Hand Plane
Established Member
Has anyone got experience of restoring a mid-1970's circular G-Plan table?
We treated our table with teak oil as per the instructions given at time of purchase in 1975, and after 30 years it was looking very tired, faded and grubby through constant use. The veneer and wood trim are all in very good condition; it was the surface treatment which was shot through.
So I stripped it down using wax/oil remover with steel wool, cleaned up with white spirit and methys. I then re-finished with Danish oil. I can't remember if I tried staining it as it was light in colour from fading. The Danish oil finish didn't last long. Within a couple of years it had deteriorated and rubbed off at seating positions and looked poor and grubby.
So I stripped it down again. It was then re-finished with a wax-oil product. I used a coloured wax-oil product to get some colour into the finish. This wax-oil finish has not lasted long either and it needs the kiss of life again as looking very tatty.
I have considered and experimented with other finishes.
For example, I would get a better colour match to other G-Plan furniture using a spirit stain. However, having seen how much a spirit stain lost its colour on another table I made some years ago, (finished with sprayed on cellulose lacquer), then I wouldn't be happy to use a spirit stain on the G-Plan table.
I don't have access to a spray system these days, so a cellulose spray finish is not applicable.
I have considered a hand applied acrylic finish (which I have used on may other pieces) but I haven't found one which is semi-gloss/semi-matt; they all appear to be high gloss which would not suit this application. A similar situation applies to small quantity proprietary lacquers/varnishes.
Years ago you could get an oil based polyurethane varnish in matt, semi-matt and gloss. These were very durable and I would go this route, preferably with a compatible tint, to achieve a long lasting finish. I'm not aware of a suitable product at this time.
So comments and suggestions welcome.
We treated our table with teak oil as per the instructions given at time of purchase in 1975, and after 30 years it was looking very tired, faded and grubby through constant use. The veneer and wood trim are all in very good condition; it was the surface treatment which was shot through.
So I stripped it down using wax/oil remover with steel wool, cleaned up with white spirit and methys. I then re-finished with Danish oil. I can't remember if I tried staining it as it was light in colour from fading. The Danish oil finish didn't last long. Within a couple of years it had deteriorated and rubbed off at seating positions and looked poor and grubby.
So I stripped it down again. It was then re-finished with a wax-oil product. I used a coloured wax-oil product to get some colour into the finish. This wax-oil finish has not lasted long either and it needs the kiss of life again as looking very tatty.
I have considered and experimented with other finishes.
For example, I would get a better colour match to other G-Plan furniture using a spirit stain. However, having seen how much a spirit stain lost its colour on another table I made some years ago, (finished with sprayed on cellulose lacquer), then I wouldn't be happy to use a spirit stain on the G-Plan table.
I don't have access to a spray system these days, so a cellulose spray finish is not applicable.
I have considered a hand applied acrylic finish (which I have used on may other pieces) but I haven't found one which is semi-gloss/semi-matt; they all appear to be high gloss which would not suit this application. A similar situation applies to small quantity proprietary lacquers/varnishes.
Years ago you could get an oil based polyurethane varnish in matt, semi-matt and gloss. These were very durable and I would go this route, preferably with a compatible tint, to achieve a long lasting finish. I'm not aware of a suitable product at this time.
So comments and suggestions welcome.