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| Parlor Chair Before |
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| Parlor Chair After |
Spindles are done by using a toothbrush dipped in stripper and then dipped in lacquer thinner and lots of brushing over and over to remove both stripper and lacquer thinner, which melts the stripper. This is quite a messy process that is time consuming as well as tedious.
Once all the goop was removed, I used steel wool dipped
in lacquer thinner to remove the sticky residue until it's smooth, then I used sandpaper to finish the wood and prepare it for stain. I used walnut stain for this chair, which made it two or three shades darker than the original stain, since the chair was made from maple. Lighter woods can only go so dark, especially a hard wood such as maple, which has a tight grain. Darker wood like walnut is much easier to darken by several shades.
Bonus: I was pleasantly surprised to find a date on the bottom of this chair, August 15, 1871. Very seldom do I see a date on furniture, so seeing that date was quite exciting! For a chair that was almost 150 years old, it was in remarkable condition. The dented seat was replaced with new caning, then stained walnut. Caning will naturally darken with age, but staining can speed up the process.
FYI: If you strip a piece of furniture with glaze on it, you must make sure to remove all of it! If you don't, the new stain will not blend evenly in those areas where there was any leftover glaze, because it repels stain, so those missed glaze spots need to be sanded smooth. Unfortunately, when something is glazed, you don't always see the missed spots until you apply the stain, especially when the glaze is close to the same color as the wood. Luckily this antique parlor chair had no glaze, just stain and varnish. It turned out quite well and looks like a brand new chair, despite its old age.
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