# refinishing vintage wood doors... mystery wood



## saul goode (Feb 28, 2010)

Hey guys,

I am in the process of refurbishing these wood doors that I salvaged out of a tear down house. 

I really love the original finish and patina on these doors, I'm planning on just cleaning them really good and wax them. The only problem is one door is painted on one side. I have no idea what kind of paint or how long it's been on there. It seems to only be one layer thick and chipping in several places.

Can any one recommend a way to strip the paint but keep the original finish? I don't even think this would be possible, but if anyone has some tips I would love to hear it.

Also what kind of wood do y'all think this is? I am pretty sure it's pine, but the grain on the close up has me stumped. 

Thanks,

SG


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## Just Bill (Dec 29, 2008)

Doors are old(mortise locks), probably pre WWII. Raised panels look like pine, my guess is the frames are fir.

Any paint is likley lead based, so use much caution stripping.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

closeup grain looks like douglas-fir to me, but could be pine or larch


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## saul goode (Feb 28, 2010)

Thanks for the guesses guys, and the type of wood really doesn't matter too much to me, just curious.

I tried to remove some of the paint from the door, I have a scrap piece from where I had to cut the door down slightly to fit the jamb. 

I tried a heavy duty chemical striper similar to tail strip, and it made short work of removing the paint, but it also started to left the original finish under the paint.

So, does anyone have any advice or tips for removing paint but keeping original finish ( I know it's a long shot) 

If stripping just the single layer of paint off won't work, what would the preferred method of getting everything off and refinishing to match the other side (shown in original pics)?


thaks


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## wletson (Jan 11, 2010)

did you try a heat gun and scraper?


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## Rory (Feb 24, 2010)

I restore antiques for a living and have yet to find something that will strip off paint and leave the finish intact dependably. Be wary of any method that creates dust. It is very possible that the paint on this old door is lead based. I would strip it chemicaly with paint remover as clean as possible and be sure to wear a mask when sanding. Then use maybe amber shellac as a base coat followed by some laquer to finish. 

-Rory-


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