Originally Posted by cabbagepatchkid
I just bought this little cabinet, today, from Craigslist, and it's in really nice shape but the wood is dry and some of the shellac (?) on the top is coming off, especially noticed this after I washed it with Murphy's Oil Soap. Do I need to remove all of the shellac, on the top, or can I just smooth it by sanding it gently?
Look at my post just above your post and you will see how I handle this. You will need to apply a matching stain with an artist brush and then apply several coats of shellac applied thinly to buld up th finish. This will not take long shellac dries in about 30 minutes. When completely dry buff with wax and 0000steel wool to blend the patch. Just make sure this finish is shellac. You can test by rubbing alcohol in a area you will not see and if the finish melts with the alcohol it is shellac. If not it is varnish or laquer. To test if it is laquer the finish will melt with lacquer thinner or acetone. If this does not work it is varnish then you use the same technique only using varnish. I hope this helps. If you take your time you will not not have to remove any finish. You can use Howard refinisher in the right color but this will cover thke patches only temp. and will have to be done again and again as the Howard will evaporate over time. Glenn