War office chairs

[XTiffy]

My stain of choice would be Van Dyke crystals disolved in water (made from Walnut husks). I used to buy it from Morells but I have seen that Mylands list 500g pots. The beauty of Van Dyke is that you can vary the amount of water to vary the depth of colour. This comes into its own when creating shadows in antique funiture or blending varying areas.

 

[whereistheceilidh]

Nice idea.
I assume from your name that you may have polished a number of MOD chair seats in the past......

 

[XTiffy]

No, perish the thought, my time in the RN was as a Radio Electrical Artificer. After leaving the navy and training as an Antique Furniture Restorer, I did do some polishing work in HMS Victory though, (but not chairs). Dockyard was too busy, so I was approached. Very interesting few days as got to be shown round by a Shipwright in places where visitors aren't normally allowed. Used my lunch time breaks to wander around the Dockyard, where I hadn't been for many years.

 

[mikej460]

I've seen a lot of stuff totally wrecked by caustic soda dipping. It's a last resort and then only to be done very quickly and washed off as fast as possible.
OK on metal work though - over the years have saved lots of ironmongery and brass by leaving it in a bucket of caustic soda.

Yes, it was very popular in the 80's and early 90's when stripped pine and sandlewood became popular. Killed the woodworm mind you!

 

[whereistheceilidh]

No, perish the thought, my time in the RN was as a Radio Electrical Artificer. After leaving the navy and training as an Antique Furniture Restorer, I did do some polishing work in HMS Victory though, (but not chairs). Dockyard was too busy, so I was approached. Very interesting few days as got to be shown round by a Shipwright in places where visitors aren't normally allowed. Used my lunch time breaks to wander around the Dockyard, where I hadn't been for many years.

........was thinking of you sitting on them rather than working on them..
have always wanted to take a closed look at the Victory timbers, esp in the bilge area
Did you do the work in the aft areas?
Dockyard has certainly changed ...but then so have the ships....

 

[XTiffy]

The shipwright took me all round the bilge area and commented that very little was original and showed me where they were replacing timbers as there were several layers. The work I carried out was to polished woodwork in the stern the officers quarters etc. As a youngster living in Blackheath a walk across the heath took you to Greenwich, where I often visited the Maritime Museum. Nelson's uniform was on display, such a small slight man. Later I was a Sea Cadet at the Royal Navy College, hence joining the Navy. My one regret was not keeping a diary as I have a memory like a sieve.

 

[Stevekane]

As a restorer repaired and re-finished loads of windsor chairs. Absolutely agree about the negative effect of dipping with caustic soda tanks, I wouldn't even entertain it for any reason. The chair just needs a sand down, stain if wanted, brush (even better a polisher's mop) apply shellac sanding sealer followed by a light rub down, (scotch brite type pads are best for this), wax and buff.

Intresting reading the above, I feel like a bit of a bodger in that Ive taken to applying a thinned coat of polyurethane varnish, a light nib and finish with wax,,gives a very nice and durable finish without looking “varnished” not so different to the technique above I think?
Steve.

 

[XTiffy]

Hello Steve, I have used that method before too. Advantage of shellac is extremely fast drying but seals any kind of stain without reacting. If you use oils stains Colron etc. the solvents in varnish can cause patchy results. For interior use shellac/wax is fine.

 

[Richard_C]

One factor not yet mentioned is what the chair will be used for. If it's light and respectable use as a dining or hall chair that's one thing, but if its to be a heavily used kitchen chair with 10 year olds standing on it with their lightsabres, toddlers testing out their finger painting skills, adults standing on it to reach the marmalade down from the top cupboard or to address the family with lengthy speeches, that might point you towards a tough modern varnish finish. There is no single right answer.

 

[Jacob]

..... if its to be a heavily used kitchen chair with 10 year olds standing on it with their lightsabres, toddlers testing out their finger painting skills, adults standing on it to reach the marmalade down from the top cupboard or to address the family with lengthy speeches, that might point you towards a tough modern varnish finish. There is no single right answer.

Actually linseed oil could be the answer here.
It's regarded as labour intensive in that it takes a lot of applications with a wait in between, but it only takes a minute or two to actually apply it.
It's very durable and also very easy to touch up if you do get wear and scratches.