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Cabinets, Furniture, Woodworks/staining an office chair

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Expert: - 11/20/2009


Question

chair that i want to r
Ok, my boss asked me to do a "project" the other day and gave me a wooden desk to sand and stain to match a new employees office. Well, I did that and I can say that it looks awesome. I am very pleased that it turned out as well as it did being my first time doing this. Now, since I did such a "wonderful" job on this her boss suggested that I do the lobby chairs to match as well. Ok, here is my problem, the chairs (2 of them) have wicker backs, detailed scrolling and spindles on every piece of wood. How am I supposed to stain this to match and what do I do about the wicker? I would appreciate your help in this matter.  

Answer
Hi Miranda
Nice to hear from you.
What your boss wants you to do is not possible without removing all the existing finish with paint stripper.
Even then there is no quarantee the wood will take a stain.
Its difficult to see from your pic, but it looks like these chairs have colored lacquer sprayed on them. Really hard to get off at the best of times.
The wicker will have the same finish on it as the chair.
Personally I would not attempt this on these particular chairs but I enclose for you the stripping info.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR STRIPPING FURNITURE
The first thing you must do is assemble the material to do the job.
The stripper is the most important item.  
I am hoping you can get "CIRCA 1850" brand paint and varnish remover in your area.
Here is a link
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=1694&familyN...

MATERIAL LIST For the stripping stage.
1 gallon stripper
3 boxes of Bull Dog steel wool in medium grade.
One 3 inch oil based paint brush.
Rubber gloves (like you do dishes with), and a pair of cotton gloves inside the rubber ones.
People react differently to stripper. A lot of people feel heat through the rubber gloves, but I feel cold. Have no idea why.
An empty large coffee can. (for the stripper)
A couple of old tooth brushes.
Lots of old rags (I like t-shirts or cotton but for this first stage whatever you have)
Lots of newspaper to protect the garage floor
LOTS OF VENTILATION..A MUST
That's all you need to get started.
HERES WHAT YOU DO...
Work in sections.
Brush on the stripper with the brush. Stripper will quit working if it dries, so keep it wet till the finish softens.
Then take a rag and wipe this mess off.
Then another coat of stripper, rag off again, then while the wood is still wet, take the steel wool and rub with the grain till the wood is nice and clean.
Depending on the material you are removing, another coat of stripper is often needed but you will know this as you progress into the job.
Use the toothbrush in crevices.
Thats all there is to it ...move to another section and continue.
No other prep is necessary...and DO NOT SAND
Please let me know if anything is not 100% clear.

Regards
Eileen  

Eileen Cronk

Expertise

Hi..I can answer most questions about the repairing,stripping and refinishing of all your old furniture and wood items(the things we call antiques)I can give advice about what to buy/avoid at auctions/flea markets. I do not give appraisals on antiques.

Experience

I have been refinishing antiques for the past 30yrs. While I have taken several courses over the years,I have found that "hands on" learning is the best teacher. Perhaps I can help you avoid some of the mistakes I made while learning.

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