I inherited this very interesting bar piece, but I want to take it back down to the wood, and possibly re-stain it. I’m a novice when it comes to furniture restoration. I have an orbital sander with foam pads and a scraper. What products would you use on this to restore it? I need advice! I’m terrified of screwing it up. Im pretty positive it’s black paint and not stain, but not sure if it’s latex or chalk with a coating on top.
I managed to get an Ercol Windsor 469 Serving Cabinet off FB for a good deal but on getting it home I’ve found it’s missing three shelf pins. Can anyone help me find some replacements. I’ve looked everywhere online and nothing will match the size I need. The Ercol website doesn’t sell spares.
It is 30mm long total, the pin is roughly 12mm long and 6mm wide, the spoon is roughly 18mm long and 10mm wide. My dream is that someone has got an old piece that is past saving and I could buy the pins.
Hi all,
This is my first project. I’m trying to refinish this cheap free table into something usable. It has a leaf but had some bad damage. It took until those patches became pale before the dings and scratches and water rings were out. And the seam between the halves was badly raised from water damage. I’ve gone over it with a Varathane marker but it doesn’t look very good on close inspection.
My issue is I don’t know how to balance out the colour now. If it’s better to take the entire veneer top down to pale like the spots or bring the pale spots up to the rest of the table.
The former is easy but risks taking away too much veneer however I would then have a simple time staining the top all one consistent colour.
The latter is faster less risky but may be more expensive if I get the colour matching off. I don’t know enough to know what colour on top of that pale almost yellowish patches will come out looking like the rest of the table.
Alternatively I suppose I could replace the veneer entirely but that’s something I have less than zero experience with.
If better photos are needed I can take some just let me know what you need to know to provide some advice on next.
Thanks for any help and tips you can provide.
Client cabinet, not mine. Came in solid, no repairs needed, they just didn't like the color anymore.
Stripped the whole exterior and re-toned it to a dark slate. Looks basically black indoors, goes blue-gray when the sun hits it. Left the interior in the original cherry on purpose so it still glows through the glass. That contrast was the whole point of the job.
Took all the panes and hardware out before starting. On glazed doors thats not optional in my opinion, you can always see where somebody masked around fixed glass, theres a ridge at the muntin and it never looks right.
Only tricky part was keeping the molding profile even. End grain on those profiles drinks color faster than the flat faces so you have to build it up slow or you get blotching in the coves.
Anyway, happy with how the two tone landed. Curious if anyone else does the dark outside light inside thing on glazed pieces or if you tend to take the interior dark too.
This is my first refinishing project and I’m not doing the work myself — a friend’s brother is handling it, and I don’t think he’s done many pieces. So I’m trying to make sure the plan is solid before anything starts.
What I’ve been going back and forth on:
1. Gel stain vs. penetrating oil stain for getting oak this dark without blotching. And which of these I’m considering would be the best fit for what I’m going for. I chose these all mostly because of what the color looks like online!
https://generalfinishes.com/wood-finishes-retail/oil-based-wood-stains-sealers/gel-stains
https://www.minwax.com/en/wood-stain-color-guide/browse-color-stains/brown/dark-walnut-mw2716-solid
2. Whether a piece like this needs to be stripped or whether a scuff-sand and gel stain is acceptable
Photos attached. Any advice on process, products, or things to check first would be really appreciated.
1st photo is the piece I bought, 2nd and 3rd photos are references.
Thanks for any help!
I recently inherited my grandmas home and her furniture including this solid oak table but it has this weird vinyl looking coating on the top and I don’t like how dark it is making the house.. is there any way to lighten it up for someone who doesn’t know anything about doing that? If anyone can give me any insight into this table about its history I would love to hear it. I will include pictures
I found this antique drop leaf table on Facebook Marketplace and absolutely love it! Unfortunately, it’s not in the best condition and does have what appears to be mold. I’m not very familiar with furniture restoration, so I’d love some advice from anyone who has experience with this. Is this table salvageable? These photos are from when I first brought it home, but I’ve since given it a thorough scrub with a little original blue Dawn and let it sit in the sun for about an hour after spraying it down with white vinegar. My plan is to strip the existing varnish, lightly sand it, and then re-stain and re-varnish it. I will NOT be painting this, so please no paint suggestions. I’d really love to get it as close as possible to the original color/finish, so I’d especially appreciate recommendations for stain, varnish, or other products/techniques that would help achieve that look. Would love to hear any advice, tips, or things I should know before I start! TIA!
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask... but I have a set of chairs that have failing joints in the same place. The legs are joined to the seat support with floating tenons and they have all cracked apart.
I'm wondering if I should just clean up the old glue and reglue/clamp it back together as it was originally made (and if so, what's the best glue for this).
Or countersink and drive a heavy screw in from the back of the leg. I was thinking like a structural screw. Most of the screw would end up going through the floating tenon though.
Any ideas or tips would be appreciated!
Hi, I was hoping to find some advice and hopefully a tried and tested solution for this conundrum.
I got this chair and it is covered in what appears to be old glitter and paint (the photos do not do it justice as to how much/badly, but they are the best I could do to show it). I would like to remove it completely in order to then refinish and seal the chair, to restore it to as much “as new”/original as possible.
It only occurs to me to either:
Sand it down (but somehow I feel that would either push the glitter into the wood and make it worse, or need to take too much wood off, not just a surface sand), or
Use some sort of product (alcohol, paint remover, etc.) and scrape it off with a metal spatula or steel wool if it loosens (which would take no or minimum wood off/along with it)…
However I am not sure which would work better, or if they would work at all, or if their is a better way to do it in order to leave it glitter and paint free, before prep sanding, staining, lacquering/varnishing and sealing it?
Any and all ideas/comments are most welcome and I thank everyone in advance for your time and valuable assistance 🙏🏼😋😉
May you have a fabulous day.
I bought this piece fully intending to completely sand down and restore, but was convinced by this community to just restore. I’m glad they did, because it will be a keeper for us after a fraction of the work. A good cleaning, restored finish, touch-ups, feed and wax polish, and new pulls. The hardest work was deciding on the pulls.
Hello!
I have been in search of a piece of furniture to use for a Bar cabinet/Storage.
Found this piece for free on Facebook Marketplace and felt like it could be perfect so I picked it up.
Clearly in need of TLC but I’m not sure where to start. So I am looking for opinions/ recommendations.
I love a wood look so I don’t think I want to paint of this.
Trying to see if ppl can tell is something is real or imitated
Hello,
I bought this bamboo shelving unit from an antique store. I intend to restore it and put houseplants on it. As you can see, it’s in pretty rough shape.
It has little plasticky flakes coming off of it in droves- I assume that’s the original varnish that’s been dried out by the sun.
I don’t want to paint it or stain it or anything. Just take this junk off, clean it, and re-seal it with a protective coating.
Based on what I’ve read, the best/ easiest process would be wipe the flaking parts with mineral spirits, lightly sand it with fine grit sandpaper, and then apply 2-3 coats of satin polyurethane.
Not sure if anyone here has any experience with something like this and has any better ideas though, hence my post. Thank you!
Hello! I am trying to clean this jewelry box that was my great grandmother's. I cannot remove this ring drawer. There are two wooden pins on each side holding it in place. I have tried tilting the box all which ways, I can hear some sort of metal sound in the drawer. Any idea how to remove?
I’m working on this cherry table, this is after two coats of satin oil poly. I have it out in the sun now. How long should I leave it out there and how many coats should I do? I normally do 3. I would like to see it pop a little more
Im not sure how to refinish our outdoor furniture. It’s solid wood and I’m not sure what species. Can someone tell me what wood this is? I was going to sand it where I can reach, stain with dark stain as close to original color as possible, then seal it. Can someone tell me what was used to seal this? It’s flaking off and I don’t know where to start. Also, is there a best solution to use over oil based stain? I’d like to use the same as what was originally used, if possible. It’s Amish made, if this helps. Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Hello! I don’t know if this is the sub for this question, but I’m wondering if there’s a solid way to find furniture based on the size of the drawer faces. I have these drawers here (and 1 not pictured) and I would love to keep the faces and put them on a newer, sturdier dresser but can’t seem to search for dressers by “5 drawers whose faces are 20x73cm.” What would be the best way to go about this?
Wife and I bought a table from facebook marketplace. We used stripper, sanded it down, and applied the stain + poly in the picture.
It is recommended on the can that minimum drying time is 6 hours. These pictures are after 24 hours. It is certainly still in the process of drying and is tacky to the touch.
Any advice on how to address the darker parts on the table, or the table at all? Guidance on how to rectify this our maiden furniture refinishing is greatly appreciated 😂
I bought this stag dressing table on Facebook Marketplace. It was damaged on top and has a veneer top. I sanded only the damaged bits and was left with texture issues which I fixed with sanding sealer, then covered the table in layers of Dixie Belle No Pain Gel Stain in Walnut. Let it cure for 72 hours and applied a thin layer of Dixie Belle Flat Clear Coat - and it turned out with a white cast! I tried tinting the top coat with dark brown water based paint but it still looked bad. I sanded and restained and it looks good again but: what do I use to top coat it?!
I don’t want to ruin the finish again, and as it’s a dressing table/vanity it needs protection. I’m looking for a super clear coat that will look smooth and uniform and non glossy.
FYI - this is my second ever furniture project
Do I buy Dixie Belle Satin top coat? Or the new Gator hide? Or a spray top coat from a different company? What will sit nicely on a dark oil-based gel stain?
Thank you in advance!
It took so incredibly long to strip these, and now that they're finally ready, I realize I have absolutely no idea of how I'm going to proceed from here. I intended to stain them, but I'm completely baffled by all the choice of color. Most worrisome - how can I possibly ensure the legs match the veneer on the body? I had no idea the colors would be so different from one another and have no clue as to how I might be able to achieve uniform color. Any ideas? Thank you!
(last photo shows what I started with)