Help removing varnish.

[TJH]

Hi All. I found your site this morning, wish I knew about it years ago!

I need a bit of advice with regards to removing varnish. I have tried a few searches of the forum but couldn’t find one that answers my questions.

I bought an antique repro dining table last week and I need to remove the old varnish prior to refinishing it. It is made out of a soft wood, pine I suspect, and has some reasonably intricate carving which make this a challenging project. My first thought was to use a stripper and pressure wash it off as I would probably do more harm than good with sanding/scraping on the carving. My concern with this is the possibility of raising the grain from wetting the timber. It was suggested that thinners and steel (or preferably brass) wool could be used as an alternative that would be gentle on the carving. Last night I tried a few on a discreet corner and found that metho and turps have no effect but acetone will remove it and as of this morning there is no raised grain in the area (automotive paint thinners were also suggested as a cheap alternative).

Has anybody got any experience / knowledge of this technique concerning the best thinners for this type of job, whether this will adversely affect the wood or any alternative techniques that may be better?

Cheers,

TJ

[Greg Q]

First, are you absolutely sure that you want to remove the finish? This is a huge step, and removes any and all antique value in the piece.

That said, I have used Citri-strip with great results. I purchased it years ago at Bunnings. I cleans up with water or universal thinners.

[la Huerta]

mate, i'd have to agree with Greg above, you really don't want to remove all that aged patina, there are heaps of things you can do to restore the lusture to the table without striping anything off...aged furniture has a special appeal that can only happen with the effects of time, strip it and it'll look like any other piece of furniture, unless of cause it's a pro job like these guys do-http://www.patinations.com.au/workshop/workshop_photos.html

[TJH]

Thanks for your suggestions so far. As I said in my original post it is a reproduction, not an original, so I am not concerned about preserving the original condition. I have been working on it today and am having a lot of success with a sander for the large flat surfaces. The carving details are coming up nicely with acetone applied with a tooth-brush. A bit slow but the acetone is dissolving the varnish without raising the grain (will post some pics soon).

gergoryq When you used the citri-strip what was the condition of the wood once you had finished? My only concern so far with the method I am using is that some areas that I have striped appear a little darker, I think that while the acetone dissolves the varnish, a little of the stain that was contained in it stains the raw wood. Well it is a little darker than the wood that I have sanded, but at the end of the day I don’t think it will be noticeable after I have stained and re-varnished.

[la Huerta]

well it seems like you have your heart set on giving it a new look, you got to do what makes you happy...so what sort of stain /colour have you got planed for the rebirth of this repro table ?...

[TJH]

I’m thinking about staining it a mahogany. I have already built a (African) mahogany table and I hope to make some bookshelves in the future once I have some Australian mahogany (getting the wood is taking some time). That will keep it consistent.

[la Huerta]

you should be able to get mohogony from this guy http://www.modenaclassic.com.au (http://www.modenaclassic.com.au/)

but i can't seem to get this link up, he is a member of the forum, otherwise check the phone directory to get his ph#...

[TJH]

Thanks for the tip la Huerta. I couldn't get the link to work. I actually already have a source but the timber is still standing, and it looks like it wont be milled soon. Just have to put up with the piles of books and get on with the table befor I get back to work.

[Iain]

I have stripped a fair amount of detailed carvings and have used paint stripper with a brass brush then cleaned up with a nylon brush in metho.
The brushes often come in packs of three from the warehouse and similar and cost about $1
There is a steel (good for removing rust and other crude jobs) brass and nylon brush in each pack.

[pianoman]

TJH

Hi,

If you leave the mouldings /carvings un-sanded they will show up darker, once you have the new stain and finish on compared to the sanded area . This won?t be a problem if you make sure you don?t partially sand them then get t?d off with it, if you start sanding them, you will have to finish . The main thing is uniformity of colour in one particular part or feature. You won?t notice something as a different colour,as long as it is , for example all the carvings or all the top, or at least it won?t look out of place and may even look good.