Antique? Wardrobe/Dresser Restoration

[young 'un]

Hi all,
On the weekend I purchased an old wardrobe and am planing to restore it to its former glory. I'm unsure as to how old it is exactly but it is made of tasmanian oak (I think). The previous owner must have attempted to refinish it with a thick layer of shellac which is now peeling and looks quite horrible , I will be taking this off with metho soon.
As I go through this , as my first resoration project, I will keep you all up to date and will most likely ask for some help, from all you gurus out there
Is there any way to find out how old it is?
Also, what equipment should I purchase if I also plan to restore more pieces in the future?

Digit

[mic-d]

Hi Digit,
It's Art Deco, so could be '30's plus/minus 10 years. Looks to me like hoop pine panels (maybe ply?), maybe stained hoop pine framing/shelves too. The door panel looks like Aust red cedar. I wouldn't try rubbing the finish off with shellac and metho, too slow and you will get steel wool stuck in places like between the panels and frame. Instead get a spray bottle of metho and glad wrap. Spray a panel and stick the glad wrap to it. Wait until the finish bubbles up, maybe 15 mins. If it dries out, lift a bit and spray more metho. When the finish is loose, scrape it off with a soft wooden block or a pallet knife.

[young 'un]

Thanks mic-d that advise is gonna save me heaps of time, with taking off the shellac
Just wondering if it would be worth getting a Dremel for fine detail work and touch ups.

Digit

[mic-d]

A dremel is handy, I don't want to discourage anyone from buying a tool But remember the idea of taking the finish off gently is to preserve the aged timber, if you go digging around with a dremel you might expose new timber and have problems with colour matching etc...Metho to soften the finish and reapplied in difficult areas with careful use of scrapers is just my opinion is safer.

[rogerjenkins]

I use metho and some of those plain ordinary kitchen Nylon Scourers,- black & gold ones are best as are softer than other more expensive brands. Pour the metho into an empty icecream container, dip into the nylon scourer, and briskly rub each section of the old wardrobe, regularly dipping the scourer into the metho to keep the timber surface wet. For awkward carved sections, suggest using a decent nailbrush to get into the finer carved sections, again keeping the area being worked on as wet with metho as practical. Also pays to buy a Four Litre container of Metho, as it quickly evaporates, therefore a small litre bottle goes nowhere. For big jobs, your local Hardware store should be able to get you a 20 litre drum of metho. Yes, I know you are thinking, " What the 'ell do I need a 20 litre drum for,- it's ONLY one small job ?
Yes, sure,- but jobs like these have a habit of, " G-R-O-W-I-N-G " Neighbour down the road / street hears about your project, and they want something done, then someone else comes a, "knocking," too;- I think you get the drift
Happens all the time to me
Roger