# Quartersawn oak refinishing



## kbarker27 (Oct 30, 2013)

I am restoring a quartersawn oak file cabinet that I bought at an antique mall. It was painted bright pink when I bought it and I now have it stripped and sanded down with 220. As you can see in the picture, one of the removable side panels has been stained previously and this is where my problem lies. I would like the finish to be as uniform as possible. What would be the best way to go about this? Should I stain the lighter panel until I get a comparable base to work with?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The easiest thing would be to stain all of it with either a Jacobean or walnut stain. If you want it lighter I would strip it again with Kleen Strip paint and varnish remover and rinse it with water. If that doesn't take enough of the color off you could use bleach to cut the color.


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## punkin611 (Sep 17, 2013)

Yes that would work. Get a small can of clear minwax stain and try it in an out of the way spot of the stained panel. If you like that, mix a can of colored minwax with the clear to match the color of the stained panel and mix small amounts together until you like it. You can then top coat with dewaxed shellac or a oil based finish of your liking. Good luck. :smile:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

We have an introduction section. It would be nice for you to say a few words about yourself. It would help if you fill out your profile in your "User Control Panel", experience level, and list your general location.

I would use a dye in a diluted state to try to bring up the light to the darker color. You could experiment on an inconspicuous area. If you need to strip, I would use "Aircraft Stripper" in a blue quart can. A putty knife and a stiff brush will work well. Wipe down with a wet cloth of lacquer thinner. I wouldn't use any water on the wood. I wouldn't sand smoother than 180x prior to staining.


















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## kbarker27 (Oct 30, 2013)

Thank you for the replies. I have never dyed wood before. Would this be better than staining? or is it a personal preference?


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## mobilepaul (Nov 8, 2012)

kbarker27 said:


> I am restoring a quartersawn oak file cabinet that I bought at an antique mall. It was painted bright pink when I bought it and I now have it stripped and sanded down with 220. As you can see in the picture, one of the removable side panels has been stained previously and this is where my problem lies. I would like the finish to be as uniform as possible. What would be the best way to go about this? Should I stain the lighter panel until I get a comparable base to work with?


Do you plan on stripping the entire cabinet? How about ammonia-fuming? They did that a great deal back in the Arts & Crafts era. This gives you stained looking wood without any staining... Note that there are now dyes that can mimic this look but I have never used them.

selected reading on the subject (based on my own interest in doing this proceedure):

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/articles/finishing-quartersawn-white-oak/

http://www.woodworking.com/forum/showthread.php?7711-Fuming-Quartersawn-White-Oak (scroll down to rrich's post)

http://www.djmarks.com/stories/djm/Fuming_Wood_47692.asp

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Fuming_white_oak.html

http://www.rockler.com/how-to/fuming-wood/

http://treefrogfurniture.blogspot.com/2008/02/fuming-white-oak.html
this one, if you click on the pics, will show you the consistency and darkness you may achieve.

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/30432

I hope something in this info will help,

Paul


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

kbarker27 said:


> Thank you for the replies. I have never dyed wood before. Would this be better than staining? or is it a personal preference?


In my opinion dyes are not better than stain for oak. They are more similar to ink and work better for woods that tend to go blotchy and oak isn't one of them. I think the color and appearance of oil stain on oak is much richer than you could ever get with dyes. In other words dyes would give the wood a more modern or plastic look.


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