Re: "Court dresser" finish - what is it?


"Chris Bacon" <chrispbacon@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:441068c1$2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Kris Baker wrote:
"Chris Bacon" wrote...
[ what varnish ]
See also: shellac

It doesn't get sticky if I rub it with a bit of meths on
a rag (in an inconspicuous spot, I don't want to make it
worse!). Where the varnish has been scraped, it has a
yellowish tinge to the minute flaky bits at the edges of
the scrape. This piece of furniture is not mine, it
belongs to a family member. It could be regarded as a
distasteful object (or POS), but I'd like to tart it up
a bit as it's likely to go back to the owner soon, and
while it wasn't perfect when I said I'd keep it for a
while, it's noticeably worse now! I did wonder whether
cellulose varnish (paint?) was ever used for furniture...

That's why I'm also wondering about shellac.

Take a picture of it, post it to your webspace, and give
us the URL.

Where are you located? Is this a dining room piece, or
could it be a bulky bedroom piece? For some reason, I'm
picturing a piece of pine "waterbed furniture" from the
1960s/1970s, with a dark finish. Also, some "Mediterranean"
from that period was constructed similarly....with dark
finishes that didn't hold up well. I've seen dressers that
are similar to that piece you showed us.

Kris
When in doubt, paint it WHITE


.