Restore painted jarrah windows

[lyna]

Hi all,

I'm renovating and have some solid jarrah casement windows which I would like to strip back to wood and reuse. I've done some experimenting and read various posts on this forum. A heat gun takes off the majority of paint fairly easily, but some remains in the cracks. I've tried using a chemical paint stripper after the heat gun with only modest success. I've only tried to remove the paint in the cracks using an old toothbrush. Some have suggested using steel wool or a wire brush. Someone even suggested using a toothpick, but this is a big project and that would be just too tedious.

The original plan was to have them dipped in an acid bath or some such, but I've heard that can weaken the joints and glue. Not good in windows of this size.

What do you think my chances of success are? It would break my heart to have to repaint such beautiful wood, but I have to be realistic about whether it's worth the effort. Any advice or suggestions gratefully accepted.

Cheers,
Lyn

[Tung tied]

Hi Lyn,

You're right about the acid clean and the joints / glue. Also painting the window with opaque colours will make them last longer. The paint finishes generally last longer than varnish and poly ones, but if you are willing to put in the hard yards and recoat every 5 yrs or so, the jarrah will look fantastic.

Cheers

Bryan

[fly2hi]

Could you not find a stain that matched the Jarrah to touch up the small bits of paint you can see. if it's done carefully, you will know what you have done but i doubt anyone else will notice.

[lyna]

Could you not find a stain that matched the Jarrah to touch up the small bits of paint you can see. if it's done carefully, you will know what you have done but i doubt anyone else will notice.

Hmmm.... I wouldn't have expected that stain would soak into the old bits of paint. That's certainly something I could experiment with.

If I went that route, what options would I have for finishing? I had halfway played with the idea of using oil, perhaps linseed. It would have to be reapplied fairly regularly (yearly?), but it's an easy job. The external part of the windows will be under cover.