bureau refurbishment

[big soft moose]

I have this old writing bureau in the workshop which currently stores my planes and router kit (it needs a new home - i was thinking the tip - anyway as a router table is shortly going where it currently is)





however my brother in law and his fiancee louise have just bought a house and swimbo has promised louise that i will refurbish it for them to have in their living room :shock:

the real kicker however is that apparently we are delivering the finished item the weekend after next (21st) #-o - fortunately i have a couple of days leave and toil owing

so i need some advice

as you can see the inside is okay if a bit dusty from living next to the bandsaw but the outside finish is knackered - plus it needs new handles and one of the bottom doors is warped

so question number 1 - how do i strip the outside finish , which looks to be some kind of laquer - do i use a heat gun, nitromors, sand paper , a cabinet scraper, wire wool and meths or a combination of these ?

question number 2 - having stripped it what do i finish it with - I'm leaning towards staining it darker than it is now and a wax finish but i'm open to ideas

question no. 3 is there any likelyhood that i can flatten the botom door ? - maybe by steaming and pressing , or should i cut my losses and just make two new ones - and if i do that how do i get them the same colour as the rest of the bureau

and finally question number 4 - what sort of handles do i need and where do i get them from ? - plus where can i get a new lock mech for the top flap ?

I must admit part of me wonders if it would be easier to build them a bureau from scratch, maybe out of veneered mdf - but that isnt what swimbo wants and anyway its doubtful i could do it in ten days

all help very gratefully recieved - and i'll start a wip thread so that you can keep abreast of my efforts - and snigger at my ineptitude

 

[xy mosian]

Watch it, from here it looks veneered. If recent, last 50 yrs, this could be very thin. I'd go to stripping the outside with water based stripper, Big Orange Shed stuff works quite well. Brush it on and let it work. Remove gunk with scraper repeat as required finishing off with fine wire wool, with grain of course. Then see what you have.

Isn't strange how work appears just when you think you have 'time off' ?

xy

 

[Oryxdesign]

I think I'd probably try stripping the finish with a cabinet scraper before I tried anything else.

 

[wizer]

 

[Oryxdesign]

Tom, I was being polite.

 

[wizer]

Non Comprende

 

[OPJ]

I'd have suggested Nitromors or Rustins' Strypit. Both do an excellent job. Is it veneered or solid wood? I've never used either on veneer so, I'm not sure whether a heavy application might be too strong for the glue? If it was a French polish, you could almost certainly use meths. For a lacquer, I'm not sure but, thinners might work? Whatever you use it would only soften the finish so that it could be easily scraped off afterwards.

If you want to wax over it then, don't forget the coat of sanding sealer before - otherwise, buffing might lift the stain...

Isaac Lord is usually a good bet for the fittings. You may even find something similar at Toolstation.

 

[MikeG.]

I'm with Tom. Don't waste any time or energy on that pile of poo......

Get a bradawl and stab it a lot, then tell your relative that you've found woodworm in it.

Mike

 

[big soft moose]

I'm with Tom. Don't waste any time or energy on that pile of poo......

Get a bradawl and stab it a lot, then tell your relative that you've found woodworm in it.

Mike

frankly mike i'm with you and tom - but swimbo has already promised phil and louise a bureau - and i want her in a good mood when i broach the subject of spending £700 + on large lumps of cast iron machinery - so telling her i won't/can't isnt an option.

the only alternative to refurbing this one is to build one from scratch and that doesnt look feasible in the timescale available - I have already scoured gumtree and freecycle for a more attractive option to "refurbish" but without success.

 

[Oryxdesign]

I recon it'd quicker to make a new one from veneered mdf, although not cheaper. You'll be ages scraping in the corners

 

[WellsWood]

In your position I think I'd be trawling through junk... er, I mean secondhand furniture shops looking for something similar but in better nick. It may be that you can pick up a fairly decent example for about the same money as the materials for a new one, and it could just be the best way of having something ready for the deadline.

 

[wizer]

I do think it's good for the workshop tho. Looks great for tool storage (trying to shine some light on the situation).

 

[lurker]

Paint it cream & "distress it".
Otherwise Tom's is the only solution

It really is the pits, but on the positive side Phil & Louise will NEVER ask you to help them again :twisted:

 

[TrimTheKing]

Why do they want a bureau anyway? Have they bought a house in the...70's?

 

[big soft moose]

On reflection it possibly isnt as bad as it looks in the photos - all those light coloured tghings on the front are shavings and dust caught in spiders webs etc not scratches

the plan for the inside of the top is to remove the rather naff shelves and refit it with two sets of drawers.

I'll give it a go at stripping down with B&Q water based stripper and if that doesnt work i'll broach the idea of remaking a new one with swimbo

any recomendations where to get veneered mdf in the west country - i can live without a trip to croydon to go to SLH.

This is what you get for letting swimbo read your wood work books - she saw the kevin ley bureau

and now wants me to make a silk purse out of a sows ear with this , one or two problems with that - like the fact that i aint kevin ley tho even he might struggle to make the bureau in question look like that :shock:

 

[woodbloke]

Sound common sense...waste of effort and time. You might have job convincing SWIMBO though - Rob

 

[OPJ]

Pete, the best place I know of is Avon Plywood in Keynsham (Bristol), if that's not too far for you. There are other places around Bristol who offer veneered sheet but, Avon Ply appear to offer everything - if they don't have it then, you probably can't buy it!! :wink:

A quick Google search has also told me there is an Edens brand in Corsham. I've never used either of these firms but, people on this forum are often recommending Edens to others.

 

[disco_monkey79]

Good luckwith it. I've revamped furniture before that looked sh!t and finished up with something half decent, so hopefully you'll have similar success.

That said, if you decide not to proceed with this particular piece - have you tried British Heart Foundation furniture shops? They often have pieces (sometimes solid wood too) of this type, and they are reasonably priced.

That said, I've no idea if there's one anywhere near you.

 

[miles_hot]

Moose, if you do go down the buy veneered ply route let me know as I will be buying some sheets of the stuff + marine teak ply in the medium term (hopefully before Christmas) and if we get them from the same place you can have the postage for free

Miles

 

[big soft moose]

Moose, if you do go down the buy veneered ply route let me know as I will be buying some sheets of the stuff + marine teak ply in the medium term (hopefully before Christmas) and if we get them from the same place you can have the postage for free

Miles

cheers miles tho in this case if i need it i'll need it quickly so will probably go to edens to pick it up - but i'll come back to you on that as i also need some veneered mDF for when i build swimbos sewing table

inciidentally the "gentle low solvent stripper" i applied did nowt to lift the laquer - i was thinking nitromors but given the weather i thinhk i'll just resort the the ROS