the color comes more from simple age than the finish. It is one of those things that is very difficult to artificially duplicate.

If your grandfather refinished it in the 50's, he probably used oil based varnish or possibly shellac.

Both add an amber tone to whatever they are applied.

To find out which finish it is, try wiping a small area(inconspicuous area) with a rag dampened in alcohol. If any of the finish comes off, it is shellac. You might get some oil/dirt on the first couple of swipes, so be prepared to do a third or fourth.

Using paint thinner will not dissolve varnish, so is the alcohol does nothing but clean grime, the only other finish that might have been used back then would be lacquer---and lacquer thinner will dissolve old lacquer.

The wood might be maple. By the way, you can buy latches and hinges like those on the piece, and most experienced wood workers/cabinet shops can make a door identical to those to replace the missing one on the bottom right---maybe $100 to $150 total cost.

As far as refinishing, lightly sand all the surfaces and use a good oil based non poly varnish---but buy the varnish from a real paint store, not a home improvement store. Don't worry about getting the nooks and crannies, as leaving those as is emphasizes the old furniture look, which is really nice on that piece.

handymac i couldn't have said it better myself . but i'm betting it's shellac .

Thanks for you feedback handymac.

I found a finish test similar to your description. I tried a small area with denatured alcohol it seemed to remove some amber color on the cloth, but the finish stayed intact ( will try again doing 3-4 wipes). I tried lacquer thinner in another section and it did nothing.

I was thinking it might be maple or mahogany.

I should have stated in the first email that I actually took one door off and the drawers out before I took the pictures. I had to remove the door to get to some screws used all along the face of the piece.

I'm looking to make a new top. The top looks as though there may have been a hutch or something that used to be installed but no longer exists.

Here are a few other pictures:

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See grain on the inside of the the bottom right door.

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See grain on the door frame. I think my siblings and I wrote with pencil on the inside of these, as kids - dumb kids.

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See cracking in the top finish. This is what the entire piece looks like.

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See the finish pealed off on the inside of the door along the frame.

The first picture in the second batch is more like maple, but the second picture is probably mahogany.

If the alcohol does not remove any finish in the cleaned spot, I'm betting the finish is varnish.

Seems to be birch to me, also accounts for the curly grain in some of the zoomed out pics. Waterlox may be the best finish for it anyway. It can be brushed or wiped, and it gives a nice golden color.

Casey