I have an old cedar chest my mother received from my father in the late 1940's and would like to refinish it. It is veneered and inlayed and has several 'water rings' on the top where someone sat glasses or cans and the condensation left its mark.
Any recommendations on handling this problem?? I want to remove the old finish (shellac maybe), sand tenderly and refinish with a clear coat.
I did the exact same thing for my father's cedar chest 2 years ago. I like Formby's finish remover to do this as it is very gentle on the wood. You use it with a pad of 000 steel wool, rubbing the finish off and rinsing the steel wool pad in the Formby's solvent as you go. Be sure to use the appropriate respirator mask with this stuff and do the work in a well ventilated area. When most of the finish has been removed, go back and do it over with fresh solvent to take off the remaining film of old finish. Let it dry out for a few days before putting on any new finish. This will give you time to gently sand the top to try to remove the rings. I then used a wipe-on poly finish on mine, several coats, with light 0000 steel wool rubbing between coats to finish it. Don't apply any finish to the inside of the chest . If it doesn't have the desired cedar smell inside you can sand the inside surfaces to remove a thin layer of wood and re-activate the cedar smell that it should have.
Charley
"My uncle has a wooden leg!" "Thass nuthin'! My mother has a cedar chest!!!"
old joke alert, jo4hn [ba dump dump]
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