Sweating off the finish

    I have resumed taking the finish off the treadle cabinet I bought last October. I do this outside, so it had to stop for the winter and cold spring. Why I picked one of the hottest days in Buffalo with no breeze, I don't know. I just want it done and the 237 encased inside so I can zig zag treadle. I bought more Formby's Furniture finish remover and more green 3M scratchy pads. I wore through another pair of heavy duty gloves on the right hand. I used over half the Formby's and almost all the scratchies. Previously, I had removed most of the finish from the drawers and side pieces. I had left the top for last. I thought this would be easier since it is flat. Well, the good news is that the wood on the top is in pretty nice shape. The bad news is someone had put another coat or two of finish on real thick and left a lot of brush bristles. It took lots of liquid and elbow grease to get to the wood. What looked beat up turned out to be mostly the finish. I still have to go over everything another time to get all the leftover patches off. So, I did not get it done. Once the finish is off, I will use Minwax Antique Oil finish on the cabinet instead of Poly. The wipe on Poly has tempted me. Today is hot again and humid so I do not think I will attempt the final removal. Things were pretty sticky yesterday. I thought it was ironic that I was stripping the oak cabinet under my oak tree. You had to be there.

     On the subject of treadles, I bought a necklace from Nancy Cornwell, who sells on Etsy, landedesignco.etsy.com, with a custom treadle photo. She is making necklaces to earn money to finalize their adoption of a Chinese deaf boy. They already have a deaf daughter. Nancy is the daughter of Sarah Craig, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, who has an awesome quilt ministry. Nancy's story is on there; she has lots of designs, and made a custom one for me, as I had to have some finished treadle. She was great to deal with and it shipped so fast! If you need a gift, Nancy would be grateful for your business. Here is mine:

More refinishing on treadle cabinet

   Still working on removing/cleaning the old finish on the cabinet. Now it is too cold to do this outside in the garage, not sure how to continue. The side pieces still need work, especially the scroll work. The drawers are so hard to do, to get in where the handle indent is. Counting down the days until I get the 237. Need more Formby's Refinisher and some more green scratchie pads. 

Side getting there

A ways to go, much tougher.

 3 Drawers almost done, the indents are still bad

Drawers before refinisher applied

   The tiger oak when exposed is just fabulous. I am going to use Minwax antique oil finish when all clean.

The refinish job commences

    Ok, what I really wanted was a treadle to put a Singer 237 in. What I got is some pretty filthy irons and a cabinet, beautiful, but yucky finish. Today, since it was gorgeous, I decided to get dirty. I bought some GooGone for outdoor grills and ovens and sprayed it all up. Great stuff, no odor, nice clingy foam. I let it sit for almost an hour. Then I scrubbed with a new stiff plastic bristle brush and toothbrush. What a lot of thick, disgusting, dirty crud lifted off. I wore old clothes and gloves, but I was covered in yuck. I don't usually mind getting dirty or messes, but this was pretty nasty.

   I rinsed it all with blasts from my garden hose. I scrubbed a bit more. I can actually see gold paint on the decals. It took everything off down to the metal. Now, how much do I have to wire brush? Can I just lightly sand? How about it experts?

 

     Not satisfied with gook and mess, I started on the cabinet. I did parts of the top and one drawer. Below are photos so you can see the difference between cleaned and not. I used Formby's Refinisher. It kind of melts the finish, removes some and evens it out. I have to get some more muscle and bulk up or I won't finish this until 4th of July. This stuff stinks, so I have to do this in the garage which means when it is warm so I have to hustle.

     All I wanted was a treadle stand and a 237 to sew on...