Mrs. SewNSew

Miriam I tried that and I was still getting soft gummy swirls. I had a wee bit of stripper left and gave that a try last night and the box finally came clean. I'll have a better look at it in the light of day, but I have a feeling I'll be off to the hardware store for more stripper.

The stain is staying on...some comes off on the rag with the finish coat no matter which method I tried. The table doesn't appear to have been re-finished over the years but maybe I assumed too much when I was so sure it had to have been shellacked.

sdhaevrsi

Sounds a bit scary, I hope you get it figured out.

Mrs. SewNSew

I started getting somewhere last night using the Citrustrip. Things never progress as easily or as quickly as we would like. I had it in my mind that I could strip the cabinet in a couple hours and stain the next day lol.

It's more like strip this piece or that, this side or that and then take a break, but I am inching forward. It's nice to see that once the years of damaged finish come away there really is some nice wood underneath. It looks like cheaper wood was used and then a birds eye maple veneer applied so I am trying to be very careful.

Rodney

That's pretty typical construction. The inner core and back is less expensive wood and the side that shows is the good stuff. At least with old cabinets and cases they used real wood veneers instead of particle board and plastic laminates.
I wonder if your cabinet had some sort of varnish or lacquer instead of just shellac. It shouldn't have been that hard to strip.
Rodney

Mrs. SewNSew

Rodney I'm starting to think it must have been "touched up" at some point in it's life. The amount of schmutz that is coming off seems like a lot and even though it seems somewhat correct for color, the wood's natural beauty is almost hidden.

Vridar

Acording to the finish guru, Bob Flexner, alcohol, denatured or methanol, is used on shellac. Assure yourself its shellac, otherwise mineral spirits or lacquer thinner and if required for stubborn stuff, zip-strip type stripper.

Mrs. SewNSew

Ron, It can't be all Shellac. Denatured alcohol was my first try and that wasn't working. My best guess is someone did a re-coat at some point with something. The Citrustrip is working well, but I am taking my time partly because I want to be careful and partly because I am short on play time these days. I am wondering if they could have used one of those stain and sealers in one? Even after using Glenn's recipe for cleaning I wasn't seeing the normal result I am used to getting.