is otherwise in good condition but I have not been able find recipes or processes for the restoration.
Many thanks
Mark Coffs

[q9]

It is a super involved process, and the materials and brushes will be pretty hard to come by in Aus. I've put a bit up about it under Urushi somewhere in the finishing forum. If you are after stuff, I have a couple of potential suppliers, but I'm not sure the best way to ship them back, pretty sure they'll be a no-no on air freight.

Post a pic of what you've got...

[woodPixel]

This is a video I watched some time back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UdigpVGHt8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r1YJy0yzXQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkgCW-z-31w, high on fluff, but very informative on the process of Urushi.

I looked into it some time ago and getting the materials here is IMPOSSIBLE. Finding someone in Japan to source them and ship them was challenging. There certainly wasn't a local store anywhere that sold everything you needed in "a kit".

I finally found a book describing the process in detail (in Japanese) and it is an agonising process. Dust free, specific processes, super toxic nastiness, hyper diligent application, etc, etc.

It would be excellent to see your project and what needs doing :)

[q9]

Kinda hard to put a kit together as there are really so many different styles. But for basics, you wouldn't need a lot. I'll take a pic of my kit sometime and add it in. Like I said, the shipping of the lacquer itself is going to be the difficult part, but I am sure it can be done.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi Mark,

Welcome to the forums.

I have zero expertise in the process of traditional Black Japanning but have restored an old house with Black Japanned floorboards.

As woodPixel above says, it would be good to have some photos of your project so that you can get the most appropriate advice. Is your item Japanese, Australian furniture or other?

For example, there was a lot of Australian furniture made around 1900 that was "Black Japanned" - but not the traditional Japanese full-on process. It was actually simply painted with "Black Japan lacquer" which you can still buy it today. The furniture was painted black partly as a fashion craze when Queen Victoria took to wearing black and having everything black when her husband died. That kind of black japanning was also used in conjunction with a decorating technique called spatterwork (stencilling using plants and patterns with black ink sprayed around them).

In the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, before wall-to-wall carpet became common rooms usually had a woven rug in the middle and the surrounding timber floor boards were painted black with "Black Japan" paint.

Another thing to consider is that antique pieces of furniture should only be restored when they absolutely needed, as retaining patina (the signs of ageing) is so important for antiques.

David

[woodPixel]

Well, I'm amazed, Amazon sells and ships Urushi - https://www.amazon.com/Black-Finishing-Urushi-Lacquer-Japan/dp/B00IN1IQ40/ and https://www.amazon.com/Low-Allergenic-Urushi-Japanese-Lacquer/dp/B00H86VOT0/

[q9]

Those tubes are really for decorating, rather than finishing.

[wheelinround]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV53BM2n4S4