Thread: How hard would it be to sand and stain a queen anne dressing table

I want to sand and stain a queen anne dressing table that looks like this:
Queen Anne Dressing Table | eBay

To end up like this:
eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

Is that stain color RoseWood?

What Would I need to coat this with?

Would this be hard to do for an enthusiastic beginner?

Any step by step suggestions or instructions would be greatly appeciated.

tia

p.s. is it OK to change a brownie stain color to a RoseWood color?
Maybe that color is Mahogony?

OK, hyperlink to pics fixed.

The stain could be mahogany in the ebay offering you are looking at, whatever it is you can get it off. It is possible the piece is veneer with solid timber legs which means a fair amount of care needs to be taken with any sanding. It is quite stripable, most likely paint stripper and scappers to remove the lacquer surface and steel wool will get rid of the bulk of the stain. Any sanding should not be overdone least you damage the surface or details. If it is french polish then it only needs steel wool and metho to remove all the finish.

Hi John,
Many thanks for the quick reply.
Much to consider.
I wonder if I should I test with metho first to see if its just the french polish?

Also, in your opinion is stripping then refinishing hard to do well?

When you only have the original finish it is not that difficult but time consuming. I would try with Meths first, and if it is french polish often just a clean up with steelwool and meth then repolish can give some pretty good results. If it is a stain with a clear finish over then it is a bit harder but quite doable. Before starting though try to find a restorers site. Both Ubeaut and Howards have products that can rejuvenate an old finish with minimum effort. However what you need is a few tips from people who actually have quite a bit of experience.

My experience is limited largely to bringing back old shellac or french polish pieces along with removing layers of paint to bring back neglected pieces that have been "improved" with many layers of paint over the original finish. For that reason you should look beyond any information I have offered here.

The woodwork forum site should have a few old posts that are helpful and there are many publications that deal with returning old pieces to their former glory. I avoid sandpaper like the plague especially on any detail, it is ok for rough up prior to applying a finish but used on a piece like a Queen Anne dressing table you are better off minimising it's use.

If it is french polish Neil Ellis of Ubeaut has quite a useful book on polishing that you would find contains plenty of detail on finishing in an easy to read format.

It looks like nitro-cellulose from the marks in the last of the photos.

That and rosewood are very common for furniture of that style and vintage.

If it is it's more of a PITA than shellac to remove.


If you're going to have a go at your first piece try something where the wood speaks for itself (kauri, oak etc) where there is a possibility of amalgamating or reviving the finish.

Maybe something in the rustic/farmhouse/industrial style that is only going to look better with another strip/sand/finish


As John has said more often than not these were made of good 'face' bits of wood and other cheaper cuts to meet cost.

A dark rosewood stain that is sprayed with nitro can sometimes hide these things better than shellac so sometimes it's good to inspect the furniture firsthand.

Cheers,
Garth