Stain or Varnish for Book Shelf

[MalekoUK]

We have an old book shelf we have had for a while, which was my parents before. Very solid so we want to keep it.

Currently varnished black but we're going to sand it down and then either stain or varnish it...

What would be best and also what brand/make varnish/stain to get?

We want to keep it looking natural, so a clear one would be ideal.

Just after advice before I buy the wrong one and have to sand it again! haha

 

[Deleted member 174758]

For a start I'd better point out that varnish hasn't really been used in the furniture trades since well before WWII. Your "black varnish" is in all probability either a black paint or possibly a 2-pack lacquer with a black pigment added.

Before deciding what you want to do in terms of final colour/finish I'd suggest that you need to strip it to find out what wood you've got under there. Black paint/lacquer was often applied to oak and ash from the late 1980s onwards (?), but the problem with oak and ash is that they are both open pore timbers where the pores will be filled by the finish and it often cannot be got out - you'll end up with something which looks like it has a black rash in places. Once you've stripped the existing finish you'll be able to better judge the possibilities, including repainting in a different/lighter colour. Until you've stripped there's little point in discussing it IMHO.

If the finish is original I suspect that the piece may well be veneered and lipped sheet material (e.g laminboard, plywood, MDF, etc) and in that case you'll need to be careful not to sand through the veneers. It may be as well to consider using an aggressive stripper such as Nitromors and a scraper to clean off the existing black lacquer or paint finish. Use with care. Avoid dipping (dip stripping) as furniture often doesn't take too well to that, especially veneered stuff, although a pine stripper should be able to handle 2-packs (they can get a special stripper made for the task)

 

[Norcon]

Ronseal still make varnish.
So you don't have to travel back in time to before ww2 to get a tin.
Have a few tins in my workshop also.

 

[Belboz]

He said it hasn't been used in the furniture trades since before WW2 - not that it wasn't used and available elsewhere....

or that's how I read it....

 

[emilybronte]

We have an old book shelf we have had for a while, which was my parents before. Very solid so we want to keep it.

Currently varnished black but we're going to sand it down and then either stain or varnish it...

What would be best and also what brand/make varnish/stain to get?

We want to keep it looking natural, so a clear one would be ideal.

What exactly do you mean by 'natural'?

There is nothing inherently 'natural' about bookcases.

 

[MalekoUK]

We have an old book shelf we have had for a while, which was my parents before. Very solid so we want to keep it.

Currently varnished black but we're going to sand it down and then either stain or varnish it...

What would be best and also what brand/make varnish/stain to get?

We want to keep it looking natural, so a clear one would be ideal.

What exactly do you mean by 'natural'?

There is nothing inherently 'natural' about bookcases.

The wood looking natural...

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Have you stripped it yet and what was underneath?

 

[MalekoUK]

Have you stripped it yet and what was underneath?

Not yet, other stuff has taken over atm

 

[MalekoUK]

Here is the start of the sanding down.
Almost got all the black off, needs some more all over, but you get the idea.
This was just the first going over to get the black off.


View media item 92915 View media item 92914

 

[Deleted member 174758]

At first sight that appears to be a tropical hardwood such as sapele (sometimes called African mahogny, although in reality it isn't a mahogany at all) which is a mid red/brown colour, or it might possibly be Indian laurel, which is a less pinky/red colour with more of a yellowish tinge. Sapele is often stained with a mahogany stain (reddish) then clear lacquered, but that may be too dark/red for you, although it is the "natural" colour for that type of timber