Thread: Restoration of art Nouveau stand

Hi guys,

So i've started to make some progress in prepping this piece.

Paint stripper didn't work, neither did metho or steelwool - so it was down to 80 Grit paper.

Pictures so far of progress







There is a lot more to do, however I was hoping someone could give an idea re how to:

1) Sand the delicate carvings. Should I use a dremmel styled tool?
2) There is one badly bowed leg. Do you think a wet rag on the bow and some clamps might straighten it out. Will post of a picture of the leg once i've prepped it.

Cheers

The finish looks like it may be japanning.
It's a bugger to remove. Mechanically is really the only way.

I refinished a couple of carved picture frames that were japanned. It involved soaking in a tub of metho, and scrubbing with fairly coarse steel wool.
There was still some black in the deep carving crevasses, but it looked quite good when I gave it a polish with shellac. The black highlights seemed to work.

EDIT : You may have to live with the bowed leg. You can't really see it in the picture. I just don't think it will stay straight whatever you do.
It may have to be the leg that's up against the wall

Thanks for the info!

yes it did look like japanning and yes it's a pain in the butt.


Im thinking of shellacing. Have never done this before but keen to give it a go. May need some more tips! Any chance of seeing a picture of your frames with the shellacing and japanning stains?


hopefully I can get back to it this weekend. The rain is not helping!

I will try get a picture of the leg.

Originally Posted by Thumbthumper

The finish looks like it may be japanning.
It's a bugger to remove. Mechanically is really the only way.

I refinished a couple of carved picture frames that were japanned. It involved soaking in a tub of metho, and scrubbing with fairly coarse steel wool.
There was still some black in the deep carving crevasses, but it looked quite good when I gave it a polish with shellac. The black highlights seemed to work.

EDIT : You may have to live with the bowed leg. You can't really see it in the picture. I just don't think it will stay straight whatever you do.
It may have to be the leg that's up against the wall

Originally Posted by Dukebox

Thanks for the info!

yes it did look like japanning and yes it's a pain in the butt.


Im thinking of shellacing. Have never done this before but keen to give it a go. May need some more tips! Any chance of seeing a picture of your frames with the shellacing and japanning stains?


hopefully I can get back to it this weekend. The rain is not helping!

I will try get a picture of the leg.

Unfortunately, the frames I did were a commission quite a while ago. No photos sorry.
They did look good though. The metho seemed to soften the japanning enough to get most of it off, but there was really no way to get the last of it out of the detailing of the carvings.

Shellac is not hard to use. IIRC, I just brushed on a couple of neat coats, buffing with fine steel wool between coats. I then ragged on a mix of shellac and BLO.
The BLO provides some lubrication, and the shellac builds a polish.

I'm thinking of buying a Dremmel to help clean out th carved areas.

What are people's thoughts on that?

Keen to strip it back out as much as possible and also to sand back the top to a clean timber.

any other tools.... Or should I just persist by hand with sand paper?

Originally Posted by Dukebox

I'm thinking of buying a Dremmel to help clean out the carved areas.

What are people's thoughts on that?

Keen to strip it back out as much as possible and also to sand back the top to a clean timber.

any other tools.... Or should I just persist by hand with sand paper?

I'm just worried that the staining may to be too deep. Removing a heap of wood is not a great option.

A Dremel may help, but watch the carving detail.

In all, I think there's always going to be a hint of black somewhere. This is why I chose to highlight it when doing the frames. I originally wanted to get rid of all the black in the carvings, but after scrubbing for what seemed like hours, it wouldn't shift.

Originally Posted by Thumbthumper

I'm just worried that the staining may to be too deep. Removing a heap of wood is not a great option.

A Dremel may help, but watch the carving detail.

In all, I think there's always going to be a hint of black somewhere. This is why I chose to highlight it when doing the frames. I originally wanted to get rid of all the black in the carvings, but after scrubbing for what seemed like hours, it wouldn't shift.

Cheers Thumbthumper.

Spent a couple more hours on it on Sunday. Have de-assembled it which makes it a lot easier to work with. Slotted it temporarily back together until I get to it next weekend.

I'm yet to start working on the carvings on the legs, however have started cleaning of the carvings on the top. You can see that I've kind of finished three sides. A very slow process working on it by hand using sandpaper, steel wool and a bluntish blade.

It's starting to come together. Another day or so spent prepping it and then it will be time to think about the leg - and also the nick which has been taken out of the top. Any thoughts on how to fix the missing part of the lip. I was thinking of making a fill-in from another piece of timber however perhaps you or somebody else has a better idea.

There are a number of dents on the legs - wondering whether I should try a filler of sorts on them...







and a reminder of where it came from:

Another way to look at the nicks and dents is to see them
as part of the history of the piece and simply leave them as is.

So it's nearly time for staining.

the bowed leg has stayed bowed regardless of a variety of methods used.

Im working my way through the higher grade sand papers atm but am looking to dye some of the carved flowers prior to shellacing.

Is wise to shellac over dyes and carved pieces?

As a carver, my advice is definitely don't go at them with a dremel. They are hard to control, and this is not the piece to learn on.

I'd suggest carving or cutting the black out (look up "chip carving").
Or, leave them as they are and appreciate the black as a reminder of history (and your battles with the finish).



Dave