Ellpea

Thanks Glenn, your advice is much appreciated!

Ellpea

Hey Glenn, I gave the base another go with medium grit steel wool, and it worked better, but still needs more oomph. The good news is that I'm looking carefully at the area that is now much lighter... where I thought I was removing the shellac AND the stain, I don't think that actually happened. It feels very smooth and clean and still has a finish. So I THINK what needs to happen is that the rest of the base should be cleaned down to that level. What was coming off was not necessarily all of the finish, it was 140 years of crud!

My question is... can you recommend a way to get solution #1 amped up just a little? To finish what I'm doing I think I need some stronger stuff on the remaining cruddy spots. This might happen with coarser steel wool, which I don't have today and probably can't shop for tomorrow (does anyone else have such romantic doings happening on New Year's Eve?)! Let me know what you think, and thanks as always for your really wonderful help!

Glenn

If you use anything stronger it will ruin what finish you have left on the cabinet sorry. Just keep working at it like you are doing. This is not a quick process so don't rush the cleaning.

Ellpea

Thanks Glenn... will keep plugging away!

redbugsullivan

Ellpea, are you using a pot for the cleaning solution and one for rinsing the steel wool? If not, I highly recommend it! Yes, take your time or the finish will be gone by too aggressive cleaning. On the flip side, cleaning the grime out of the steel wool makes for more efficient use of your time and doesn't strip off the original finish. You must constantly monitor the wood's surface to know when to stop because the grime is gone, or regretfully WISH you had stopped.

That rinse pot, with the same mixture, keeps the tool useable and allows for the dirt to be lifted away, not redistributed all over your beloved piece. Enjoy the process!

Glenn

Annette, Thank you this is great advice and I should have mentioned it in the tutorial.
Skip

redbugsullivan

Skip, your guidance has helped me more that you will ever know. As I face the "fixing" of six hand crank bases, I totally recognize your specific words of wisdom that help me make the right choices. Thank you.

Ellpea

Annette, I appreciate the caution, as I am one of those obsessive people who sometimes take things like this too far. I'm not using a separate pot for rinsing (hadn't thought of that). But I do move to a new area of the steel wool. I have the solution in a bottle with a narrow neck, and apply the solution directly to the steel wool.

The solution separates in the bottle, so it has to be shaken (not stirred :-) each time. I keep a cork on the bottle to prevent accidents, and to allow for shaking. So far this is working very well, and so far I don't think I've gone too far! The finish continues to be smooth and it still has its clear coat.

Fortunately I have some other things to keep me busy so I'm not hyper-focused on that wooden base right now. I give it a few little rubs, wipe it clean, and while its drying I move on to fooling with or servicing a machine. This is a very therapeutic hobby (especially when hubby is busy with football season)!

Ellpea

Hello Everyone (and Glenn)

I described my process above, of keeping the cleaning mixture in a bottle, shaking it each time, and then applying directly to the steel wool. However, I'm noticing that when the mixture separates now, I don't have 3 layers of liquid; there seems to be only two. I'm worried I've used too much of the lightest liquid (because it somehow remained separated out and got used first?)

Here is a photo of two mixtures. The bottle shows what I have left right now (with only two layers). The jar contains a mixture of all 3, but in the wrong proportions. I accidentally included 4 parts of everything, so set that aside and started measuring again.

My question is, what do you think I should do with the mixture in the bottle? Add something to it???

Well, as usual, when I really need help I can't get the photo to upload. Please visualize mixture number one which used to have 3 layers of chemicals and now only has two. I'll continue trying to upload

Ellpea

Finally! The bottle on the right is the one I'm worried about. It looks like one of the components of the mixture has possibly been over-used and is now missing? I was shaking the bottle each time... but? Would it be the boiled linseed oil that would normally be floating on the surface?
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