Thread: Advice sort

Originally Posted by Ykato

Any help appreciated.

Hi all new to this type of thing so bare with me.

Have just purchased a solid rimu dresser to refurbish, im not sure how to determine what finish it has on it at the moment, so that i know how to strip to get to a “sanding” stage. It does not seem to have an obvious polyurethane or varnish coat as when i try to scrape it, no clear like coating is removed. I tried a drop of linseed oil to see if it would soak in, which it did not. The previous owner had it made 20 odd years ago but is not aware of the finish that was used, although she maintained it with some sort of creme wax. How do I determine the finish? And if it is wax, how do i remove it? Thank you.

Hi Ykato,

If you can attach photos it may help. A wax finish would be removable with some kind of turps. Although wood - so-called natural turps - smells good it is bad for brain cells so either don't use it or use it outside with lots of ventilation. Mineral turps is less smelly but still best not inhaled in closed spaces. There are low-odour turps varieties too.

20 years ago the most likely finish was polyurethane. If it is a low-sheen poly it could be hard to see. You could test somewhere inconspicuous to see if it lifts with with paint stripper.

However, I have to ask - why do you want/need to strip. and sand it? Is it damaged? If it is so damaged that it needs sanding you probably don't need to strip it first - just use a good random orbital sander or hand sanding. Don't start too coarse or it will leave deep scratches. Probably 120 grit should be the coarsest, followed by 180 then 240 grit to get a smoother finish depending on what you plan to put on it. As I said, some photos might elicit more responses than this one.

David