Refinishing a Walnut base

[David Falkner]

I don't do much of this but I was asked to take this Walnut base, made in the 40's and an heirloom from BAFB, and freshen up the finish to make it closer to the original Walnut color. It had faded quite a bit from sun and room light. They asked me to strip it but I refused because of the mess involved and I truly don't want to be doing any stripping. Besides, there was no way I could guarantee the safety of the precious original medallions because they can't be removed. Those that were removable have been added through the years but the original ones were firmly glued in place. We discussed using heat but some of the medallions looked like heat would be detrimental to their already delicate condition.

So I masked everything off, dry sanded it with 220, cleaned with Naphtha, and then dusted one light coat of Nitrocellulose sanding sealer. I gave that an hour and then lightly scuffed it with 220 again to make certain it bonded ok. Once I knew that worked then I shot one wet coat of sealer and sanded it again. Then one light coat of gloss lacquer followed by toning with Mohawk Perfect Brown Ultra Penetrating Stain. When the color looked right I followed that with one coat of gloss followed by sanding a few hours later. After that I shot a final wet coat of gloss and let it set overnight.

I think it came out nice and they really liked it when they picked it up today. I'll try to get a photo with all the medallions in place before it goes back to Barksdale.

Before -
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Masking off -
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After -
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Enjoy!
David

[Bruce Page]

That looks great David. I love the warm, rich color you achieved.

[David Falkner]

Thanks, Bruce! I just realized that I said I used Perfect Brown but what I actually used is Van Dyke Brown (slightly more red than Perfect Brown).

David

[David Falkner]

Today I saw the assembled piece with all awards mounted so here's a photo of that (the lighting is a little different than my shop but it still looks nice).

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David