Help with restoring art deco furniture

[Frank&Earnest]

My dining room furniture appears to be blackwood (?) darkened with Black Japan and finished with some sort of nitrocellulose spray.

The problem is that the finish is very delicate and has the bad habit to stick to sweaty backs in summer. I would like to replace it with something more durable without affecting the furniture's value as an (almost) antique. Any suggestions?

Also, what is the best way to touch up the table and credenza without stripping the lot?

Thanks
Frank

[durwood]

I have worked on this same type of furnature, It was the first stuff we had when I got married, because of its age it could have been through several hands and attacked by anyone but the finish was originally shellac.

The sticky finish is not likely to be the actual finish becoming sticky ( is the side board the same) , it is probably only dirt and grime on the chairs as they get handled so much.

Before you strip off the surface try to wash the surface with soap and warm water. Use a clean light coloured cloth and if it is dirt and grime you will see it on the rag. Your instructor should know enough to determine what finish is on there and if its shellac or nitro cellulose it is easy to add more of the same and fix the bad parts.

Question when you stripped it did you use a paint stripper?

If so what did the finish do when you applied it ?
Did it just go soggy or did it bubble up into a skin?

[ozwinner]

Also, what is the best way to touch up the table and credenza without stripping the lot?

If you sneak up slowly you can touch it up before it notices..

It would have been originally done in shellac for sure.

Try durwoods approach, if it doesnt work you can give the pieces a rub down with a metho on a rag, followed by a good shellacing.

Shellac is available from Bunnies, or you could try our sponsor.

Al

[watson]

If you sneak up slowly you can touch it up before it notices..

Tee Hee!
Going through a similar restoration ( one single chair) and I will watch with interest

[ozwinner]

Tee Hee!
Going through a similar restoration ( one single chair) and I will watch with interest

It wont do much if you just watch it, the chair I mean.


So what are you trying to or going to do to the chair?
What sort of chair is it?

Al

[watson]

Its a sort of Jacobian style chair, nice carving in the back piece, sprung seat....but...
It's had the normal farmers' fix of a bit of threaded rod across the back.....two x three inch nails inserted into the back legs to hold the legs to the seat structure, nice turned front legs.
Cost $5 at a local garage sale....but if I could restore it correctly, I would sit on it until I got really old.
Don't know that the chairs really old..(maybe 1920-30) cos it has the remains of a label inside the seat.....showing a fluted column with the word "General" on top of the column.
I just want to fix its loose joints with hide glue..remove the nails without bruising the back legs, and remove the threaded rod and fill the holes. Restore the finish to a reasonable facsimile of the original, and sit on it.
Not a big ask....cupla days....joking

Sorry Frank....didn't mean to jump all over your thread

[ozwinner]

Its a sort of Jacobian style chair, nice carving in the back piece, sprung seat....but...
It's had the normal farmers' fix of a bit of threaded rod across the back.....two x three inch nails inserted into the back legs to hold the legs to the seat structure, nice turned front legs.
Cost $5 at a local garage sale....but if I could restore it correctly, I would sit on it until I got really old.
Don't know that the chairs really old..(maybe 1920-30) cos it has the remains of a label inside the seat.....showing a fluted column with the word "General" on top of the column.
I just want to fix its loose joints with hide glue..remove the nails without bruising the back legs, and remove the threaded rod and fill the holes. Restore the finish to a reasonable facsimile of the original, and sit on it.
Not a big ask....cupla days....joking

Sorry Frank....didn't mean to jump all over your thread

Sounds like you paid too much for it.

I really cant offer too much advise, sorry , bring it to the BBQ, if nothing else I have a burning pile...

Al

[Frank&Earnest]

Thanks all for trying. Additional info: the instructor believed it was sprayed on lacquer, removed it with Mirotone scraped then washed out with lacquer thinner and steel wool.

I have had the furniture for 30 years and noticed that the finish behaves like French polishing: metho dissolves it (and acidic swet also, it seems ) and makes it sticky (yes, the sideboard is the same), but what is taken out is not flaky and brown like shellac, would seem to be transparent if it were not darkened by the stain underneath . Scratches very easily. White halos left by glasses etc. can be removed by the old trick of the flaming alcohol. Cleaned it many times by giving it a light wipe with a rag wet with metho. Occasionally polished it with commercial spray-on products. Doubt very much that grime is the issue: it would dull the shine, which is still ok.

So, the first question is to find out for sure which finish it is:

1) it is French polishing. No problem touching up the sideboard. (Hands off, you pervs! ) But for the chairs: Is French polishing advisable? If not, what would be a suitable stronger alternative that would not ruin their integrity as "antiques"?

2) it is a nitrocellulose spray, which makes it tricky for the sideboard unless that is fully stripped too (any jokes on it being naked and I call in the vice squad! ...woodvice? ) is there any other way? For the chairs, can I be confident that respraying will overcome the stickiness problem?
Any suggestion of a good brand?

Thanks again
Frank

[ubeaut]

Sounds like Nitro, most likely but could also be good old fashioned oil varnish. Thing that bothers me is that it really shouldn't be sticky if it's nitro or shellac. Sounds to me like it has been waxed or oiled at some time which has picked up gunk and that's what's making it sticky.

I take it you have already had a go at some sort of stripping from the tone of the last post.

My first thought would have been to use Polish Reviver on it, which should have removed all that gunk, water marks and white ring, etc.

If you are going to do a repolish job on it, I suggest you strip it. Don't pussyfoot around with metho, thinners, or some sissy organic citrus stripper. Use a proper paint stripper and get it over and done with. Wash it all down with metho using #1 or 0 steel wool then sand and begin again.

Cheers - Neil

[Frank&Earnest]

Hi Neil, thank you for your expert advice, much appreciated.

I might have given the wrong impression: the finish is not sticky in itself, it only melts with metho and, apparently, copious swet (it happened only twice, but the guests involved were obviously not impressed and I would like to avoid it happening in future).

Another piece of info: it chips off like french polishing: does this help to rule out nitro or oil varnish?

Any wax-oil on it would be what was contained in the "inferior commercial products with silicone" I used. Although the fingernail scratch test comes up negative on all counts (but it all scratches off if I do it hard, it is fragile), I am happy to try your "secret recipe". This also contains oil, though. Does it evaporate in some way, or does it only replace one type of oil with another?

In any case, it is worth trying it first. Could you recommend a good brand of Nitro I could use for the stripped chairs? (unless you think something else should be used?)
Thanks
Frank

[ubeaut]

You could try the Polish Reviver but, methinks it needs to be stripped and refinished or at the surfaces where it is scratched off do.

I would use shellac if you don't have the spray equipment and knowledge.

[ozwinner]

Ive had great success on tables with shellac slapped on with a 4" brush.

When you have done 3 or 4 coats rub it down with Neils Traditional wax and steel wool, the surface is nice and silky to the touch, and looks great.

Yeah I know Im a bodger, but it comes up a treat. Trust me.

Al

[Frank&Earnest]

Thanks everybody - shellac it is, then! I could get access to spray facilities and expertise at TAFE, but the consensus seems to be on this one.

By that I assume you mean shellac flakes in metho, i.e. French polishing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Cheers
Frank

[ozwinner]

By that I assume you mean shellac flakes in metho, i.e. French polishing. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Yes, but slapping it on with a 4" brush isnt French Polishing.

French Polishing takes ages to learn to get it right.

Al

[Frank&Earnest]

Yes, but slapping it on with a 4" brush isnt French Polishing.

French Polishing takes ages to learn to get it right.

Al

OK, OK, we'll call it Aussie polishing, then. She'll be orright, mate!