AboutGreg Scholl Expertise Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects,Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings of all kinds.
Experience Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Sold, built, serviced, setup Home,Industrial and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools, and offered instruction on use and care as well.I even have some Trade show Demo experience.
Organizations none at this time.
Publications Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how"), local newspapers as well
Education/Credentials Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field.Seminars by Major tool manufacturers, Delta, Powermatic, Performax, Porter Cable, Skil/Bosch to name a few.
Past/Present Clients Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT.(the Antiques capital of CT.) Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.), local Museums and Historical Societies.
You are here: Experts > Hobbies > Woodworking > Woodworking > repairing hardwood furniture...table, dresser, nightstand,end tables etc Colonial period
Great site 1st of all. Have been refinishing damaged pieces of furniture that are all HARDWOOD and over 50 years to 150 years old. We to the point that if theres no tag or carving in wood to show antique... its mine to refinish lol . Have refinished several pieces and all have been sanded to bear wood. There was no need for stripper because the sander did it all; i had no problems of sandng paper clogging or anything. Does that mean anything ? So many people say i have to strip cause sanding won't happen cause of the finish. THe furniture is dull and still looking good but has scratches, chips, dents etc... . Kids are finally gone and time to put back to anew look; is my mission to achieve.
Mostly Oak, Mapple, Buirchwood, Blackeye Maple, Red Oak, Cherry are the types of wood furniture. Have been using polyeurethene for some past jobs with no stain. Have i been making a big mistake doing it this way ?
The important refinishing pieces are going to be started and thats why i am looking into this site for the correct method. The other pieces that have been done came out EXCELLENT and no we love the look with just polyeurethene clear coat. No stripping has been done; just sanding to correct the scratches and damage to all work. Don't think stripper will be needed cause sander takes out everything... i dont have problems sanding like so many peole said i would. Guess i dont have the coating they are talking about... what is that coating they are talking about that needs stripping ?
Item:
1. Maple or Oak solid mans dresser with mirror on top and has a RED/purple haze to it but dull. Is that the stain someone used on it... reddish/purplish antique look ? Sands right off no problem though.
What is a good method of refinishing this hardwood items ? Stain & Clear coat combo or do a stain 1st. and than a clear coat ; or is there something else. WE like the natural clear look of the wood. Stains is a guessing game and a sample piece is the piece so thats the reason for avoiding stains. I've bought to many that have a crap look and i am stuck with the can. Like the minwax brand.
What is this Fenel Seed oil or some type of oil seed for wood ? Is this a finish ? Do i need to treat the wood before staining it; put moisture back into wood ? Wood is not cracking or splintering but does have scratches and damage from 60 years of neglect . We want to give the furniture a FRESH look and re-birth so to speak. So far the other jobs have come out great and wife very very happy.
My last job i did a small dresser and the fumes of the polyeurethene seem to still linger. Is there something more i need to do to this specific piece to seal in the clear polyeurethene ? Or is just a time thing to get rid of the fumes coming from the dresser ? The dresser has been done for more than aweek and its in a warm room but theres still a fume smell present; not much but its noticeable after sitting in a closed room . Any help on this one with the fumes and what needs to be done if anything ?
Thanks Greg anxious for help.
Raymond
Answer Hi Ray, wow...eleven questions?? I'll start by saying that sure, a sander will sand down almost anything, but the reason for stripping is to remove the finish completely from the pores of the wood surface, and to leave the contours and certain elements of wear and age intact, without removing excess wood from the piece, especially on an Antique. Sanding will not remove all of the finish from the wood, which can interfere with absorption of stain and sealer,( the stain won't stain evenly), and also cause adhesion problems down the road. To refinish anything, you want to start with a clean, bare wood surface. Restoring an existing finish is a different story, and requires knowledge of finishing and a bit of detective work to make sure you're using compatible methods and materials, to allow the piece to continue to exist far after you're gone, as furniture will last several hundred years, but only if the restorers it's seen throughout it's journey have been knowledgeable and caring. If you do encounter a veneered surface with a sander, you may also damage the veneers, which can be quite thin on Antiques, which will be around long after we are, and if someone uses a power sander on a piece like this, the amount of times that it will be able to be refinished will be limited because the veneers will now be much thinner in spots, or even sanded through in spots. Polyurethane is only one choice in a large field of finish methods, and many of these finishes will give a different look to the piece, as well as offer different levels of durability and repairability. Polyurethane as a rule, does not repair well, unlike lacquer, shellac, oil finishes, etc. I have never heard of Fenel seed oil for use on Wood...there are many oil finishes available for wood, Tung oils, "Danish" oils, Linseed oil....these are drying oils though, and may contain Phenolics and other resins with a drier, that allow them to soak into the wood and harden from within, and the more coats that are applied, the more of a surface finish it becomes as it seals the wood pores and begins to build. Sanding a piece of furniture down and simply polyurethaning it will give it a rather sterile look, and this is certainly not the same as properly "restoring", but if it's just something you're going to keep for yourself, and you like that look then, ok. Treating an Antique this way, though, will ruin it's value, and is not recommended. Stains are used for different reasons, to add more depth and clarity to a finish, to help hide mismatched pieces of wood in a piece, to color shift tones, etc. There are also different types of stains that do different things, Dye based stains which are transparent colors, Oil pigmented stains, and other solvent wiping stains, Toners, which are actually Dye colored sealer coats, etc., etc. Finishes will all have different characteristics, they add color too...from "water" clear for waterborne Acrylic urethanes, to slight amber or straw colors of lacquer, pure urethanes, and refined or "blonde" shellacs, to deeper amber colors of oil Varnishes,Modified Varnishes, oils, and less refined grades of shellac, to deeper reddish ambers like, Garnet shellac and Sandarac, Alkyd brushing varnishes and colored oils..all have different wear and durability characteristics as well, and repairability issues, too. Oils based varnishes and Polyurethanes or Modified Varnishes (Alkyd Varnishes with urethane and or other pasticizers added), will take a longer time to dry, and offgas (smell) for a while, sometimes several weeks, whereas waterborne Acrylic urethanes, shellacs, etc., will cure quite quickly and not smell at all, for the most part. So rather than try to write a book here, I would suggest you do some reading about finishing techniques, and maybe get some videos, or see what your local library has to offer. Also, a website like Jeff Jewitt's (www.homesteadfinishing.com) has a wealth of good information, and excellent products you can buy, (like several grades of shellac, waterborne and Hybrid finishes,etc.), he is a master finisher and educator. Taunton Press has an excellent array of materials for the novice to professional as well, look them up at: http://store.taunton.com/onlinestore/catalog/woodworking
There are also many online videos and tutorials there and elsewhere on the internet. I would suggest that if you get joy out of doing this, that you take the time to broaden your horizons and really learn about what you're doing ...there are even local courses one can take...it can only make you better at what you do, and open up new possibilities and techniques for you to explore. I can take the same piece of furniture and finish it 8 different ways, and all will look beautiful, and last for years, but all will look very different as well, different coloring, depth of finishes, sheen levels, overall feel, etc., etc., and the piece will look very different from one result to the next.... Hope that helps- post back if need be...regards- Greg
