Ressurecting a bureau

[Baxter Smith]

I posted a question about this project in the finishing forum a couple months ago but didn't get much of a response as to what to try. Maybe someone here with experience can tell me what I have done and/or should do next time. (Not that I'm hoping for one!) There was some woodworking involved as a few pieces were missing, and the drawer sides, backs and bottoms twisted beyond reuse.

The bureau spent more than my lifetime in a cellar. Moisture took its toll on the finish and glue joints. Some of the lower portions of the mirrored back had dry rotted away. The only thing in my cabinet that seemed to clean up the cloudiness was denatured alcohol and gentle rubbing. I am assuming I dissolved the varnish and rubbed off some of the paint underneath. If I rubbed too much it took off the paint, not enough and it was cloudy. Any thoughts on what I could/should have done differently?

Picked up my third old mirror today at a resale shop and this time managed to break it cleanly along two sides to make it fit. So at Christmas, it will once again have something in its drawers besides pictures. I have cleaned those up too and they are back in their top drawer. Its not like some of the beautiful work I have seen posted here but it does have character and a story!

[John Keeton]

Baxter, I am far from an authority on furniture style, but that appears to be an Eastlake era piece - 1870-1880. Most Eastlake was of walnut, with burl veneer, marbel tops, etc. The quality was usually very good, although all machined. However, some of the cheaper furniture was of pine, or fruitwood of some sort, and often painted to appear as walnut, with various other applied detail to dress up the piece - sometimes called cottage furniture. My guess is that your piece was then top coated with shellac. Somewhere along the road, it may have had other finishes applied.

The alcohol probably dissolved the shellac, but took the paint with it. Other than Murphy's Oil soap, I would be afraid to use anything else on it.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

[Cody Colston]

I don't know anything about old furniture except that yours is a striking piece. It looks to be in good shape after the restore, too.

BTW, I know the term "dry rot" is used all the time but there's actually no such thing. Moisture was present at one time for the wood to rot. Without moisture, wood will stay sound forever.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks John, definitely less of an antique authority than you but I still like saving "old stuff". Have refinished and or repaired most of the furniture in my house that I didn't build in to it. Just never tried a piece like this. Looked up "East Lake" since I wasn't familiar with the name. My sister has a 4 piece set that belonged to my great grandparents. Beautiful walnut!

We always just called this painted or cottage furniture. It was fairly common where I grew up on the coast of Maine. Plenty of summer cottages (which could be rather large!) and or locals who didn't have the money for expensive furniture.
It usually gets painted after being stripped when the person realizes that it wasn't made from very pretty pine. Lots of boards just glued together with knots. Drawer sides, backs and bottoms looked like gum. Replaced those with some good Maine Pine!

You are right about it being shellac rather than varnish. I didn't try Murphys oil soap but did try half a dozen gentler products first. Nothing came close to clearing up those grey areas.

Cody, I agree about it being striking even though the inlay, birdseye maple, and grain are only paint. In some ways it was perhaps the walmart furniture of its day but....there was a certain amount of artistic skill to get it that way.

[John Keeton]

Baxter, when my wife and I first married, we had little in the way of furniture and went to several auctions (actually more than several!!:D)

We ended up with a hodgepodge of pieces, two of which were a couple of Eastlake pieces. Both were so black with grime, that one couldn't tell what the wood was without seeing the interior.

At the time, I wasn't familiar with Eastlake either, but I knew they were walnut. For some reason, they didn't attract much attention and we bought them cheap.

After many hours of work, we were able to restore them. And, you are right, they are beautiful works of art. Some don't care for the style as it can get to be too much in the way of ornamentation.

[John Thompson]

My first comment is... how many got killed in that rag?

My second comment is... h*ll of a nice job getting it back into good condition and I like it. I grew up in a home where cottage furniture was the only thing we could afford so I have a great appreciation for the purpose it served as it got er done.

Well done...

[Baxter Smith]

Thank you John, glad you liked it. Not sure I understand your question unless you were referring to brain cells.:)
I was pleased and relieved that it is at least presentable. Had my doubts to begin with. My Uncle had to go into a nursing home last spring. He offered me the bureau this summer when his sons were cleaning out the cellar for renovations. He knew they didn't have the time or interest to mess with it. It came from a neighboring property he had gotten for taxes in 1948 or 49. The elderly lady living there had passed away with no known living relatives. I suppose the pictures were of her family members. My uncle didn't need it or have room so it went into "storage". It must have been in good shape to begin with and I imagine that is the way he remembered it.
I have lots of pictures of the repair process to share with him at Christmas. And as Paul Harvey said, "Now you know the rest of the story!"

[John Thompson]

[QUOTE=Baxter Smith;1285450]Thank you John, glad you liked it. Not sure I understand your question unless you were referring to brain cells.:)

Nah... just an old joke that a friend from the 70's used on everyone. If you bought a brand new.. sleek.. sparkling automobile you usually show if off as you are proud of your new toy. When someone showed their new auto to my friend who was an auto parts manager he would look at it and slowly shake his head before exclaiming... "How many got killed in that rag" which would burst the bubble of the proud new owner.

At that point everyone would break out laughing and then the new owner got all the compliments after the initiation. Just an old southern thing as we do quite a bit of teasing and joking with our friends. Sorry if I confused you but your ressurection was a perfect place to spring that old joke as it is definitely a top notch job of getting the piece back to "show-room" looks! :D

Again.. well done!

[Baxter Smith]

This former "Down East Yankee" hadn't heard that one! The only thing I could come up with was the effects of smelling the denatured alcohol too long.:) But I suppose you southern boys just drink it straight from the still!:D

[James Ogle]

Try Naptha next time if you didn't this once. I used to clean up antiques for a miserly fellow in North Carolina to bring in some extra cash. I used Naptha almost exclusively. I only disolved the finish on a couple of pieces. It will definitely take off the grime as well.

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks James. I hadn't tried it. When I finished shoveling enough snow to get my car out I went and picked some up. Crawled into my van (the bureau was already loaded for its holiday trip) and tried it out on a spot that was still a little grey. May not have rubbed long enough (my arms and shoulders are beat:)) but it didn't seem to have an effect. Will have it on hand for the next one! Thanks again.

Baxter

[Jim Kountz]

Giving life back to an old piece is always rewarding and it looks great too!! I love the old pictures just as much!!

[mike holden]

Baxter,
That *IS* fine woodworking!

Often it is harder to rebuild someone elses work, than to do your own. You have earned the right to add your name to the list of cabinetmakers who made this piece. Treat it well, and it will have a life beyond yours, perhaps with your picture in the top drawer.

Well done!
Mike

[Baxter Smith]

Thanks Jim, The pictures are interesting. I have studied them quite a few times trying to figure out which ones are of the same person but taken at different times or which ones look like they are related. The photo processes used during that time changed fairly rapidly (and there are a couple of different ones in that group) so you can roughly estimate the date the picture was taken by that.

Mike - never thought of ending up in a top drawer but I will take that as a compliment!:)

When I was growing up, going through the attics, cellars and barns of both my grandparents houses was always fascinating to me. The same families had lived there for more than a 100 years, and it seemed like almost nothing was ever thrown away. Those kinds of places still have that same fascination for me.