Need help for refinishing an antique table

[Ralph Barhorst]

A friend of my wife has sent me an email asking the following:

"I have just acquired a nice antique library table/desk that needs some refinishing and repair. My husband can do the repair and I can do the refinishing, but I want to retain the antique type finish. It is a stained walnut with a no gloss finish. Is it best to sand the old finish off or first use a stain remover and steel wool? I have heard that to get the no gloss antique finish you should use a furniture wax. Do you know about this? Can you recommend something for me to use?"

I have never refinished an antique and I need some suggestions.

[David Eisenhauer]

I'm just thrashing around here, but I'd try naptha first, then the stain remover with steel wool before I resorted to sanding off the original finish. Maybe the stain remover will discolor the finish some, but it should leave a smaller or lesser problem to correct than sanding something to bare wood. Remember the old adage, when matching stain colors during a repair, it is better to err on the side of too dark rather than too light. Something about the eye missing/forgiving too dark better than too light. Hopefully, someone else has better hands-on info than I did.

[Steve Schoene]

I'd want to ask a lot of questions before embarking on the restoration.

First is "how antique"--does it date from before the 1840's or so? What style is it? What do they know about the history of the table--who owned before them? Is walnut the wood it is made from or has it been stained to look like walnut?

What kind of stain is it that they wish to remove? Dark, light, ink? What is wrong with the original finish that they want to refinish it?

Then they should determine what the original finish is? A test in an inconspicuous location by seeing if denatured alcohol softens the finish indicates shellac. If that doesn't work, lacquer thinner would soften lacquer. If neither of those solvents work it is either an oil finish or varnish. Varnish would reveal itself as being a film on top of the wood, and oil be being "in" the wood.

At this stage they can rule out wax as the only finish. It's just not good protection for the table, and anyway, waxes tend to polish out to a fairly glossy surface, not mat.