Thread: Advice on restoring a blackbean credenza/sideboard

Very good questions you are asking.

Can you share some photos of the complete piece? Do you know more about the piece? Do you know what the approximate value of the piece is right now? You might be surprised. !950's and 1960's furniture is building a following and I would hate to see you ruin a piece that might be worth something.

If you are only concerned about the gloss level then I have to tell you that an oil finish does not have a high gloss level even when new. The piece might simply need a good clean. Of course if there is structural deterioration then that will need to be addressed.

The photos you have shown makes me think that this might be quite nice.

lay on the paint stripper, scrub it off, then give it a rub down with metho/thinners, give it a scrub down with a new brush, then another wash off with metho/thinner mix and bob's your uncle, she's stripped

sand her up, repair it all, then polish it

very important thing though... make sure it isn't that 60's timber look vinyl

if it it, there is nothing you can do, that stuff is a sticker and will peel off at the sight of moisture

In my experience, the best results from restoration come from doing as little as possible. A lot of value comes from a piece retaining its patina from the original finish, stripping it off will reduce the value, especially if you put on a new finish that is not compatible with the original intention. Do any repairs and see what a good cleanup will do, find out what the original finish was and treat accordingly!

I might just add; I have seen a very nice boardroom table of the same period, with a very similar blackbean veneer and finish, reduced to firewood value by someone who thought they would 'just sand it off and put on a new finish'. very sad! Do as little as possible!

not sure i agree with only cleaning up 60's stuff.
The look was suposed to be sleek so shabby just looks shabby.
I once asked a decco expert if it was ok to strip the baby poo brown finish off decco stuff.
he said this was fine as the NC laccer clouds and hids the grian of the feature timbers used to vaneer.
IMHO 60's stuff should be completely renewed. dont use a sander on it though unless you know what your doing, the vaneer is very thin and easy to sand right through it,
strip with stripper, wash down with meths then hand sand it.

helluva nice piece that one - and I am saying it as someone who used only to like things 80+ yrs old. Might be a Danish Design piece, sold through Parker or similar.

Folks above are spot on especially regarding sanding it .... probably no need anyway ,as the finish is likely to be easy to remove with the appropriate remover .... doubt I would do it though - must be worse than it looks in the pics.