I have a Rocking chair that at some point id love to duplicate. But for now i need to restore the original. This forum is so good i figured some great advice is here for the best stain remover. Thanks for your time!
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Sandpaper in medium grit, then steel wool into decoration curves.
A bit of time.
Last one I did a 70 year old bassinet with painted pictures on the ends that needed to be preserved.
Took 3 months
P.S. I don’t use the “wet” remove method, it seems more trouble and it could cause problems with the wood.
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Do you know what the finish is?
I dont know the finish @WillAdams
However the sanded parts i have done come up real easy.
I did another rocking chair a month ago and i was days sanding, i mean days!!
I wanted to do something non abrasive on this little guys face and around him. Hoping something may just help wipe it clean enough to.re stain.
That face makes me want to get onto the cnc and make it. Curved back may be a tough go for this amateur cnc’er but someday when i do it to perfection ill remember how incredible that ability is.
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I have used citrus based strippers. However as @DrPete stated liquids can cause issues with old furniture. The old furniture was put together with hide glue. Hide glue will dissolve in water. That is why when old furniture is stored in damp basements the joints tend to fall apart. The strippers have to be neutralized with a water rinse. If you are going to take the chair apart and glue it back together with modern PVA glue then the moisture wont really hurt. Just let the chair dry thoroughly before going back to gluing and finishing. Sanding takes a long time but is the least invasive method to method to remove old varnishes. Even easier is getting the chair taken apart and then sand each piece individually. then put it back together. Some people would put a brad nail in to keep the leg joints from coming apart even if loose so look for metal objects and remove them before trying to disassemble an old chair.
If you ever watch the antique shows refinishing an old piece removes some of its value. But if you need to repair it anyway then just do what you want. Some people value the original patina more than a a new looking old chair. You can see from the picture someone enjoyed sitting in that chair.
People did not always stain oak but rather fumed it in an ammonia chamber. Plus UV light tends to turn most wood darker over time. So if it was fumed the ammonia reacts with the tanic acid in the oak and turns it darker. If that was the case the dark part is just on the surface as you can see by the worn arms.
Plus a lot of older varnishes turn dark brown over time so it may have never been stained.
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