Restore oak sideboard

[Johnboy54]

Hello to all.
Bought an old solid oak sideboard from a junk shop, coming next week.
Guy said it's not varnished because they didn't use varnish when it was made.
I've found loads of stuff of how to strip it back to bare wood, but all conflicting advice.

Use wirewool - Don't because the steel reacts with the oak.

Sand it - Don't because it scratches the wood.

Etc....

Having had good advice from lots of the forums on here for many years, I'm asking for advice again.

Thanks

John

 

[joe-90]

Scotchbright and mentholated spirits.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Assuming that your piece is manufactured (as opposed to bespoke) and hasn't been refinished at any time since it was made, then he'd right in that factories have pretty much never used varnish (it often never sets properly and if it does it is subject to crazing/cracking). Better quality furniture would probably originally have been French polished, although this started to peter out from the 1920s onwards except for smaller shops and higher-end furniture. A lot of stuff is still refinished this way by refinishers, though. From around WWI the industry changed over to cellulose spray lacquers. After WWII pre-catalysed and 2-pack lacquers came in based on various formulations, although some furniture returned to an earlier methed of finishing, oil (mainly on teak and other tropical hardwoods). Certainly the "traditional" finish for English oak is grain filled (Plaster of Paris or pumice/rottenstone with a colouring agent), stained and French polished to finish

Some clues about finishes: French polish softens and dissolves in methylated spirits, cellulose lacquer softens in cellulose thinners, catalydes/2-pack lacquers don't react to either and may require some sleuthing to determine what is the make-up

 

[Johnboy54]

Thanks to you both.

I'll try Joe90's approach first and hope for the best. I have both items so away I'll go.

JobAndKnock - Thanks for your detailed, informative reply. And your time writing it. Very interesting.
I know if the first option doesn't work, all is not lost.

Thanks again.

John

 

[joe-90]

I fully agree with J&K. My dad was a french polisher.

 

[matz]

to get it back to bare wood you need to strip the finish. Meths will only remove a finish if its meths soluble (unlikely) Sanding will indeed scratch the surface and the paper will clog so much you will lose the will to live doing it! Stripping the finish is what you need to do - with a paint stripper. DIY strippers are ECo friendly and sometimes ineffective. Proper strippers can only be got via the trade by signing a disclaimer. Whatever stripper you use, take the softened finish off with a paint scraper then rub off with stainless steel wire wool using several coats in total.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

The "proper strippers" you refer to contain methylene chloride (DCM), a particularly nasty chemical which requires the use of eye protection, heavy-duty breathing masks (NOT paper dust masks) and rubber gloves. It was banned for sale to non-tradesmen in 2012 and to quote the current regulations, 'paint removers containing DCM may only be supplied to "professionals" who are accredited according to the regulations. They may not be supplied to the general public'. I wonder, therefore if any pro or trade outlet would actually supply the stuff to non-trades any longer, disclaimer or no disclaimer. I know that to purchase it there is now a need (with our suppliers) to prove that we are bona fide trades people.

IIRC the traditional method of removing varnishes and lacquer finishes was with a cabinet scraper - a time consuming drudge task - rather than sanding. Because this is so time consuming we only ever did it after trying meths or cellulose thinners to see if we could dissolve it first. I have used heat guns in conjunction with paint scrapers to remove catalysed lacquers, but they need to be used with caution (as well as good ventilation and a good quality active-carbon + P2 mask) as finishes can sometimes contain some unhealthy (when vapourised and inhaled) by-products.