344 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
September, 1911 
Refinishing Old Furniture 
By Robert Searn 
OLLECTING old furniture is not neces- 
sarily expensive, if one knows where to 
look for bargains. Many enthusiasts 
have joined in its search, and it is safe 
to say that almost every old attic in the 
country has been ransacked at least once 
by treasure-seekers—either dealers or col- 
lectors. As a result, many really fine pieces of old mahog- 
any have been brought to light, and after refinishing, are 
occupying places of honor and distinction once more. 
It is safe to assume that when you have found your old 
piece, it will be suffering from general instability. The 
first thing to do is to go over it very carefully, and reglue 
all the loose joints. Scrape off the old glue, put on fresh, 
and clamp the parts together tightly, with cabinet-maker’s 
clamps, and leave them till the new glue is thoroughly dry. 
Scrape off the surplus glue that is forced out of the joint. 
It is well to put on new casters, and if the piece is heavy the 
new ball-bearing casters will be found much better than the 
ordinary kind. ‘The old brasses, if you are fortunate 
enough to secure them, should be removed and repolished. 
If the piece has wooden knobs, as sometimes happens, they 
may be replaced with reproductions of the old-time brasses, 
that are to be found in some of the larger hardware stores. 
Glass knobs are worth while, and should be retained. If 
the piece is a bureau or a desk, the drawers will generally 
be loose, and the runs badly worn. ‘The old runs should be 
removed, and new ones, of hard wood, put in their place. 
The draw slides should be planed off, and thin strips of 
hard wood screwed on. The drawers will pull easier if 
the runs and drawer slides are rubbed with a piece of tal- 
low, paraffin, or soap. 
It may also be necessary to replace broken or missing 
parts. Practice is necessary to enable one to do this work 
neatly; the only suggestion that I have to offer in this con- 
nection is that in order to secure well-seasoned wood for this 
purpose I visited the yard of a firm that makes a business 
of tearing down old buildings, and, for almost nothing, se- 
cured several good mahogany panels. 
After all repairs have been made, the next step is to re- 
move the old finish. There is always varnish to scrape off, 
sometimes paint; one of the best tables I ever found was 
hiding under four thick coats of paint. Boiling water and 
washing-powder applied with a stiff brush may sometimes 
be used to remove old finish, but this method is not recom- 
mended, for the reason that the hot water may loosen the 
glue in the joints, and if used on a veneered piece, will 
cause the veneer to swell, and to separate from its base. 
There is always danger that the washing-powder will bleach 
the wood, turning mahogany, for instance, to a dirty yellow 
color. There are various brands of paint remover that 
may be used. These do very well, if used with care, though 
I have found them rather messy and unpleasant to use. 
The remover is brushed on, allowed to stand for a mo- 
ment, and then the finish is scraped off with a putty knife. 
It is well to apply the remover a second time, and to wipe 
off the last vestige of the old finish with a cloth, or better 
still, with a handful of steel wool, such as the painters use. 
After using varnish remover, it is wise to wash the surface 
with turpentine, or benzine, and allow it to dry thoroughly, 
before applying new finish. 
Though the process takes much longer, I have found the 
best way to remove old finish is to scrape it off with a well- 
sharpened putty knife. There is a knack in sharpening a 
scraper properly. It is easy to describe, but not at all easy 
to do. ‘The best way is to get a good-natured painter or 
cabinet-maker to give you a lesson. ‘The idea is to file the 
edge of the scraper square across the end, in such a way 
that a burr edge is turned over. It is this burr edge that 
does the cutting, and when it is flattened back it is again 
turned to a cutting position with the point of a steel bur- 
nisher. Sometimes broken glass is used, but it is not as good 
as a steel scraper. [he important thing to remember, 1s 
to take off every particle of finish, down to the bare wood. 
After scraping, it will often be found that the wood of 
the different parts of the piece are of different shades. This 
is sure to be the case if repairs have been made. In order to 
darken mahogany, dissolve five cents’ worth of permanga- 
nate of potash in boiling water. This will make a quart 
or more. Apply with a brush to the light portions of the 
wood. It is well, in order to avoid darkening the wood 
too much, to use the solution very dilute, and apply it 
several times, until the wood is the exact shade desired. 
The permanganate is not a stain. It seems to burn the 
wood, and must not be used too strong. 
There are two methods of refinishing. A bureau or desk 
may have a shellac finish, rubbed down, while a table-top, 
which may have hot or wet dishes placed upon it, should 
be rubbed to a hard oil finish, which will show no marks. 
To get the hard oil finish, brush on a mixture of raw linseed 
oil and turpentine, mixed in the proportion of two parts of 
the oil to one part of the turpentine. Allow this to stand 
for a few minutes, then rub off the surplus oil with a clean 
cloth. Repeat this process several times, at intervals, being 
careful not to get too much oil on any particular part of the 
table, or that part will sweat, as it is called, and must be 
rescraped. After several coats of the oil have been applied, 
and they have had a chance to dry in slightly, go over the 
table-top with an iron weight, wrapped in a soft cloth, and 
rub to a polish. This will not come immediately, but 
patient work, and an occasional rub with an oily cloth, after 
the table has been put in use, will eventually give the desired 
result. Table-legs, and pieces of furniture not exposed to 
heat and moisture, may be finished in shellac. First apply 
a coat of oil, as described for the hard oil finish. Thea 
go over the piece with a thin coat of white shellac. When 
the shellac is dry, sandpaper lightly with fine sandpaper. 
This will, of course, remove most of the shellac, except what 
has gone into the inequalities of the wood. ‘Then put on 
another coat of shellac, rubbing down as before, until four 
or five coats have been put on, and rubbed down. For the 
last rub-down, use powdered rotten-stone and oil, applying 
it with a piece of haircloth. Rub only hard enough to kill 
the gloss of the shellac, and to secure the dull satiny finish 
that is so pleasing. Rub off the surplus oil and rotten- 
stone with a soft cloth. Some of the paint companies sell 
lacquers that give a dull finish without rubbing, but as I 
have had no experience in their use, I cannot say how they 
would work out. 
The directions given apply to refinishing old mahogany. 
1 prefer to finish each piece in the color of its natural wood. 
It is sometimes necessary to finish a piece of light-colored 
wood to represent mahogany. To do this, apply a wood 
dye or a penetrating oil stain. Do not use varnish stain. 
This does not go into the grain of the wood, but merely 
forms a colored coat on the surface. After applying oil 
stain, wait a few minutes for it to strike into the wood, 
and then wipe off any surplus that remains on the surface. 
