Not sure where the pics went...

Wow, what a find!

I like what you are saying queenvictorian...I looked at doing an oil finish because I think it would be the look I want which is a beautiful oiled wood. But don't they need a lot of coats? Shellac would be super easy to so there is that, plus it is authentic.

I don't like the look of the super shiny mahogany that my parents had that belonged in a museum (I literally grew up in a museum like house with such valuable furniture we couldn't even use it).

From what I read, there are different tung oils with different amounts of the hardening polymers in them. Do you recommend any specific ones?

You need to find a tung oil without additives - just the pure oil. We looked into tung oil for refinishing our attic floors, but it takes a while to dry (cure), and we didn't have the time, so we went with polyurethane (which is nice for floors, but not for furniture). But next time we do any refinishing in the house (I have a lot of trim to strip and restore), I'll be using shellac because we are occupying the house now and I can't stand the polyurethane fumes! Also shellac is pretty and isn't hyper shiny.

And if you DO get those water stains should you choose shellac, you can dissolve the damaged shellac with alcohol and reapply in that spot - that's one cool thing about shellac - easy spot fixing.

Queen...Thank you for helping me finally make up my mind. My head is spinning after reading so many woodwork and restorer blogs/forums etc. Since the tung oil will need many coats/cure time, I am going to apply a few coats of shellac for now so I can start using the dresser. In the future, shellac is easily removed or I can fix the color right over it from what I read.

Kaye...are you my neighbor ...the house where I found the dresser on the curb! I just realized the names match...that would be funny.

I just want to say I'm glad I'm not the only one who picks through neighbors trash. Last week I got an antique student desk -- it even has an inkwell!! I haven't touched it yet - but i'm excited to clean it up once I decide what to do. One man's trash.....

PS: great find!!! it's going to look beautiful!!

Shellac is relatively easier to remove than other finishes, but it's not easy to remove easily.

That crown molding was done with a combination of dye, shellac and gel stain. I think you can see from these photos that the grain shows through and the stain does not look like paint. The crown was unfinished maple so I used dye to get some deeper color before finishing. The door was already finished so it was cleaned up, then evened out with GF Java gel stain and shellac before receiving a protective coat of varnish.

I would not necessarily describe shellac as easy but it has the distinct advantage of not needing to be removed completely before staining. A very thin coat of shellac helps control blotching and helps the stain go on evenly.

Good luck with your project! I hope you will post some more photos to show off your progress

Paula- I love trash picking! This particular neighbor is an old house/antique purist like me so I always look at her discards. I am so excited about this dresser! I have an old Pottery Barn Kids dresser now (My room always gets the discards) so full sized drawers will be amazing.

sambah-hmmm, I thought shellac just dissolved quickly in denatured alcohol...well from what I read, you can just add stuff on top of it so I am going to try it. Hope it works. I bought Zinsser shellac (I forget the name) because the reviews are good. I will probably do the one side tonight if I can get enough light in there. The dresser won't be exposed to any liquids or anything so shellac should do for now.

Lynden-That is some beautiful stuff! Wow-that must have taken some time. Did you do it yourself?

Zinnser is the only game in town that I'm aware of short of dissolving your own flakes.

I do recall vaguely that sherwin williams has a synthetic shellac on the market. But it's pigmented I believe.

Shellac does dissolve quickly for awhile. But after time, it will 'dissolve' into a gummy mess. Although, something like citri-strip might work pretty well.

I only have limited experience with shellac sealing in the old wood smell of beat up cabinets before painting.

I'd be inclined to attempt using Daly's BenMatte Danish Tung Oil on this dresser. Wipe on, wipe off.

http://www.dalyswoodfinishes.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=3

So that’s another vote for tung oil. I may have to bite the bullet and commit to a longer process.

Shellac does dissolve in denatured alcohol but then you have a gooey, drippy, semi-liquid mess you have to remove from the surface with a scraper, scrungy pad, steel wool, cloth etc or allow to reharden.

Did you get the clear shellac (Bullseye sealer) or amber shellac? They work similarly but I think the sealer is more dilute, meaning less shellac per unit of denatured alcohol. Be sure to check the date code on the can as old product or cans or stored in a hot area may not harden as expected. I don't know if you have used shellac before, but I recommend reading about how to apply it as it does not work the same as paint. If you have any isssues with getting the finish you want, walk away and let it dry thoroughly. If it drags at all, it isn't dry enough.

I did quite a bit of work with shellac trying to match existing woodwork in my 1933 tudor, The crown I added looks original and it is gorgeous but it took me lots of labor to get it finished to my satisfaction.

don't use tung oil. never dry and stinks terrible

Tung will dry...eventually. And it does stink!

I dont know about gel stain - its quite opaque. LYndee you must have used a very thin coat of it ? (Beautiful job!). Zar stains and the rustoleum stains are heavy bodied enough to even out color, but not quite as heavy as a gel stain - FWIW.

Be careful & research carefully - dyes and a lot of finishes incl oil finishes can only be applied to raw wood. If you have some old stain or finish still in the grain it may not work. It looks like it was stained cos you can see it inside the cabinet, where the drawers go (esp second one from bottom). Inside is where you can test your stain colors if you go that route (OK to mix colors to get it just right - Id try to match exactly whats already on.)

If you go shellac route - Woodcraft has shellac flakes in Garnet and Amber. I kinda liked using them - you could make it thinner and build up several thin coats rather than one thick. The garnet gave a beautiful antique look to pine trim. You could do shellac over stained wood.

Cant wait to see your "after" pics!

Nice find! I'd shellac it. Especially with the weather getting cold making this an indoors job, shellac is kind of nice to work with.

Hah-you guys aren’t helping me lol. I guess that’s why the internet and YouTube are so overwhelming because there are many ways to do this and everyone has their own method.

So i have decided not to try to even the color out as I like it as is. The shellac removal mess sounds like what I had with the citristrip to remove the lacqueur. I left on only 30 mins then starting scrubbing off the goo with steel wool.

I looked at pictures of Tung oiled pieces and that rich touchable oiled wood look is what I want. But Tung oil is smelly so I have to wait for spring I guess as my garage is freezing. I brought it upstairs to work with in my daughter‘s room while she is at college so Tung oil may be overwhelming upstairs.

I’m going to hunt down some pure Tung oil today and decide. Thank you

Another question about Tung oil...does it stay sticky? The reason I’m asking is that my cat tears out her hair upstairs at night so if the hairs will stick in the Tung oil while it dries a week at a time then that could be really ugly.

I've never tried this before but will on future project to remove stains from wood. Use some non-gel toothpaste (would have to be the type that contains an abrasive), apply to the stained area and rub in the direction of the wood grain with either 000 steel wool or a soft dry cloth. Wipe the residue away with a slightly damp cloth and then wipe with a soft dry cloth. As far as top coats, I've used brush on polyurethane, rub-on polyurethane, Tung oil and boiled linseed oil. My favorite so far is rub-on poly. It doesn't give the "wood under plastic" look and doesn't yellow over time the way linseed oil does. Great curb find btw! Good luck!

norwood-I watched some videos of pros who used oxalic acid to bleach a black water stained mahogany dresser top but they had sanded all the stain away to were kind of starting fresh. I didn't see any toothpaste use but will do a search. Why not, after all, its only the holiday season-nothing else to do.

The stain actually looks like sharpie marker or something. It is a squiggly line. Since it is 5 feet tall, I can barely look down on it so I will let it go. As I scrub at it with steel wool, I am removing stain so I am backing off.

I spoke with the neighbor named Kaye who threw this out (not kaye1951 from above) and she was excited I grabbed it because she knew it was a good piece of furniture but she needed room in her garage. I told her let me know before she throws out more lol.

Hi, Cleo! I'm looking forward to seeing the finished piece. No, I wouldn't dispose such a beautiful piece, but glad to hear you connected with the other Kaye so her discards can go directly to you! (I live in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies.)

Not an expert by any means but I just went through my first Refinishing Adventure. Steps: Find desk on Curb, Read internet for days, decide on Pure Tung oil.

I'm very happy with the final result. But it is true that it's a long process to use Tung Oil. You need a dedicated place to work on it for a while: apply a coat, wait a few days, apply another coat. I ran out of patience after 6 coats, but 10 probably would have been better. Like others have said, make sure you use Pure Tung Oil. Have patience and time. It does smell, but I didn't find it drive you from your house smelly. And it shows wood grain beautifully. Show your final result!

I used tung oil on a beautiful Victorian mahogany hall tree rescued from the dump...I loved the finish...it's softer and deeper than my other refinishing projects because it soaks in....It's forgiving as there were no drips or brush marks to worry about...

I guess the smell didn't bother me and I only put 2 coats on, iirc....It lasted for at least 15 years, maybe more.

Long before the days of the internet, I stripped a cabinet and applied Formby's tung oil with a rag (wearing gloves) in a cold garage. Every day I just went out and did a coat; I think I did three total. I don't know if that was the proper way to do it, but it worked for me; still have the cabinet today.

Well I made the round of small hardware stores today and they all carried the Tung oil finish stuff which is not pure. So I think I will order some of the real stuff and get going with that. I have a back room over the garage behind my daughters room that I can do this in, away from cat hair too I hope. I will update when complete. Thanks for all advice.

I rescued a Duncan Phyfe mahogany dining set back in my naive days. I stripped it, it had been "antiqued" red, left it the natural color and applied several coats of polyurethane. It has been 35 years and it still looks amazing!! I vote for polyurethane.

General Finishes water base poly is very easy to work with and can be applied on top of dewaxed shellac, like the Bullseye Sealcoat product. It is a very clear product and does not have a plastic look like some of the oil base poly products.

Tung oil is a good product also and I have to admit, I love the smell. It has been several years since I used it but it was easy to apply and did dry to a beautiful finish. My biggest issue with finishes is I get impatient to get the project completed, so I like finishes where I can get multiple coats applied in a day.

It is a good thing I live in driving distance of a couple good paint stores and woodworking stores so I don't have to order products and then wait for them to arrive. When I was working with shellac I did order shellac flakes because the price and selection was much better, but other than that, I like to jump on projects immediately or I get sidetracked.

I kind of live no man‘s land when it comes to shopping but I was surprised they all carried the same exact brands...minwax, danish oil etc. I think I will order the milk paint company’s 100% high grade Chinese Tung oil unless someone says otherwise?

Formbys and other 'wood finish' or 'tung oil finishes are all varnishes w/very little pure tung oil.

I've used pure oil on numerous pieces I've redone.

this one is an antique, mahogany/walnut solid wood. i used the pure tung oil over the wood and over the cobalt milk paint.

you never want to use the oil on the inner drawers.

yes, it can smell. repeated coats will eventually seal the wood and become hardened. First coat you put it on rather heavy, let it sit for 45 mins, and wipe up any residue. subsequent coats are thinner.

Real Milk Paint Company sells the natural oil, but you must thin it w/a solvent. They also sell a natural citrus solvent.

mix your own, or buy their pre-mixed version.

https://www.realmilkpaint.com/category/oils/

hemp oil works just as good.

or, just use GF topcoat. I like the oil based urethane (Arm r Seal) that you wipe on w/a cotton rag. no brush marks.

Want a water base, easy clean up and easy brush on top coat? I've used this on many wood pieces. Very nice looking finish, easy to use. I used it on this walnut art-deco waterfall desk

or, this one

Thanks Beth-I have read great things about the general finish brand. I was originally going to do their oil based gel to even out the color topped with the urethane you posted but I Now I think I am committing to pure Tung oil.

And thanks for the tip about the Tung oil citrus solvent...I though only the dark Tung oil needed the solvent.

If it had been a true antique (ie, more than 100 years old - preferably MUCH more), one never removes the original finish - a huge no-no.

cleo, like most of those natural oils, they're very viscous/thick. you need a solvent in order to spread it. you could even use mineral spirits, as the solvent portion will eventually evaporate. but if you want all natural and non toxic, use the citrus solvent.

tung oil comes in dark and light/natural. you can also add a little stain to your tung oil if you want to give the finish a darker tone to it.

and BTW, your piece isn't an antique. Looks like it's from the mid 40's/early 50's. your hardware is called 'batwing' or chippendale style. And it prob looked like this at one time. It's worth is about $150-200 or so.

Tung oil cut with citrus solvent is what I would use. Nice to use inside in the winter because it smells great!

It's the easiest finish to use because you don't have to worry about runs & drips and dust settling into the finish. I allow 24 hours between coats. Brush it on, wrap the brush in a sandwich bag and pop it into the freezer. Spread your rags out to thoroughly dry to avoid spontaneous combustion. Hang them in the fireplace or out on the firepit to dry.

Neither the question of it being an official antique not its worth matter to me. The dresser will outlive me and hopefully it will be rescued again in 50 years when my kids toss it (I hope 50 years Lol). I seem to be drawn to the 30/40s furniture. I have a lot of it.

And yes, a piece‘s value is tied to its original finish but this thing was going to end up with chalk paint on it-that is how bad it looked. I always forget to get a before picture.

Beth-yes It’s the exact dresser. I don’t love the hardware but I will put it back on. It’s a little too ornate for me.

Indeed, it's still better than what you can buy now...and a GREAT roi. :)