Okay quilters here we go!
Supplies needed:
0000steel wool
120-200 grit sandpaper
Lots of cotton rags(old t-shirts underware etc) white only
containers to but stripper and mess from the old finish in(coffee cans work great)
2" natural bristle brush of good quality for applying shellac
putty knife
stain brown walnut, dark oak or mahogony(your choice) I use aniline dye water soluble(can be ordered from the Rockler Cat)
your choice of brand

Orange and clear shellac 1qt each
1gal denatured alcohol
1 gal of turpintine
1 gal of your favorite stripper

Paint the stripper on the surface doing a section at a time. For example do the top first then the each side. Let stand according to the instructions on the stripper. Scrape off old loose finish into a coffee can. Wipe surface with rag and turps. This will clean the stripper and nutralize the chemical action of the stripper. Repeat if necessary.
When stipped to your satisfaction wipe down the entire piece with turps. Let stand 24 hours to let the turps evaporate. Then Wipe the piece down again using alcohol. This will prep the wood for staining and remove any unwanted moisture. Let dry for about an hour.

Using a clean rag apply stain to the cabinet. If using oil base stain let dry overnight. If using water base let a couple of hours. Make sure stain is even on the cabinet. The stain can be adjusted at anytime during this stage.

Feel the surface now that the stain is dry to see if it raised the grain of the wood. If it did use the steel wool or sandpaper to lightly smooth the surface down. Clean all dust off with a vacuum then wipe down with the alcohol. Let stand 1 hour.

Apply first coat of shellac using the orange shellac. This gives the amber look to the finish to simulate age. Let dry a couple of hours and apply the clear shellac. Apply two to three coats of clear shellac. Let the piece stand for about a week to cure.

The finish will appear shiny and new. Now take the paste wax and apply it using the steel wool with the grain. Gently rubbing down the finish. Let wax dry buff with clean cloth. Do only a small area at a time. This will take the shine and the new look off the finish. This will take some time so do not rush. When you are pleased with the results you are done. All that is required now is to keep it dusted (NO enddust or pledge please) Dust with soft rag then a clean soft rag can be used to buff the shine back up. You should wax the cabinet once a year, you will not use steel wool this time. Just follw the instructions.


Note; If shellac feels to thick you can thin it with the alcohol. Work quickly when appling shellac and always keep a wet edge Shellac dries fastbut easy to apply. It can be sprayed also.

You do not have to use shellac you can also use an oil varnish, I do not recommend water based poly because of it clearity it will not have that old wood glow. Oil varnish takes so long to dry(overnight) that you need a dust free place to work or you will wake up to a finish with embeded dust. I am here to answer your qustions. Just post them on the vintage sewing machine shop. Glenn

I've got a couple of treadle cabinets that need some help. Thanks for starting this tutorial!!! :thumbup:

Please use face mask, safety glasses and gloves, Glenn

Glenn, great post!
I think it should be in the virtual machine shop though, maybe not.
I did a complete tear-down and reassembly of a 66 Redeye there.
Thank you!

Glenn,
This is great!! Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. We all appreciate it for future use.

Cindy

Thanks Glenn. I will bookmark this for later.

Thank you Glenn!

Love it, thank you so much. I have it bookmarked and saved!

Nancy

WOW Thanks Glenn...been wanting to refinsh my cabinet...Now I don't have to look up how to do it...Thanks again

most old finishes that are original and are just lacquer(shellac), can be removed with just lacquer thinner, steel wool and rags. I did an entire buffet in about 3 hours and an entire closed sewing cabinet in about 1 1/2hrs. When removed, just wipe on your favorite finish (I like than wipeable poly satin varnish) and you're done. Much easier than messing with stripper, etc. I used to own a refinishing shop so have used this very often. Good luck!

A good work over with a degreaser, and a scratch cover polish usually works for me. I've recently acquired an old cabinet which has some bad water rings on the surface. I'm not ready to refinish the entire cabinet, I rather like the original look. However, I would like to get rid of the water rings. Which aspect of this technique will best achieve that?

Hi, Make sure there is ventilation-method sounds right-lot of hard work, but comes out nice!

or for us really lazy, or unable to do the harder things. There is Howard restor-a-finish. This is what I did to a sewing machine desk I have. I no longer have the energy or the strength to do a full out strip and refinish. It doesn't look new but it is fine with me. It looks much much better.

Looks like my local Home Depot carries this. I'll give it a try. TY

Thanks so much Glen! Now I just have to get the energy to START!

I love refinishing furniture. I have a cabinet that is structurally sound but the finish is in really bad shape. I am going to strip it and then my DD, the talented artist, is going to paint a landscape on it as though it were a canvas.

I would love to see pics when DD finishes the painting on the cabinet. It souns like it will be beautiful. Glenn

That stuff is amazing! Did you have to sand? Can you tell me how it works? I have to treadles that I wasn't going to refinish but if it is as easy as it sounds and does THAT. I just might give it a try!

It really is easy. no sanding. just follow the instructions on the can. All you need is steel wool. And its fast.
The drawbacks are : not all the marks go away they can still be seen just dark instead of light. And you cannot put a shiny finish on it. And there are only 3 colors. At least thats all my Home Depot had Walnut, Dark Walnut and Mahogany.

Look for the Howard's at antique stores. Those that carry it usually have a better selection of colors.

Thanks Glen!

Great tute. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Glen! I want to get started on some cabinets and now with this I think I am confident enough to give it a try. It will be book marked.

I want to show you what can be done with a little stain and shellac. Aniline dye (alcohol soluble) You can order this from Rockler or any good woodworker cat. You can also order the water soluble anilind dye I mentioned in the refinishing a cabinet above. I usually order the brown walnut for the oak and the walnut cabints. Mix the dye with denatured alcohol as stated in the instructions on the dye. Pour a cup in a container and add two or three table spoons orange shellac to the stain and stir well. Clean the bad area with turps and wipe lightly with a rag with little alcohol. Just swipe the area lightly. Use a mall brush an paint the mixture on the bad spot thinly. Do this several times until it matches the surrounding area. Rub down the brush strokes if any with 0000steel wool and wax to blend.

That looks really nice Glenn. And that Red eye is gorgeous.

Thanks, grandma took very good care of it. She bought it 1916 and she sewed with it until the age of 102.

My husband convinced me to use the same thing with some of our old pieces and it worked amazingly well. Changing the procedure by having 2 coffee cans of lacquer thinner (one for "dirty" rinsing and the other for cleaning) sped up things and used fewer sections of steel wool. Patience is key. We LOVE the wipeable poly satin too. Not period correct but the finish is gorgeous and wears like a dream.

Zelda has a very good technique for refinishing. It is quick and wipe on polystain is great. I have done this on refinishing new pieces and it is a nice looking finish. However, I would never use it on antique or vintage sewing cabinets or anttique furniture. When restoring and if I must refinish I will use historically correct products only. I try to keep the piece as original looking as I can. I always prefer to restore rather than refinish unfortunately refinishing is a must on many sewing cabinets. This is the trade I learned in Europe but this does not make it the only way and I like using the lacquer to refinish when I can. My recomendation has always been to do refinishing the way you like it. My techniques are to help you keep your sewing machine cabinets as original as possible and not degrade the historical value of the Cabinet. It is like my quilting just have fun!! Glenn

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

Glenn thanks for saying the Howards will evaporate. The friend that told me to use it never said anything about that. I wonder how long it takes. Well if it does it will give whoever gets my desk when I am gone a chance to refinish it properly. :-)

Thanks Glenn. Bookmarked this for later reference.

OMG - thanks

Thanks! I'm getting a treadle tomorrow from my new friend, Jan, and it needs to be worked on. I appreciate the heads up in how to start.

Thanks for all this info, Glenn. I just bought a model 128 with bentwood case. It's missing the veneer on one end. The whole case is quite dry with flaking shellac. Can I use the same procedure on it, or do you recommend something different?

Sorry I did not get back to you sooner but wife had to go to hospital. Yes you can use the same technique and you can piece new veneer where missing. If not to bad you do not have to refinish the whole. If it is oak you can get veneer from Lowes. If you want post pics and I will tell what needs to be done. Glenn

Glenn, I hope your wife is doing better. I set the case aside for a while - ran out of money for resto. I've done some wood work, but never applied veneer. I may PM you when I get ready to do it. Shirley

I have a 4 drawer treadle cabinet that needs all of this...
A dear little machine in it I paid $40 for it. I will print this info and try to get to it this summer. Thank-you

Glen, thanks for the tut. Your finish is more authentic and not as 'plastic' looking as some finishes today can be. My dad used to use this method for the projects he made and all have held up well for many years. I am thinking of redoing the cabinet my mothers machine is in because of all the scratches and wear spots. We shall see.

Glenn, I private messaged you about two problems but I sure have gotten a lot of good ideas about how to start. I really appreciate your help. I think there will be a number of us that will be doing some refinishing. Not right now tho because it is raining cats and dogs and nothing would dry in this weather. Thanks! :thumbup: Jan