Before
After
Before 
After
I used the following process to refinish it. I decided not to use an initial dye on the wood since I liked the dark orangish color it already was. I started by cleaning it up with "furniture restorer", followed by 2 coats of shellac. I just use Zinsser Amber Shellac and mix it with an equal amount of denatured alcohol. The 50/50 mix keeps the coats thin. I then used a gel stain as a glaze. This time I used Old Masters brand dark walnut. Basically, I just paint it on, wait a few minutes, and then wipe off all the excess with t-shirt material rags. I follow that up with another coat of shellac. Lastly, I applied dark brown Briwax and buffed it with a t-shirt type rag. Obviously, I am no expert on mission style finishes, but I think it turned out pretty good.
I used the following process to refinish it. I decided not to use an initial dye on the wood since I liked the dark orangish color it already was. I started by cleaning it up with "furniture restorer", followed by 2 coats of shellac. I just use Zinsser Amber Shellac and mix it with an equal amount of denatured alcohol. The 50/50 mix keeps the coats thin. I then used a gel stain as a glaze. This time I used Old Masters brand dark walnut. Basically, I just paint it on, wait a few minutes, and then wipe off all the excess with t-shirt material rags. I follow that up with another coat of shellac. Lastly, I applied dark brown Briwax and buffed it with a t-shirt type rag. Obviously, I am no expert on mission style finishes, but I think it turned out pretty good. 
5 comments:
Wow, that looks great!
Thanks! I love Craigslist. The chair cost a grand total of $65.
That new finish really brings out the quarter-sawn grain!! Are you going to use the same process on the crown molding?? I'll follow your progress as I have a house full of pre-painted oak from the PO.
Thanks for the post!!
Thanks for the comment! I am planning to use almost the same process on the crown molding. The only major difference is that I think I will use some sort of initial dye to even out the color of the wood. I have been experimenting with Transtint dye in a bunch of shades of brown. Right now I am leaning towards "medium brown". A really good blog for mission style finishing is treefrogfurniture.blogspot.com.
Nice job on the chair. I love old chairs like that. My Dad had one.
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