Re- Finishing Cedar Ladder Back Chairs

Decided to have a go at re-building 3 ladderback chairs that have been in the family for about 30 or so years in a fairly sad state.......... yep at some time they were "repaired" by a "carpenter" Read: 150 staples, nails and screws in all sorts of places. Pulling them apart was not easy- even though most chairs had "let go" at the critical dowel joints - despite the staples!

The Good news: Having stripped back to bare wood there is some really nice cedar underneath the grotty old shellac job and ther is potential for these chairs to have new life.........

Lots of filling to do (Timbermate after reading Neil's book)

So my question is what is the best finish to reveal some nice cedar grain whilst providing appropriate colour?

Shellac is the trad finish for cedar and slow but not hard to do.

If these are antiques of a sort I wouldn't be filling holes though ... it's a pro job to get filler to disappear and anyway old chairs should look like old chairs. My 2 cents.

Warmglow,
Please post some pics as I am trying to do a similar job with blackwood chairs.

I have pulled one apart and sanded to 400 grit and reglued using pearl glue (solid as) but I am procrastinating about applying the shellac.

Don't want to stuff it up.

It's not hard and if you do mess up you can sand mistakes out and start again. Check out Neil's book and there's heaps of info on the web.

Basically you're bodying up a finish by painting on a serious of coats of thin shellac with very light sanding in between. With chairs you work fast watching out for runs. I use an artist's mop brush that cost about 30 bucks.

Start out with a couple of dilute wash coats and then build up the body with normal strength. It can be quite soothing and a buzz when you get a good depth of finish.

You can of course mix your own pure meths with shellac flakes, and I've just come across a tip ... let it sit till you see any wax form in the mix and then filter it several times through fine muslin. Getting rid of the wax makes it a much more durable finish. Or just buy the fab dexwaxed goo from our host.

PS Lovely piece btw. I'm green. Chairs are my ambition and happily I've got a couple of decades (DV.).

G'day warmglow, rsser, and rats,
Just a quick question on pulling the joints apart..........what sort of tool did you use so as to not bruise the wood?? (trying to remove 3" nails from a chair)

Watson,
the only reason I pulled it apart was because it was falling apart.

I had to redrill a few dowels which interestingly enough looked to be hand made

I have the whole dining suite to do as it had been "restored?" using PVA glue and estapol brushed finish.

Neils finishing book and this forum, with its great members, have helped enormously. I don't think I would have attempted it otherwise.:2tsup:

Noel, no pulling apart - refinished the chairs while still assembled. oh, apart from lifting the seat insert out.

Thanks Ern & Rats

Quote:

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Originally Posted by watson

G'day warmglow, rsser, and rats,
Just a quick question on pulling the joints apart..........what sort of tool did you use so as to not bruise the wood?? (trying to remove 3" nails from a chair)

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My ladderback chairs were basically "falling apart" so most dissembly was a simple push with the palm of the hand. But as always there were some really tough issues including screws that had been "glued"(!) to hold on the cabriole legs. Numerous UGLY staples were also removed together with the odd nail.

In some areas this required some careful (regrettable) hacksaw work because the heads broke - then of course drilling out various remaining studs and finally filling. I have basically re-drilled ALL the dowel joints because of numerous snapped dowels. These non standard dowels have now been "beefed up slightly to 10mm.

I have carefully sanded all traces of original shellac after re-filling the wood with Timbermate cedar - which I find too light and this will need to be dyed down to match the wood. I have used the combination of a Jet bobbin sander and Festool sanders to progressively work up to 400 grit.

Regrettably a couple of pieces of cedar that suppots the seat at rear will have to be replaced due to serious spltting!:~

I have tested some Clear Gloss "Miniwax" on the inside of the chair seat side panels. This dries to a subtle lustre and I find this finish easy to apply and provides a pleasing result that shows the grain and colour to advantage.

I am still experimenting to get the filler colour to better match the wood and "open to suggestions". I'll post some "work in progress" pictures shortly.

This is my first attempt at this sort of work and it is amazing how much time it takes........ but I have learnt a lot and have profound respect for the carpenters who originally built these chairs - in about 1943 probably with primitive equipment. All the problems accurred with the tacky repair job of the 70's!!:!

Clamping is also a challenge as i have few suitable clamps. I have ordered some Bessey K clamps and a Bessey Clamp Band to make the job easier. As all joints are clean and free from animal glue I intend to use Titebond III as I do not want the same glue failure problems as occured originally.

G'day warmglow,
Love the bit about the 70's tacky repair jobs........around here, every decent bit of furniture that you can pick up reasonably has had a "repair" done with 2" and 3" nails and threaded rod. I'm sure it was the local undertaker that did these jobs.......his slogan was "Furniture & Funerals".
I've just been looking at bar spreaders to force joints apart after application of the appropriate glue solvent.
I've also been using those $2:00 Shop "tie downs" as tightening clamps for sloping legs etc.
I also must confess that I'm a big fan of hide glue, as I reckon it will outlast Titebond , but neither of us will be around to test the theory :C :C