Advice on re-finishing oregon desk

[la Huerta]

hey guys...

been ages since i have been here, hope you are all well

picked up a cheap oregon desk, it is perfect for my needs

there are heaps of scrathes on the top and the desk has a light antique color stain

now i don't want to sand the whole top back as because it is stained it will be hard to get it to match the rest of the desk again...and i really don't want to go through that trouble

i love the imperfections from years off use, the more charactor the better, especially since it is only a manufactured desk.

could anyone suggest a way to tidy up the finish on the desk without loosing the color?

i was thinking of giving it a very light handsand to remove any rough bits, then a few coats or orange shallac to to enhance the already antique color and blend in any bits where the stain is scratched through.

and then a few coat of wipe on poly (awsome finish as it is soft and luscious and not too shiny)

what do you think?

[rustynail]

Have you considered a tinted lacquer?

[la Huerta]

hey rusty !

no i am no good with spray stuff (or have spray gear)

looking to keep it un-fancy, don't want it to look new but more like an old desk, keeping the charactor of the previous owner. but still need to add some sort of finish.

might give it a clean with metho first, to get the gunk off, then go from there.

[Oddjob1]

G'day mate,

most of this kind of thing has been finished with Mirotone, a light sanding sponge to take off the rough bits then wipe over, me thinks with Antique Baltic thinned stain then a cupplea coats of the original Mirotone single pack 30% gloss.

Will be excellent, don't take out the ink marks and that, you know what I mean. Check out the Mirotone website, no I don't work for them.

Cheers Oddjob1

[la Huerta]

hey guys!

ok, here is what i ended up doing

gave the desk a good clean with a damp cloth and soapy water

gave the rough bits and the top a very light sand with 800 wet/dry (very, very lightly so not to rub off the stain)

and i grabbed some pastewax from carbatech and i waxed and polished the whole desk

the result is exactly what i wanted, i still retained the rustic patina and imperfections from years of use and the wax gave it a nice antique look whilst filling in the scratches.

doing some research this is how most antiques are rejuvenated...

sweet