Thread: Restoration old silky oak wardrobe

I have not done any restores so cannot comment on the actual question but as a general reply if you put on normal shellac it darkens the wood a little orangeish. My understanding is that blonde shellac does not do that, but have not used this personally.

The question I have, have you totally removed all of the previous finish? What about a photo or two, with and without flash.

Thanks for your response. Yes, I've stripped the cupboard with metho (assuming it had a previous shellac finish) and cleaned. It still looks a bit dark, but I can see already the lighter wood. Might have to clean and sanding it a bit more. I've attached some photos, using the flashlight. Have to make some shots at daytime. However, my question is, will blonde dewaxed shellac bring the golden/honey tone in the silky oak out or not. Under no circumstances do I want to have the wood darker, the lighter the better

Hi Angelmark welcome to the world of old furniture restoration/re-polishing etc. Its all good, I was going to say fun , but sometimes it is just hard work, albeit the results can be really satisfying.

For sure, with a piece like yours and given it has responded to a cleanup (of the old surface/grime), using metho and steelwool I would agree with your assumption that most likely it had been shellaced.

As to your questions, firstly, orange shellac will give a piece a orange/yellow appearance once finished, however, the darkeness of the colour is dependant on a number of things, including the age of the wood (the piece of furniture), the type of wood (pine vrs say a hardwood, ie. silky oak) and from my experience simply the fact that it has previously been coated. Some of the coating would have soaked into the grain of the timber and hence it will come up darker.

The only way I think to get it have a lighter and say more honey tone, is possibly to give it a light sanding (but if you do, always follow the grain of the timber). I havn't tried blonde shellac and so am not experienced to comment on this.

The other thing I have found from experience is that the more coats of a finish you apply, the darker the end colour will be, but as I say that is based on the use of orange shellac, and/or oil finishes.

Someone like Woodwould probably would have some more definitive advice. The other thing perhaps to do is have a look at Ubeaut's product site (link from this forum) and see what it says about the different finishes.

The one thing I can say is that shellac is actually a really easy product to use. If you have a read on some of the project restoration threads you will see descriptions on how to mix, how to apply it and how to finish off.

Hope that helps a little.

Might be worth finding a small out of the way section (maybe inside a door) and really go solid with either fine sandpaper or steel wool and see how light you can make it come up. I'd be surprised if you can get it much lighter than it is now.

I always think the best way to judge how a piece of wood will look when it's got shellac on it, is to simply smear some saliva on a piece of untreated wood. That roughly approximates what you'll get (only shiny) allowing for slight differences in the type of shellac used.

Curious on your dating of the piece - stylistically it looks fairly Arts & Crafts/Art Nouveau inspired (roughly Federation period) and, though I know Australia was maybe a little behind the times with the latest trends back then, I still think it's probably closer to 1920 unless you've got some evidence or provenance that confirms that 1930 date.

Just checking that what looks like intarsia on the doors is actually inlaid wood - I made that assumption once on a similar piece only to discover it was a very skilful piece of painting made to look like intarsia (see photo).

Thanks Horsecroft88 for your reply. Yes, I agree with you re satisfaction when you see the results of your hard work. I must admit it is a bit addictive (at least for me). I did more light sanding (following the grain of the timber) and found I have to be very careful with that. The timber has actually quite a lot of ‘scales’ (like fish scales) (see attached photo) and when sanding the timber the scales become a bit smudged. So, I tried it with a coarser steel wool (2-3) and ‘Howard’s Clean-A-Finish Wood Soap and it does a really good job. As you said, most likely the previous coat has been soaked into the grain and it would be very hard, if not impossible, to get rid off completely.
Encouraging to hear that shellac is actually an easy product to use, in particular as this would be my first preference. So, I’m going to do more research.
BTW I went to our local hardware store and the guys looked rather sceptical when I told them about my ‘project’ and first attempt of using shellac. Perhaps they don’t have much confidence in a woman to do that.
Cheers

Thanks for your reply Antipodes. I got the timber a bit lighter by just using coarse steel wool and a wood soap. But you are right, most likely that is as good as it gets.
I agree with you, the cupboard is probably closer to 1920 than 1930. I checked the
'inlays' and yes, you are spot on, they're proper inlays.
I like your cupboard, looks a bit different to what is normally around.
Cheers

Hi Angelmark, from what you are saying I agree the approach of cleaning it back really carefully is definitely the best way, and if you don't need to sand, then don't is always good advice.

What I would suggest, if you like is have a look at my most recent thread on restoration of a table I have just completed (help needed with some projects). That and Lawry's one re his English Oak table. Lawry was also a first timer to the process of shellac finishing furniture and he did an excellent job, with the help of a number of us giving him some advice how to shellac finish.

The key to doing it correctly is a little patience and a bit of effort. The rest is pretty straight forward, so don't take any notice of the guys at the hardware shop. If they could they would probably suggest you coat with a couple of coats of polyeurathane, which would be totally incorrect for your cupboard.

I was having a look at the attached close up of the grain in the picture, and the effect is superb. My quick thought on what you see there re the fish scale appearance is something similar to the type of grain in some woods termed fiddleback. I might well be incorrect but it certainly has an appearance of that. I will attach a picture of a cedar chest of drawers I have which is fiddleback, the two top drawers being a little similar to your cupboard re this effect and also an old blackwood wardrobe which had fiddleback on the bottom drawers.

Either way, you don't want to destroy that appearance and once re-polished correctly, the effect of this will be superb. It should almost have a shimmering type of effect, depending on how you look at it. That is the grain appears to be moving. I am not sure how else to describe what I mean.

Look forward to seeing how this cupboard comes up.

A close up of the drawer on the old wardrobe, long since sold.

Hi Horsecroft88,
thanks for your thoughts. Your are absolutely right, I don't want to destroy that appearance. Coming from Germany I don't have much knowledge about australian timber and I'm fascinated by what actually comes 'out of the wood' when it is stripped back and cleaned. I'm more hopeful now about the golden/honey tone, because the more I clean the timber the more it turns towards that colour. I still have to find out about the dewaxed blonde shellac, inparticular what it does to the wood. I've seen silky oak furniture with that golden/honey tone glow. Have a look at the attached picture of a silky oak scale knife. That's what I would like to achieve. It looks almost like a leopard.
Thanks for the photos. Very nice pieces of furniture.
Cheers - have to go back my cupboard,

You're from Germany? The wardrobe I posted I'm 99% sure is German Jugendstil (or Art Nouveau/Arts & Crafts as we tend to describe it). I bought it in Copenhagen and there was a dirty great "Kopenhagen" scrawled on the back in chalk so I'm just putting 2 and 2 together. Good luck with the project.

Interesting Looks certainly European, lovely piece - of course, because it comes from Germany

Cheers

Hi,

Just came across this and thought I would throw in my two cents. Experience based, rather than expert based!

I have used the Ubeaut white shellac before and was happy with the results. I have generally used your normal garden variety of shellac on the Kauri/Hoop pine pieces I have worked on before as it provides that wonderful warm glow to a light timber. I can understand why you would not want that on a Silky Oak piece.

I will attach a pic below showing the piece I used the white shellac on. As it was a mix of Blackwood and Huon pine I did not want to add too much colour to the timber. From memory I watered it down with metho 50% and applied a few coats maybe 4 to 6 - far less than I would have added to an all Kauri piece. I don't think it has the depth, however only added a very small amount of colour to the timber.

Hope this helps! Oh and its a beautiful wardrobe btw,..that grain is stunning and will come up a treat!

Thanks Chief012 for throwing in your 'two cents'. Yes, I was actually tossing between super blonde /blonde dewaxed shellac or the dewaxed Ubeaut white shellac . I really do appreciate your imput, because after looking at your picture I'm now tending more towards the white shellac. Looks great what you have achieved
Did you use the already mixed/liquid Ubeaut white shellac or did you mix the flakes yourself?
Cheers

Bitte Schon!

I bought a 500ml bottle of the ready mixed and just diluted it with more metho to thin it. As I mentioned from memory about 50/50.

Good luck and remember to post some photos when you are done!