(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Scott Phillips.

Welcome to The American Woodshop.

Today, we're going to dig into the world of furniture restoration and finishing tips.

So stay with us.

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- So today it's all about finishes and how to restore furniture, whether it's an antique or a newer piece, doesn't matter.

The same rules apply.

Now, I want to show you this fine piece that was built well before the civil war and it's tiger maple with a crazed finish, which means it started out life with shellac and then somebody put some varnish on top of it.

I know that because of the Bible of finishing, "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Bob Flexner.

If you do a lot of finishing, you owe it to yourself to get that book.

So again, "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Bob Flexner.

Now, if there's a good finish on a piece, let's start, what do you do when you restore a piece like this?

As little as possible.

This has been around a long time, has a lot of value.

So all I'm going to do, since it has finished all the way around, no bare wood, is use furniture cleaner, that's the first step, on an all cotton rag and old t-shirts, just fine.

And what you do is you wipe that on and you clean that up.

And normally on a piece like this, and you only use this if there's finish on it.

Okay.

All the way around, that tiger stripe starts to come out very nicely.

Never on bare wood.

And this is not the original finish, that would've been shellac and a little bit of bee's wax, but take a look at that.

Now that's really bringing it back to life.

We'll let that dry a bit and then I'll show you the next step that I like to do to restore a piece like this.

I love that darker edge right there.

It's very nice.

It's gonna make a perfect gift.

Now, stepping it up a notch.

Look at this big piece, a Victorian nightstand, circa about 1890.

All the pieces are here.

What do you look for in an antique to judge its age?

Look at the hardware.

Okay.

This is original hardware.

And you pull it out and you look at the drawer and those are hand cut dovetails.

So somebody really knew what they were doing 'cause those are nice and tight.

That ups the value on this piece.

And then a shelfed all-pine compartment.

But if you look at this door, you can tell the door was hand planed so that it could fit in and finish off the front that's been veneered with walnut.

No small task to do veneer on pine.

Now look at the top.

That's walnut veneer.

I can't clean this up, too much damage on it.

So I don't want to destroy the top because that would impact the value of the piece.

You try to keep things intact.

So what am I going to do to make this pop?

I'm going to use my imagination.

I want you to see this new creation.

This has a lot of potential.

I like the height.

I like the design.

So up comes its new top and this is just a resin casting and it starts out life as riverstone, and those are, here let me show you, that locks right on like that, screw left and right into the top, and we have ourselves a beautiful new top on a nightstand, but this riverstone you can buy at any home improvement place and create your own mosaic of whatever size you want and then cast it with System Three RiverCast, which I've done and that's a whole show in itself.

Be sure to go to our website to check out that show and how we made that.

And what I'm going to do now is bring this up.

Where's my finish?

Right here.

And this is Arm-R-Seal on mahogany.

And I'm pretty sure, from experience, that the color, once I get the Arm-R-Seal all the way around, is going to match what we have.

So I just need a bit more finish on this.

Here we go.

And you want to brush it out.

If people make a mistake putting on finish, it is they don't charge the brush in the right way.

What's that mean?

You want enough liquid or finish on the brush, that it doesn't drip and run, but it definitely coats the wood without drips and runs.

And look at that mahogany just come to life.

And you know, you can't really tell a piece until you stand back and look at it.

And that is a color match.

That's harmonious.

And that's exactly what I wanted.

The old and the new.

Now, obviously the base needs a lot of work.

So let that cure out by setting that to the side and the Arm-R-Seal, and that's the semi gloss.

And on mahogany, you normally have to fill the pores of the wood with a filler, with Arm-R-Seal, three coats.

The first coat is a filler, And it gives you a really good look.

So I'll lift this up and away, and you'll see more on that at the end of the show.

But what I'll do now is wipe this down with furniture cleaner first, like we did on the smaller piece.

And we'll take a look at that.

Look at that!

Right away.

I mean, all of a sudden that piece starts to shine.

And I don't like to really do anything to make the hardware look fresh or new because that's part of the charm of it.

I like that old patina.

So I wipe that out thoroughly and let that dry.

And then I'll show you the next step.

It really is crazy to me when people try to make old things look new.

And whatever you do, save the pieces that come from an old antique, and here's a bottom piece of very nicely veneered pine.

Again, veneered like walnut.

And watch what I'm going to do now and holding it in place.

There are three micro pins.

And let me show you what I'm talking about.

These are 23 gauge and they're tiny and what that does, that secures that trim, but yet being so small and just having three closely spaced, that will allow this grain, that's running up and down.

and that grain, that's running up and down, now on the outside, because that's the way it's been veneered.

But this way on the substrate pine, that's why it came off.

And somebody tried to glue it back on and you can't do that.

You have to have fasteners that allow this to move cross grain.

Otherwise it'll just fall off again and you certainly don't want to glue it.

But here's the next step, we clean this thoroughly.

And the next thing I'm going to do.

And by the way, when you use any nailers that use air power, always get safety glasses with side shields 'cause those nails can send shards off.

That's why you have to have side shields on.

Now, let's look at this.

We're going to use what's called orange oil.

shake it up thoroughly.

And this is finished.

And why are we using this?

Well, because we've cleaned this piece and now this orange oil not only cleans, but it imparts a beautiful sheen to it.

Again, not on bare wood.

And some people go, "Will that work on my piece of furniture?"

As long as it's gotta finish on it, it will.

What's the worst thing you can do on a piece of furniture?

Well, not clean it thoroughly first.

Now you know how to do that.

And just look at how that restores that.

And the misnomer of these products that say it will "Feed a finish."

I don't know what that means.

I have a lot of chemistry in my background and it just doesn't make sense.

"Feed a finish."

Well, I don't care what you wipe on it, the finish is already cured out.

It's not doing anything to it.

You wipe this out thoroughly and that's the way you make an old piece shine again.

What's wrong with that?

Okay.

That's just beautiful.

Now, other things that you can do.

Let me scoot this down out of the way.

And that's all I'm going to do that piece.

Oh, there are some other little things I can do to it.

You'll see that at the end of the show when we put the top back on, and I'll set this outta the way, and everybody has old drawers that look like this.

They're all scratched up from years of use.

This is ribbon mahogany, beautiful, an heirloom, original brasses.

And I've cleaned this off with the furniture cleaner to see over a hundred different scratches on it.

And mahogany to mahogany, this is Restor-A-Finish, thoroughly shaken, working in a well ventilated place, safety glasses always on, whenever you are using finishes.

Okay?

And so here we go.

Watch what happens to this.

What this Restor-A-Finish does is it actually cleans, but it also re-amalgams the surface of other finishes.

So you want to work in a well ventilated place whenever a finish is dissolved, that means there's a solvent of some sort involved, but it also has a stain, a mahogany stain to it that does a nice job of making those scratch marks go away.

Now this is only for light scratches.

It can go down to the wood but if it's a deep gouge, well, that's a different story.

And let me just finish this out.

And I think you'll agree, that will save you a trip to the ReStore because that looks absolutely grand.

So sometimes, just using the right product can make all the difference in the world.

So that looks lovely.

And I won't tell Suzy that I was able to do that in like two minutes.

(whispers) I spent all day, honey.

Okay.

Now over here.

No, I'm very honest with my wife.

Don't hold that against me.

Look at this, everybody, this is on cherry, has at some time or another, set something with water in it and it condensed and it created a white ring.

What do you do?

What do you do?

Well, you buy a product that's called Ring Remover.

This has been shaken.

And don't shake finishes because finishes, if you shake them, instead of stirring them, will get bubbles in them and that's bad.

But on these products that white rings are sign of water damage to the finish.

Okay?

We can fix that by working with Restore-A-Finish.

And sometimes you have to wipe it on two or three times to make it really go away.

But it just, because that white ring means it's in the finish, it works with that finish to remove that water mark.

And I've got a water mark down here too that obviously someone had house plants on this beautiful cherry table.

You go, well, how do you know?

Well, this was my mother's and I remember watering plants, maybe too zealously but it's always a good feeling to restore something that you did damage to.

So Carmen, I'm bringing it back to life and this is a Pembroke table that needs more care than what you've just seen.

Water ring away because over here, shame on Scott, you see this is a black ring.

That means it actually went down to the wood.

It went all the way through the finish and into the wood.

And when that happens, you really have to get down to bare wood and get rid of that ring.

You can treat it with bleach and all of that other stuff, but you have to get to bare wood.

And this is a catalyzed lacquer, which is not gonna be a walk in the park to match, but let's head a outside and see what we can do.

Whatever you do, be sure to read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use in your wood shop or even outside because, if you read the warning labels on the cans, it's gonna scare you.

If you pick up one that scares you, find a different product that works.

So whenever I'm spraying, I like a shield down to protect my safety glasses, my eyes, and an N95 mask.

We're getting ready to do that.

Let me show you the one thing you have to do before you spray a tone on it.

Remember about two minutes ago, we treated that black ring with Ring Remover and it's got aliphatic resins in it that start to dissolve the finish.

And I don't want to destroy that finish.

I'm just trying to get down to the wood and then feather out the edges.

Now that's with 2000 grit Emery paper and this is Mirka steel wool-like nylon that has an abrasive in it that I want to continue to feather that out.

What I'm trying to do is avoid having to sand this.

I'm trying to get a color match and it may not go away, but I wanna make it virtually disappear to people that would look at it unless they were looking super close.

So now, that looks good.

Now I'm gonna go back to the Ring Remover again.

Remember, this was into the wood.

So I'm down to the wood now.

And the tone of that ring is a lot better, but it's still there.

So on this piece of cherry with the Ring Remover across the whole surface, and man, if you use products that have silicone in it to make the surface of your furniture shiny, it makes it a bear to refinish it because those silicones that are left behind will prevent the finish or the stains from bonding to the substrate, to the old finish.

So you have to clean that thoroughly and wipe that out.

Now here's the moment of truth.

And I want to make sure that I don't knock that over.

These are Touch-Up Solutions.

I have a whole pallet of these.

What you do is you make sample color boards and you get good with this and you feather it in.

And boy, this is strong.

So you definitely want to be outside.

Now watch what I do.

Never over it, but off to the side.

What I'm doing is just darkening that whole area.

Now I have to let that dry.

I'm using Touch Up Top Coat.

I have two coats on right now and you want to hit the whole surface and the bees are loving this.

So we aren't going to stay around here long, but you get the idea.

You use the cans, the color as an airbrush and I'm not a big fan of rattle cans, but in this case, I think you'll agree, that beats the heck out of a lot of sanding.

Now let's go see what Suzy's been up to.

- I love making my own gifts and I love making some really cool charcuterie boards, but you can't always find the perfect wide board.

You can see this one's kind of cupped.

So I'll still use that, never give up on a board, but this one, we just did a glue up, and I put a pretty piece of maple in between in the walnut.

And you can choose which handles you want to use.

Have fun with that.

It's great.

You can flip it over and use it as a cutting board.

But for me, this was too pretty to do that.

And then you just condition it with a Butcher Block conditioner and then you can really see the walnut come alive.

I mean, it's just beautiful.

It's a simple, easy, great gift that people will think about you every time they're using it and having a party.

I mean, how cool is that?

I mean, look at that shine.

Woo!

I love it.

It looks absolutely awesome.

So go out and make your own gifts.

Let's see what Scott's doing now.

- Suzy could flat out make anything and I never give up on anything, like a broken piece of a family heirloom.

And this is a Shaker inspired bench from the colonial chair maker himself, Mike.

Thank you, Mike.

He was on the show a while back.

Anyways, it got busted and it's going to happen.

And what you do is you mix up a good, really good, five part four or five minute epoxy, two equal parts.

You want to make sure it's thoroughly mixed up.

And then here's the first break right here.

And here's the second one.

And I'm not giving up on that.

So here we go.

I've got about five minutes total before that glue is unworkable and the trick is, know that you're going it drips and I have a silicone pad down.

I have it in the void.

Okay?

And now what I'm doing is working glue all the way around that because we're going to use fiberglass, this is like boat work, to repair this one in that one.

And so what I do is I bring that fiberglass precut and I press it into that epoxy like that.

And the epoxy becomes the Stickum of the tape and I bring this up and around and tight.

You have to have just a right amount of glue on there to hold the fiberglass in place.

Same thing for the other side.

And then what you do, draw that tight, and this is a permanent splint, but watch what happens next.

On top of it all you coat it again with epoxy and when that dries clear, and it does because it virtually makes the fiberglass invisible.

You sand it lightly, and you have a much much better repair than just straight glue alone.

So I'll do the other piece, just like this, use good glue, and that is how you can save an heirloom.

Now, once you have it in place and worked out the way you like it, one other thing you can do is use packing tape as a clamp because this glue does not like packing tape and this will help it stay where it needs to be.

So there's a great little tip for you on how to repair delicate chair parts.

So that's looking really good.

And what do is sand this down once it's dry, but I'll give it a day to dry.

And I'll repair the other part the same way.

Now let's go look at the other projects.

So I have three coats of finish on the mahogany now, and I think, but this final coat is still drying.

So it's a bit wet.

But you get the idea.

I love it.

And it blends nicely, the mahogany with the walnut and this top, you can set anything in the world on it.

No water rings on that rivercast.

Now the moment of truth, to save this really cool key box, a little bit of orange oil on it and look at what that does.

Doesn't make it new and you certainly don't have to strip all the years of aging off of it.

And you only have to do this once in a blue moon, but it really does bring that to life.

Not trying to make it perfect because you want it to show its age, but that's it.

So use the right products on your furniture.

Don't be too aggressive with your antiques.

Save them, save all the parts, put 'em back together in a way that doesn't destroy the value of the piece.

Like we're saving that top.

(mellow music) So when you see an antique and it kind of sparks your interest, make it your own, add something that's your own personal touch.

Well, that's it for this week.

Hope you enjoyed it.

It's all about finishing.

Less is more and always do test samples before you try products on something because, boy, that will save ya.

See you next week in The American Woodshop - Woodcraft since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(classical music) (dramatic music) -Pro tools for tool pros, (dramatic music) RIKON tools - Woodcraft Magazine, projects, plans and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish silicon steel band saw blades and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information on tips behind the American Woodshop and to watch free episodes, 24/7, check us out online and like us on Facebook.

(upbeat music)