Aboutmaura macaluso Expertise I can answer any and all questions, regarding, wood sculpture, wood carving, carving tools and accessories and different types of woods.I am not an appraiser of carvings nor an antique dealer.
Experience I do full design work, custom carving, restoration, fabrication, repair and refinishing. I can take a piece of raw wood and turn it into a work of art and I can help you do the same. I am "the" carving instructor for the new york city parks dept. I am heavily involved in carving on the internet and belong to many, many mail lists which are quite active. I am also an international promoter of woodcarving and am affiliated with many master carvers, notably nora hall, originally from holland, now in the U.S. and kalina pavlova, a bulgarian master carver. I routinely communicate with the top names in professional woodcarving nationally and internationally.
Organizations the national association of woodcarvers. the woodcarvers of queens NY, the staten island woodcarvers. the northeast woodcarving association. the world wide carving internet list
Publications chip chats-the national magazine of woodcarving. also at www.carvinginnyc.com
Education/Credentials Self taught artist and sculptor, 40 years of drawing and painting as a hobby, 5 years of serious woodsculpting. I have my own website and have written a 300 pg book on carving. I have published online tutorials and pictorial projects
Question Hi, I just bought a used dresser (could be antique) but has a few layers of paint
on it want to know what grit sandpaper to use to get the paint off ??
Answer Hi Christine,
You are going to want to start with a harsh abrasive, which in sandpaper terms is the lower number.
The rule of abrasive grit is the lower the number, the larger the grains of abrasive are. The higher the number, the finer the paper. I would suggest starting with a number 60 or as close as you can get to it. You need to use an aggressive sandpaper in order to remove the paint. Then you are going to need to smooth out the scratches the sandpaper will leave by using around a finer paper, perhaps a 150 or 180. If you are going to be refinishing this dresser, go up to 250-300 or so for a final sanding to smooth it out nicely. For a real professional finish, you will want to go even higher such as 600-1000, which you may need to go to an automotive shop to find. I hope you will be using a power sander as this will be quite labor intensive. Please also wear a mask or ventilator, place fans to blow the dust away from you and do this in a very well ventilated place as there is always a possibility of lead paint contamination.
A word of caution: If this is a true antique dresser and you are concerned about losing its value, you would need someone in the antique business to assess whether it should be refinished at all. Refinishing a valuable antique can greatly depreciate its value.
Thanks for the question and good luck with your project
