Thread: To sand or not to sand?

Heh heh, good one Ken,

Originally Posted by ELM6061

Sand paper - Steel wool, opened a can of worms (hopefully not wood worms). I was not aware that there are different grades of steel wool, apart from stainless steel course and the fine wool, or is that all there is? Where is the best place to get steel wool? I was recently looking for some and could only get the stuff infused with soap.

Any, as I said above, thanks again and will try to get some photo's tomorrow.
Watch this space.

Eddie

Eddie, not sure if any of this sites sponsors have steel wool , but I have easliy sourced mine from bunnies, and also the Howards product range (maybe go online, or head into an antique centre....usually they have it, but at premium $$) the 000 & 0000 that have been refered to are in the wood treatment/ stains etc. section at bunnies.
Looking forward to your pics! You most certainly DONT want 'washing up' style steel wool, and certainly not the stuff with soap..yo will totally destroy your items...I was reticent at first, assuming all s/w is the same..but..........! try for yourself! Lawry

Originally Posted by Lawry01

Eddie, not sure if any of this sites sponsors have steel wool , but I have easliy sourced mine from bunnies, and also the Howards product range (maybe go online, or head into an antique centre....usually they have it, but at premium $$) the 000 & 0000 that have been refered to are in the wood treatment/ stains etc. section at bunnies.
Looking forward to your pics! You most certainly DONT want 'washing up' style steel wool, and certainly not the stuff with soap..yo will totally destroy your items...I was reticent at first, assuming all s/w is the same..but..........! try for yourself! Lawry

G'day all again.
Lawrie tried our local buntings again today, yet again they only managed to produce the soap filled stuff and when I mentioned it supposedly came in different grades, I was lead to the sand paper. May have to let my fingers do the walking as you suggest, "online".
So now to try some image links;
This should lead you to a slide show of all the images taken.


And a couple uploaded here to the site if I can?






All the cracking is around the edge of the top, base and appears to be starting on the legs. There is also scuffs etc on the main body but it is all the cracking that is the worse of it all.
After a closer inspection (digging it out from the rest of the stuff stored here), it will probably be best to do the whole unit.

Eddie
where is the label (photo 1 in your slide show) located?
On the underside of the top?



What I think you have is a piece that has been coated with a lacquer containing a Mahogany stain
As you said, the lacquer is flaking off.
Others may have an alternate fix, but I think your best bet is to strip the finish and start again from bare wood. To do this properly will mean removing the glass

I also think that the top and bottom off the cabinet is veneered particle board with a solid wood edge strip that has been shaped after the veneering. If I'm right, be careful sanding the veneer surfaces


Eddie
I had a second look at your photos

this one looks like the venner has chipped off and the particle board is showing through.



If this is the situation, I don't think refinishing the piece is worth the effort

G'day Ian and thanks for the reply.

The label is stuck on the very back, only one I could see and now that you mention "veneer", and re-looking at the photo, I think you are right. I am back there tomorrow and will have a closer look.

Didn't know you could add stain to a varnish, I was certain the wood had not been directly stained itself because of the white'ish wood showing under the cracked finish.

So you think the side and door frames are solid timber with profiled edging top/bottom and veneer tops on both.

Guessing it will not be easy to strip/re-varnish just the edge profile and not have it look out of place.

Will wait to here what others have to say and take a lot closer look.

Eddie

I agree with Ian. It's of not great age and the cost in repairing it wouldn't be worth it. However if you're not charging for time, it would be a good piece to learn and practice on.

Well after further inspection, both top & bottom are molded chipboard with veneers. So no not old as I had originally thought, but yes something to have a practice on.

Was not a complete waste of a thread, learned I can rub old wood back with steel wool .

Thanks for all the reply's guys.

Ed

personally I don't think it is even worth practicing on, unless you buy it first.
But it's too deep to use for tool storage

Ed, my concern, principally for you, is that if you start refinishing the piece, the charity shop will expect you to do a full repair including teh veneer. Veneer repair is possible, but very time consuming.

Hi Ian, at the moment with only myself doing the non electric fixes, time can be an issue, though I am clearing some of the backlog. I guess as long as the opshop are in no hurry for it, then a little at a time may see it fixed up. If they do not want it re-veneered, would be better.
The chief was not there Wednesday, so will probably have a chat about it tomorrow if he is back.

It is a nice looking piece, shame its a bit of an el-cheap-o chipboard and not hardwood.