Settling In Nicely
7/12/05 05:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wobblerlorriMost of our unpacking is done, just the little crap is left. We're down to the point of asking each other "Where is so and so? Have you seen it?" and the other shrugging and saying "It's in a box here somewhere..." And eventually we run across it.
I've almost finished my first furniture restoration project: the old railroad desk that used to belong to my great grandfather. I used Citristrip gel stripper to remove the finish on the top of the desk (the carcase is fine, just needed a good cleaning and waxing), then bleached the HUGE ink stains on it with a saturated oxalic acid solution. It worked amazingly well, I was impressed! Neutralized the acid with a vinegar/water mixture, then let it dry overnight. All that water raised the grain something fierce, so I sanded it with my NEW Ryobi random orbital sander (Home Depot had them on sale and Mike got me one, such a sweet hubby), then stained it with Minwax Golden Oak dye stain. It's a perfect match.
Today (well, yesterday) I started putting on the Polycrylic top coat. I know, using synthetic varnishes is a huge no-no to antique purists, but I'm going to be USING this desk for my computer desk, not putting it in a museum somewhere. The top has to be able to stand up to sweat, skin oils, cat claws, bumps, bangs, and dings, not to mention heat. Traditional varnish just won't take it; synthetics will. The Polycrylic is more flexible than polyurethane, so it won't be as likely to chip.
This stuff is sort of strange, it comes out of the can milky white but dries clear. I'm not overly thrilled with the brushmarks left by the bristle brushes, so tomorrow (today actually) I'm going to start using a cheap foam brush. I have 2 coats on already, I think I'll put two more on (yes, sanding between each one).
I also took out all the drawers and waxed them with Briwax, god what a difference! The wood came alive, and is a gorgeous darker tone, just glows. Feels a lot nicer, too. Next is to wax the carcase, and replace the drawer stops so the drawers don't go so far into the carcase. Then it's up to my room with it, move the 'puter and monitor onto it, and on to the next project.
I was wavering between the cute little table the printer is on, which needs some repair work as well as work on the finish, or the chest of drawers I'm going to use upstairs. Most likely I'll start on the chest, since it needs to be completely stripped -- some idiot in the past thought they would cover up the gorgeous quarter-sawn oak with horrid salmon-pink paint, then someone else thought institutional green was the tits, then finally someone else decided to cover that up with a misbegotten attempt at doing a faux wood graining using yellow paint and dark brown glaze. All I can figure is that they never saw real wood grain before...
I should have taken a pic of the desk before I started on it, but I'll take an "After" pic of it. I'll most likely document the rejuvenation of the chest of drawers -- it's astounding what's been done to it.
Met a neighbor today! She's a massage therapist and lives in back of us, across the road. Very nice lady, brought us some stale brownies and tasty blueberry muffins. She used to sell antiques, so maybe we can get together and go yard saling or junk shopping looking for those buried treasures.
Well, enough for now, the cats are bugging me to go back to bed, so I guess I will.
Lorri
I've almost finished my first furniture restoration project: the old railroad desk that used to belong to my great grandfather. I used Citristrip gel stripper to remove the finish on the top of the desk (the carcase is fine, just needed a good cleaning and waxing), then bleached the HUGE ink stains on it with a saturated oxalic acid solution. It worked amazingly well, I was impressed! Neutralized the acid with a vinegar/water mixture, then let it dry overnight. All that water raised the grain something fierce, so I sanded it with my NEW Ryobi random orbital sander (Home Depot had them on sale and Mike got me one, such a sweet hubby), then stained it with Minwax Golden Oak dye stain. It's a perfect match.
Today (well, yesterday) I started putting on the Polycrylic top coat. I know, using synthetic varnishes is a huge no-no to antique purists, but I'm going to be USING this desk for my computer desk, not putting it in a museum somewhere. The top has to be able to stand up to sweat, skin oils, cat claws, bumps, bangs, and dings, not to mention heat. Traditional varnish just won't take it; synthetics will. The Polycrylic is more flexible than polyurethane, so it won't be as likely to chip.
This stuff is sort of strange, it comes out of the can milky white but dries clear. I'm not overly thrilled with the brushmarks left by the bristle brushes, so tomorrow (today actually) I'm going to start using a cheap foam brush. I have 2 coats on already, I think I'll put two more on (yes, sanding between each one).
I also took out all the drawers and waxed them with Briwax, god what a difference! The wood came alive, and is a gorgeous darker tone, just glows. Feels a lot nicer, too. Next is to wax the carcase, and replace the drawer stops so the drawers don't go so far into the carcase. Then it's up to my room with it, move the 'puter and monitor onto it, and on to the next project.
I was wavering between the cute little table the printer is on, which needs some repair work as well as work on the finish, or the chest of drawers I'm going to use upstairs. Most likely I'll start on the chest, since it needs to be completely stripped -- some idiot in the past thought they would cover up the gorgeous quarter-sawn oak with horrid salmon-pink paint, then someone else thought institutional green was the tits, then finally someone else decided to cover that up with a misbegotten attempt at doing a faux wood graining using yellow paint and dark brown glaze. All I can figure is that they never saw real wood grain before...
I should have taken a pic of the desk before I started on it, but I'll take an "After" pic of it. I'll most likely document the rejuvenation of the chest of drawers -- it's astounding what's been done to it.
Met a neighbor today! She's a massage therapist and lives in back of us, across the road. Very nice lady, brought us some stale brownies and tasty blueberry muffins. She used to sell antiques, so maybe we can get together and go yard saling or junk shopping looking for those buried treasures.
Well, enough for now, the cats are bugging me to go back to bed, so I guess I will.
Lorri
