Help with a partners Desk restoration project

[BrentonSpear]

I have removed a lot of the second colour from the desk now. it is starting to look good but is still very dark in places.

I am not sure whether I should French polish and wax the desk or strip it back and recolour it to make it a bit more of an even colour.

[auscab]

Do you have any pictures of the dark parts ? is it the second colour still sitting on top ? or are the dark parts raw timber? Rob

[BrentonSpear]

I don't have any current pictures. I will try to get some.

The dark parts I think is the second colour sitting in the grain of the timber. I might bring a drawer in for you to have a look at this week and see what you think. The dark parts are definitely not raw timber as I can still see the original colour. There are some areas where I think that the original finish is not present any more.

[BrentonSpear]

Here are some pics.

The area that I think the original finish has come off is above the handle from right to

Attachment 158992
Attachment 158993

Here are some other shots:
Attachment 158994
Attachment 158995
Attachment 158996

[auscab]

You are right about the area above the handle , original finish gone, but crikey the over all look is good I can see the reflection of your floor in one of those shots, it will take very little to make it glow,

I would take the handles off for the re polish ,clean the gunk out of the screw heads with a screw driver that matches the size of the slot, before you do it get 120 grit or close ,sand paper, and true up the blade of the screw driver so the flats and the tip are square and fresh, rest the blade at the end of the slot and tap out the goo side ways with a small hammer then take out the screws.

looks to me that the handles are replacements but they look good,and match the period of the desk , for me I would not be buffing them up to new , but would lightly clean up with 0000 steel wool and metho if there is polish stuck to them, or a 30 / 70 mix of linseed oil and turps , keeping the patina but giving them a light shine. you could put the matching ones to the top ,and not matching to the bottom

I would like to see a drawer but I dont start back for the year till the 31 st ,I may be getting in this Wednesday or Thursday and working with the doors shut, but you would have to PM me a phone number and I could let you know exactly when I will be there,
I am still on hollidays and have been spending my time landscape gardening in my back yard, and have a few days to go. I would be happy to show you just how to shine it up.and post it here as well,if any one else wants to see it.

regards Rob

[BrentonSpear]

Thanks Rob.

I had the handles off while I was removing the second colour. I just put them back on to see what it looked like complete. All the screws came out easily.

I think that I will only have another 8 hours or so to go before I have it all back to original.

I also removed the felt and will sand that back ready for the tooled leather. I still have to source this though. I am thinking a black leather with gold embossing on the edges. I want to fill the gaps in the top somehow so that the lines do not show through the leather.

More work for another weekend.

[eskimo]

I hope you guys are using pure turps in your polish reviver.restorer....and not mineral turps

[eskimo]

just beware that if you take too much of the original polish off your going to lose the lovely Patina that has taken the desk 100 or so years to gather..eg,,your first pic of that draw suggests and looks like you have gone too far

a polish reviver/restorer is and should always be your first option on a non painted piece to allow one to assess the timber and its patina ...especially on a shellac or waxed piece

[auscab]

I've always used mineral turps in the reviver and it's been fine, the only difference between mineral and pure, that I know of , is that mineral can leave a white residue behind, this is why pure is used in mixing a wax and not mineral,

I make all my wax up with pure, once I did a small mix with mineral ,and it left white residue all over the place which was held in the wax.

With the reviver though ,it's all getting wiped off, to a dry finish,and then refinished after that, so if there is a little white left,its not a problem. I will give the pure a try in the reviver though and see if that is the only difference.