Help is again needed

[Roly]

I have a chest of drawers that has beeen in the family for many a year, at least since we came to the big Aus in 57. It is looking a bit shabby and I would like to give it a touch up and hopefully get a great result like shane did in his series (onya Shane).

Can anyone give me a tip on how to start, how to strip the old finish give it a new one etc.

Thanks in advance,
Roly

[Shane Watson]

If you can wait a coupla weeks I might have another project ready to put on here. Its an old silky-oak dressor. Well I will have the job finished this week, but I have to wait till I can get the old 35mm film developed so I can scan in the first pic that buggered up on my digital camera.
Cheers.

[ubeaut]

G'day Roly - When you say shabby do you mean shabby or well and truely stuffed. Quite often shabby can be restored with a bit of polish reviver. Not all old stuff is a case of strip it all off and start again. Some can be revived very well, it may not be new looking again but it could possibly revive to resemble a well cared for piece for its age.

Often a really crappy looking piece can be revived with as little as a good wash down with warm soapy water. Oh yeah, and just as often it can't. I would urge you to have a really good look at the piece before jumping in boots and all for the big strip. If the surface is water mark, has white rings, etc but is basically sound, with little or no crazing of the finish and no big chunks are missing, then I would try the reviver first.

If after that you still feel it needs to be stripped, then go for it. A bottle of Polish Reviver will cost you around $11 and maybe an hour of your time. Stripping and refinishing will cost you a hell of a lot more than that both in the hip pocket and in countless hours of labour.

Cheers - Neil

[Shane Watson]

I can only support what Neil says. Just because we see someone else doing somthing one way, dosn't mean thats the best way for our own purpose's. Each piece needs to be approached as an individual. Up here in Nth Qld my approach to furniture re-finishing is usually to remove the old finish - but due to the rather xtreme weather conditions old finish's do not last, so reviving isn't an option in most cases but when it is thats what is advised.
I guess another concern in todays times too, is the want to change the furniture to match the decor without removing the furniture - another words change its colour. Something that certainly requires removal of the old finish. This is certainly left for non-antiques.