Antique Restoration - Part 1

When it comes to restoration a piece of furniture, sometimes the first thought might be that it can be easily done by anyone and all it needs is to buy some materials like paint or stain and apply it to the furniture. 

Old Finish

The very first step in restoration is to know or at least guess how old the furniture is and what kind of material has been used as a top coat. This information will help you to remove the old finish easily and prevent an extra damage to the furniture while trying to restore it.

The top coats that woodworker used have been changed through the years and because of the limited access to materials, craftsman used different top coat for finishing their work.

New finishing material and tools like lacquer and spray guns became available in early 20th century. Shellac was one of the finishing material 19th Century and it could be applied by brush but prior to that date, woodworkers had to use any material they could find to finish their jobs and protect their handmade piece from getting scratches, humidity, etc.  and the only available material in that time was either beeswax or oils especially linseed oils.

Examination the antique furniture and determination the finishing materials will help to choose the right product to remove the old finish properly without damaging to the furniture.

New Finish

There are three tools for applying the finish to the furniture, rags, brushes and spray guns.

After determining and removing the old finish from the antique furniture properly, it's very important to clean the entire furniture and make sure there is nothing left from the previous finish because sometimes a very small amount of old finish is too much and can make  you go back and start again.

To avoid that, it's better to wash and sand the furniture with the proper material and sandpaper. Choosing the right grid of sandpaper and the way of sanding is very important. Keep in mind that sanding along  the wood grain is the best way to prevent any scratches or line on the surface and will give a nice smooth finished surface.

When the furniture washed and sanded, it's time to apply new stain. There are variety of stains in the market these days and depending on the chosen stain, it can be applied by rag or spray gun. Excess stains need to be removed after applying the stain to  give you the nice color and make the wood grains pop up. It's better to let the furniture sit for 24 hours after staining to absorb the stain completely before applying the sealer and after that the sealer can be applied. Depending on the material you are using for sealing and top coat, the dry time is vary but it's better to let the sealer sit on furniture for at least 24-48 hours before applying top coat. 

FS1 Finishing has 40 years of experience woodworking, refinishing, and creating fine furniture. We work on everything from custom built-ins to standalone pieces like breakfronts, tables, dressers, chairs and much more.

We are a family owned business located in Langley and you can reach us at (778) 320-3490.