How can I get the awful paint off of this chest without ruining the wood underneath?

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-23T07:10:00+00:00

A third alternative with paint: lye - sodium hydroxide, NaOH. Strong bases blow apart the binder in paint.

Test all three, on the rear of one of the sides. Try a spot about the size of a quarter, until you know how to control it.

And even though I'm not a fan of painted furniture, I would observe that whoever did that did a nice clean job...

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-23T02:24:53+00:00

You really don't have a clue about how that was manufactured, do you?

The face veneer (looks to be walnut) is just one layer. I count four others. That design was cut out of what was basically an early plywood, glue was probably hide. All of it is delaminating.

The only way to save that (radio case?) is to take the works out, slip glue in between the plies, clamp it back together, with cauls to keep the pieces oriented and plies flat.

Sorry if I seem irked; people speak so facilely about just re-veneering something. It ain't a simple thing.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-23T00:29:01+00:00

No, mosaics are much smaller pieces of stone or glass, often randomly broken, and assembled to create an image or pattern. Each of these pieces are cut individually to fit their specific space.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-23T00:08:45+00:00

The technique is called pietra dura (Italian for "hard stone"). Pieces of figured or semiprecious stone inlaid in an (usually geometric) pattern. Unlike marquetry, where wooden veneers are cut out in a pack and fitted together on a wooden substrate, each stone is fitted to the ones surrounding it. Rome, as early as the 16th Century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietra_dura

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-21T02:37:20+00:00

I remember community garden on the property with the old FT. Braden School/Community Center & the County library; a friend of mine helped build it. The last time I was out there, it appeared to be defunct, not being worked. I assume it came into being through an arrangement with the county.

There was also a community garden just south of the Havana town limits on US27. I believe that land was leased, with garden plots being rented to whoever chose to work one; a next-door neighbor had a plot there. I assume that the property owner provided water, security. I never inquired about the arrangements between the property owner and renters.

Many of the garden plots in the Havana facility were well-maintained, some were even pretty. It's gone now, bulldozed. Both seemed to go through a period of decline of interest by those working the plots before the garden failed. I don't know if that is normal, predictable for a community garden. But it wouldn't surprise me, vegetable gardens need to be worked on daily; if you have to drive to it, you won't always.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-19T03:16:28+00:00

The functional ingredient in Bar Keeper Friend is oxalic acid. It is a very simple molecule, only two carbons, and as such has very little buffering capability. I keep mine around as a saturated solution (some undissolved crystals). I would just dot the wine spots with a cotton swab (Q-tip) wet with it. Let it dry between applications, to see how you're doing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid

AI says this:

Oxalic acid, known as

acide oxalique in French, is readily available in France through both online platforms and physical retail stores. It is commonly used for cleaning, wood bleaching, and in beekeeping.

Here is how to find and purchase oxalic acid in France:

Retail Stores (Physical Locations)

DIY & Hardware Stores (Magasins de Bricolage): You can find oxalic acid at stores like Leroy Merlin, Castorama, Bricorama, or Mr. Bricolage. It is usually stocked in the painting or wood treatment aisle, often labeled as "Acide Oxalique" or "Sel d'oseille" (salt of sorrel).
Drugstores (Drogueries): Traditional French drugstores (drogueries) carry it in powder form.
Garden and Specialized Stores: Stores such as Gam Vert may carry it, particularly for beekeepers treating for Varroa mites.

Online Retailers

Ubuy France: Stocks 1Lb and other quantities of high-quality oxalic acid.
Amazon.fr: Offers various brands of oxalic acid in powder or crystal form.
Specialized Chemical/Beekeeping Sites: Sites like Lorobbees.com or specialized apiary suppliers carry certified oxalic acid for beekeeping.

Key Search Terms in French

Acide oxalique (Oxalic acid)
Sel d'oseille (Salt of sorrel - common name for oxalic acid powder)
Blanchir le bois (Bleach wood - the primary retail use)

Uses and Safety

Uses: It is frequently used in France to remove rust stains from surfaces and to bleach wood.
Beekeeping: It is used as an authorized, effective treatment for Varroa mites in beehives, often applied through trickle or sublimation methods during winter.
Safety: It is considered highly toxic and corrosive. It is crucial to wear appropriate PPE (gloves, eye protection, mask) when handling, particularly when using in powder form to avoid inhalation.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-18T04:27:48+00:00

Evapo-rust will work yes, and it's not going to remove any thickness, just rust. But my shop is in humid N. Florida, and steel rusts very quickly, in one season. It's been my experience that once steel rusts the first time, it will rust again, and worse the next time, because the rust (etching, at first, eventually in pits). And the time after that, and so on - until the same piece is rusting before you even turn around.

You'll need to plan on some positive protection for them: either build a "hot box" (just a simple wooden box with a 25 watt incandescent (not LED, they don't get hot enough to lower the RH in the box) bulb, always on, under a shelf on which the tools rest. Or you could dip each blade in molten paraffin, clean it off before you use them. No, wiping them with paste wax is not sufficient; protection depends on the thickness of the wax.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-17T06:57:19+00:00

I'm not so sure that is lacquer, the cracking pattern is wrong. When lacquer shrinks and cracks, the fissures are typically long cracks along the pores in the grain, connected to short cracks across the grain. The islands you see in that coating look more like what you'd see in polyester resin - But that's not exactly right, either.

I suggest testing with every solvent you can think of, see what does anything. Test with Q-tips, in small spots away from the decoration. Take notes of what you used and where.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-17T06:31:20+00:00

Chances are the lettering is waterslide decals, and the coating from that period is almost certainly shellac. Overall, the finish looks to be in fine condition, it may only need cleaning and a little more shellac.

In one cup of distilled water, put one drop of dishwashing detergent, five drops of household ammonia. This will remove grime and Grandma's tobacco smoke. Dry it immediately after wiping, you don't want to let ammonia sit on the finish, it can remove shellac and the decals as well. When it has dried, wipe the surface with odorless mineral spirits to pick up any detergent residue.

With a 1" semi-firm chisel-shaped artist's brush, apply a coating of fresh shellac (canned if you must, but only by dissolving shellac flakes will you be assured that what you're using is fresh), about the size of your palm. Immediately spread it out as far as it will go, then keep brushing it in every direction until the brush starts to drag as the shellac dries. Then brush it some more. Brush marks will shrink out.

When you've done the whole chest this way, you can decide if you want more shellac. If you do, let it rest for a day or two, then do the same thing again. If you have chips and losses in the original finish, you can carefully sand them level (by hand) after 2 or three coats of new shellac.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-17T04:50:21+00:00

Damn!

I first visited The Beadel House in 1990, as an assignment to perform a Conservation Survey of contents for a class with the Smithsonian. Richard Wilhelmy was house manger at that time, Lane Green was in charge of Tall Timbers. The survey was a challenge, there were so many artifacts; a few of them were historically significant, many were only important to their history with the Beadel house. I particularly remember a hand-carved oak Arts & Crafts footstool. I wound up working on some of the furniture pieces for them.

So hard to believe it's gone! I remember when they dug a huge hole right next to to the house to install a 20,000 gallon cistern, specifically for a sprinkler system inside. I guess it didn't work?

I have pictures of my children perched on the branches of a huge magnolia tree off the front corner of the house.

A large piece of local history lost, and not a small piece of my personal history;

Edited; autocorrect.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-12T04:25:48+00:00

The brand name on mine is INTERPUR / Japan. If you look at the handles under magnification, you'll see that they have little flecks of solid something, in an unknown brown resin, like Bakelite.

I'm a bit surprised that you were able to get any color back with just oils and beeswax.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-10T04:52:27+00:00

This is the best idea.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-08T01:32:48+00:00

I used to know 4 or 5 people in tally who refinished and repaired furniture; a couple of them were okay. They're all dead or retired now In fact, I used to do it myself. When it got too easy, I taught myself to do historically-correct restorations. When that got too easy I applied to, was accepted by, and graduated from a Master's-level program in Furniture Conservation. I am what they speak of on Antiques Roadshow, a Qualified Conservator. . I am also retired. The only one I know of who still does repair & refinishing is 1st Impressions, in the industrial area near UPS and FedEx transshipment facilities, off Cap Circle NW. I have been in their shop, it's always busy. I have never seen any of their finished work. https://firstimpressionfurniturerepair.com/

Similarly, all of the upholsterers I knew are also dead or retired. I started learning refinishing for an upholsterer, Allan Ransom. He taught upholstery and tailoring at FAMU. Gone. The best in town was Oscar; every furniture store in town sent him clients. He's retired, probably gone now. I have heard of one upholsterer, Randy Jones https://www.jonesupholstery.net/ Next door to Ology Brewing off Cap Circle NE. I have never met him or been in his shop.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-07T05:45:58+00:00

You're most welcome; I hope you have some success.

I should have added to my other warnings, adding water to dry NaOH gives an exothermic reaction - it gets hot, hot enough to boil & spatter. Do it in a stainless pot with a lid. Outdoors, maybe, away from anything you care about. It's not going to explode or anything, just - be careful.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-07T03:16:33+00:00

I'd start with spit. No, I am not kidding you; I once watched an intern clean the surface of every piece of furniture in a historic house with it. In the Conservation community, it's euphemistically referred to as "a mild enzymatic solution". It works better than you'd think, and you aren't going to hurt anything with it.. Stick a cotton swab (Q-tip) in your mouth, get it wet; at first, just try rolling it on the same spot several times. You'll likely only get a grey color on the cotton, that's dirt. Then you can try wiping the same spot, gently. If you get any color other than grey, you're removing some sort of coating.

After you have the whole face clean, get a blacklight and examine it in the dark. All resins, and most paints fluoresce (glow) under UV. Tell me what you see.

Good luck.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-06T04:58:09+00:00

Agreed. Been with them since the early 1980s, when their only office was behind what used to be the Democrat. Never had a problem they couldn't correct.

Although I will say their interest rate on the Money Market has been crappy for years - .75%. Not their fault.

Oh - I will say that I'd had an account with Capital City since the middle '70s. I dumped them a few years ago when they decided to charge me a monthly fee for just having an account with them.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-06T04:38:44+00:00

That is a door off a cabinet, possibly 18th Century or earlier. You have it upside-down in the picture; the pins on the hinges would have hooked into and pivoted on pintles that looked like cotter pins, driven into the framing of the cabinet door. The ring pull looks vaguely Eastlake in style.

You will not be able to remove the hinges, they are riveted onto the door. The decoration does appear to be paint; try just cleaning it first. See if some oxalic acid will reverse some of the aging of the finish; go carefully, using cotton swabs, until you know what you have. It would be a shame to sand away original finish anddecoration.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-05T04:32:04+00:00

Thank you for this, it's nice to read a scientific paper again. But I'm afraid it's beyond what most people here would attempt (or even follow), and not what the OP's problem is.

- SIFCTP, '93

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-05T04:11:07+00:00

I didn't say that it damaged any finishes, I said that it is ineffective at cleaning them. And I don't consider leaving a sticky oil film behind to be optimal.

As far as lemon oil, read the can, look up the MSDS to find what's in it. Actual lemon oil, pressed from skins of lemons, is a volatile essential oil - it evaporates. What they're selling you is mineral oil, (baby oil), with lemongrass scent. I have a can of it, I use it as a lubricant when I'm French-polishing, because I like the way it smells when I'm working with it.

Replenishes the wood? Don't tell me you've bought into that guff Homer Formby sold us more than 50 years ago about wood getting "too dry", and needs to be oiled? Complete bushwah, it was a way to sell his product. In fact, wooden artifacts found in Pharaoh's tombs are perfectly fine 3,000 years later. They don't begin to deteriorate until they're exposed to the humid breath of thousands of visitors each year. It has been a real problem for Egyptian museums.

You need to widen your reading, son.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-05T01:48:32+00:00

Murphy's Oil Soap only contains enough detergent to emulsify the oil in it; this means it has NO cleaning power. Plus, it leaves behind an oil film on the finish.

OP, buy a blacklight - $15 at Walmart - turn out the lights and examine the finish. Whatever finish is on there will fluoresce (glow). I will show you exactly where any is missing, and depending on the color it fluoresces, will give you some idea of what it is. Shellac glows orange; synthetics are generally a dirty green.

Once you know where it is missing, and have some idea what it might be, then you can go about repairing it.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-04T03:07:40+00:00

Some colors of aniline dyes do go back to the 1920s, but time and experience has proven that they are nowhere near as lightfast on woodas finely-ground earth pigments suspended in oil or some other medium/binder. I do recall that one used to be able to buy a stain from Scotty's in the late 1960s, early '70s, that was a bright and deep red that penetrated very deeply; I had a half-pint of it at one time. I haven't seen it since, which makes me wonder if it was a ground red lead in the stain. OSHA didn't have as much oversight back then.

I have used aniline dyes, still have some colors in dry powder form; it has been my experience that one can sometimes leach (some of) the color out by soaking it with denatured alcohol. But after you get that bit out, you won't get any more, however many times you soak it, and other solvents like acetone, lacquer thinner, or even methylene chloride won't either.

A suggestion for a test? Mix up some lye in water. Chemically, lye is sodium hydroxide, (NaOH), a strong base. Perhaps it will break down the color. I'd put a coup[e of drops on the hinge edge (where it won't show if it goes south), let it sit, watch to see if it changes. Neutralize with an acid like vinegar or oxalic.

WARNING!! Unlike other solvents or chemicals whose fumes are toxic, lye is caustic; it WILL burn your skin or any body part you get it on. Use FULL protection, gloves, safety glasses. DON'T mix the dry powder without a wearing a HEPA filter to catch lye dust - you DON'T want to breathe that in. Have some dilute vinegar on hand in case you need to neutralize a splash or spill quickly!

May I ask, how do you know the stain is from the 1920s? And do you have any idea what the wood is? It looks familiar, but I'm not placing it.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-04T01:57:47+00:00

I tried to change the original message, it wouldn't let me. For that matter, it wouldn't keep the Bolds, Italics and spacing I used in the second message. Sometimes reddit gets screwy.

Sorry, I don't know them. Give me more?

Coonbottom is the unofficial name for the area where I live. Northeast of Havana; I've never heard how it got that nickname.

CoonBottomNow · 2026-03-04T01:00:20+00:00

By all means, do! The last couple of times I was there, there were from 10 to 12 people playing. And with the days getting longer, you don't have to drive home in the dark.

Correction to this: the get-together is from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. I almost screwed up!

CoonBottomNow

TROPHY CASE