HI. I'm a clueless owner of a beautiful antique walnut table given to me
by my mother. Great, except that I was storing it in a room near an
open window and in a particularly fierce rainstorm it got water stained.
Also it arrived with a dark circle, almost black but not quite, as if a
wet glass had been set on it for too long.
So, short of a professional, is there anything I can do to repair these
problems without harming the table? The wood is stained but not split
or otherwise damaged. The rain damage shows as lightly visible spots
with dark edges, a bit as tho the table had acne scars or something.
Also, what, if anything, is the best way to care for wood in terms of
cleaning, waxing or oiling, and anything else I should know? I am happy
to simply hear of any books that would help me care for this table and a
couple other pieces that are beautiful and old. I have looked at some
books and they seem to contradict each other or are pushing some
commercial product line. I am very interested in non-toxic relatively
natural solutions. I am willing to put in lots of elbow grease but I
want to do it correctly and not ruin these pieces in ignorance.
Thanx for any suggestions.
Betsy
Betsy, I think you should correspond with this business, Eli's workshop
is all about ancient finishings and you would need to provide digital shots
of the whole peice as well as the problem areas and any maker's marks
such as names and dates that may be on the table, like underneath, sent
through email, but ask first.
http://www.ecrios.com/index.html
For him to get a sale out of you, he'll probably tell you everything you need
to know on how to do it, and provide the right products. I would also look
into the major bookstores for refinishing of antiques and restoration.
Good luck,
Alex
P. S. You type very lovely, the way you express yourself, Very refreshing to
say the least, and I appreciate it.
May I quote you on that? Well said.
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 17:01:36 GMT, "U-CDK_CHARLES\\Charles" <"Charles
Krug"@cdksystems.com> wrote:
>See . . we're really an infinite number of monkeys on computer
>keyboards, failing miserably (so far) at replicating the works of
>Shakespear.
>
>But we have infinitely long to keep trying.
Thanks to everyone for your help. I will give each suggestion a shot and
see how it works out. The table is not shellacked so I'll try the
mayonnaise. You have all been very nice and I really appreciate it.
Sometimes a novice coming to a not quite appropriate forum for advice
gets stomped to kindling. It is a sign of how beautiful the table is
and how badly I feel about letting it get damaged that I risked censure
in order to get information. Thank you all again.
Betsy
and thanks for the compliment vis a vis my writing. family of verbal
gymnasts. it rubs off. :-)
AArDvarK wrote:
>...and no "mayonaise" unless you know it is an oiled wood, it could be shellaced wood!
>Alex
>
>
>
>
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 12:00:31 -0400, [email protected]
<[email protected]> wrote:
> May I quote you on that? Well said.
>
> On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 17:01:36 GMT, "U-CDK_CHARLES\\Charles" <"Charles
> Krug"@cdksystems.com> wrote:
>
>>See . . we're really an infinite number of monkeys on computer
>>keyboards, failing miserably (so far) at replicating the works of
>>Shakespear.
>>
>>But we have infinitely long to keep trying.
>
My favorite similar quote:
"On USENET, no one knows you're a St. Bernard"
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 16:08:39 GMT, patriarch <> wrote:
> [email protected] wrote in news:[email protected]:
>
>> HI. I'm a clueless owner of a beautiful antique walnut table given to me
>> by my mother. <snip>
>> So, short of a professional, <snip>
>
To the OP. If it's REALLY antique, you don't want advice over USENET.
If it's a truly valuable piece, than anything you do to it ruins its
value.
If, OTOH, it's merely "Old"--say a 19th Century bit of mass production,
then there are many useful things that can be done.
But you really need the opinion of someone who's not interested in
making money off it, not this lot.
Try contacting a major auction house saying "I need an appraisal for
insurance purposes. Whom would you recommend in my area?" By "Major" I
mean London or NYC. Make sure the appraisor knows you're NOT interested
in selling at any price--some blokes look to lowball prices for quick
resale. Saying, "Not for sale at any price" will USUALLY forestall that
lot.
See . . we're really an infinite number of monkeys on computer
keyboards, failing miserably (so far) at replicating the works of
Shakespear.
But we have infinitely long to keep trying.
[email protected] wrote in news:[email protected]:
> HI. I'm a clueless owner of a beautiful antique walnut table given to me
> by my mother. <snip>
> So, short of a professional, <snip>
Betsy, we can try, but it's rather difficult to get it right the first
time. Turns into sort of a 'try this - oops, that didn't work' cycle,
wherein more harm can be done than good.
You at least need to get someone with SOME expertise involved, to look at,
touch, and evaluate the problem, and the piece involved. Maybe someone who
is more experienced in the antiques side of things, rather than the
woodworking.
For the most part, this group seems to concentrate on building new stuff,
finding machinery at next to theft pricing, and arguing with civility about
politics.
Tele-medicine is rather a last resort.
Patriarch
Might find some useful info on "Repair & restoration" forum at
www.homesteadfinishing.com Bekieve that is the name, if not it's
close.
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 03:00:14 -0400, [email protected] wrote:
>HI. I'm a clueless owner of a beautiful antique walnut table given to me
>by my mother. Great, except that I was storing it in a room near an
>open window and in a particularly fierce rainstorm it got water stained.
> Also it arrived with a dark circle, almost black but not quite, as if a
>wet glass had been set on it for too long.
>
>So, short of a professional, is there anything I can do to repair these
>problems without harming the table? The wood is stained but not split
>or otherwise damaged. The rain damage shows as lightly visible spots
>with dark edges, a bit as tho the table had acne scars or something.
>
>Also, what, if anything, is the best way to care for wood in terms of
>cleaning, waxing or oiling, and anything else I should know? I am happy
>to simply hear of any books that would help me care for this table and a
>couple other pieces that are beautiful and old. I have looked at some
>books and they seem to contradict each other or are pushing some
>commercial product line. I am very interested in non-toxic relatively
>natural solutions. I am willing to put in lots of elbow grease but I
>want to do it correctly and not ruin these pieces in ignorance.
>
>Thanx for any suggestions.
>Betsy
On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 03:00:14 -0400, [email protected] wrote:
>HI. I'm a clueless owner of a beautiful antique walnut table given to me
>by my mother. Great, except that I was storing it in a room near an
>open window and in a particularly fierce rainstorm it got water stained.
> Also it arrived with a dark circle, almost black but not quite, as if a
>wet glass had been set on it for too long.
>
>So, short of a professional, is there anything I can do to repair these
>problems without harming the table? The wood is stained but not split
>or otherwise damaged. The rain damage shows as lightly visible spots
>with dark edges, a bit as tho the table had acne scars or something.
>
>Also, what, if anything, is the best way to care for wood in terms of
>cleaning, waxing or oiling, and anything else I should know? I am happy
>to simply hear of any books that would help me care for this table and a
>couple other pieces that are beautiful and old. I have looked at some
>books and they seem to contradict each other or are pushing some
>commercial product line. I am very interested in non-toxic relatively
>natural solutions. I am willing to put in lots of elbow grease but I
>want to do it correctly and not ruin these pieces in ignorance.
>
>Thanx for any suggestions.
>Betsy
Try rubbing a small dab of mayonnaise on the end of a rag gently into
the water mark. Regular weekly dusting and waxing twice a year should
be enough care. Keep it out of the sun and away from water. I like
Johnson's Paste Wax. A more aggressive cleaning product called BriWax
(comes in 5 colors and clear) contains toluene and beeswax.