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About Greg Scholl
Expertise
Questions on Woodworking, wood finishing and refinishing of all kinds, repairing furniture and wooden objects, Architectural details, Woodturning, carving, tool usage, product usage, some chemistry as it applies to woodworking and related interests,cabinet making and furniture construction/design, etc. I have experience with all manners of colorants, finishes, paints, stains, dyes, glazes, and coatings, wood species recognition and usage,tool recommendations, blade types and recommendation,techniques and methods for many Woodworking related issues, etc.
Experience
Fine furniture restorer and cabinet maker for over 30 years,serving high end Antique dealers, Interior designers, Collectors in the CT area. Consulting for area Painting/Decorating and Building contractors on non painting issues..(staining, wood prep.,clear finishing, floor restoration and architectural detail restoration and repair, etc.) Sold, built, serviced, setup Home, Industrial, and Commercial stationary woodworking tools for a major tool retailer in CT. for three years, sold hand and power tools , provided knowledge, parts replacement, service, and on site service, Trade show Demo, and training as well.
Publications
Published in Fine Woodworking Magazine (12/97), included on Fine Woodworkings first "Best of Fine Woodworking" CD-ROM (2002) ...("27 year compilation of expert know-how")
Education/Credentials
Art School at Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, CT., 9 year apprenticeship in a European run Cabinet and Restoration shop in CT., various classes on subjects having to do with the field. Seminars from major Tool manufacturers, Skil/Bosch, Delta, Powermatic, Ritter, Porter cable, Milwaukee, Dewalt/B&Decker, Performax.
Past/Present Clients
Many varied clients including work on Martha Stewarts' Westport, CT. show house, many fine Antique dealers and private collectors in and around Fairfield County and in Woodbury, CT. (the Antiques capital of CT.), Golden Age of Trucking Museum, Wilton Historical Society.
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You are here: Experts > Hobbies > Woodworking > Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks > refinishing rosewood veneer Herman Miller table
Expert: Greg Scholl - 10/24/2009
Question
I inherited a 40 year old table from my Mom. Its the dining table I grew up with, and for obvious sentimental reasons would like to restore it to its former beauty. The table is a Herman Miller rosewood veneer with ebony legs. Many years ago someone who did not know what they were doing ruined the beautiful reddish hue during a botched refinishing job. The leafs are still the proper color. The wood is is good condition, but the color is blotchy, there are some water marks, and the leaves are reddish, but the rest of the table top looks brownish. I have a lot of woodworking experience, but have never tackled a restoration project. I assume I'll need to lightly sand the entire top with the leaves in place. Find the right kind of stain, and then finish with an oil finish...I have childhood memories of my Mom talking about a gunstock finish on the table... wonder if this is like a Watco finish I've used over the years? I live in the Boston area. If you advise against my doing the job, perhaps you can recommend a professional to give me an estimate.... but I would need good references for fear of finding a quack as my mother obviously did years ago.
Thank you.
Answer
Hi David, the Rosewood top may be browner than the leaves because the leaves were stored most of the time and the table was exposed to UV light constantly. Many colored woods will fade or brown over time when exposed to light.Also, so called Gunstock finishes were Linseed oil based, which darkens markedly over time...Don't sand a veneered top as a starting point, start by stripping the top and leaves with a good stripper,(methylene chloride paste or Citristrip) and scrubbing them clean with #1 steel wool on the last coat.It will likely take several coats of stripper to strip off the oil finish because they're fairly tenacious, just apply the stripper in a heavy coat and let it do the work, don't rush it and it will dissolve the cured resins. Then after the stripping is done and the stripper is dry, you can sand lightly but thoroughly with something like 150-180 grit. This may go a long way towards restoring the original color of the wood, as any UV change is usually only on the very surface of the wood. I think an Oil finish is the right choice, but I would steer you towards WaterLox Tung oil finish, as it's more durable than Watco, and will darken over time less than Linseed oil based finishes like Gunstock oils.To enhance the color more you could use a Dye stain like the General waterbased Dyes, or an alcohol Dye like the Behlen Solar Lux...or Transtints before the first coat of oil, but you'll need to test a bit to see what you're dealing with after the prep. The dye stains won't seal the wood the way an oil pigmented stain or Gel stain would, which is important, as these oil/resin finishes need to penetrate into the wood fibers for the best results.Hope that helps, and I'm quite sure you're capable of bringing back this piece.It's worth noting that the WoodCraft websiote now has videos on a lot of their product pages, an excellent and useful feature....post back if need be, I'll be here- Greg
http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2020491/General-Finishes-Water-Based-Dyes-.aspx
http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2007234/BEHLEN-Solar-Lux%E2%84%A2-Stains/videos....
http://www.waterlox.com/desktopmodules/fathomecom/catalog/category.aspx?tabid=42...
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