Removing Japanned finish

Hello,
I am trying to remove an old shellac-based finish from some rosewood mouldings, I guess you could describe it as Japanned.
(see the start of the project here https://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=50666)
Never been one for restoration work, so this is a bit new for me, but what I've done is apply metho and rubbed it back with steel wool. I have sucessfully removed most of it and what remains behind I like, as whatever pigment made up the original finish has dissolved in the metho and stained the timber a beautiful rich coffee sort of colour. A firm rub with a cloth has removed most of the stuff left behind, but the pigment has also tended to stay put in the crevices of the moulding and the many dents and nail holes....again I'm happy with that.
My question is about stabilizing the finish now. It seems very tacky, in fact my fingers are stuck together and any time I touch the wood it sticks to me! Will that reduce as the timber dries out? Sould I apply a new shellac layer now, or wait? I'm hoping to do a shellac and wax finish...any other suggestions?

Thanks for reading,

see your having fun...:U


if it is infact japan then it would be infact turps based , try and rub a small bit with some turps and see if more stain comes off and the stickyness goes...

i'v used japan a lot and made a few boo boo's along the way, as i tried to get it off it went sticky too...but rubbing with the turps cleaned it up just fine...:2tsup:

if it's just metho based like shellac , then what you'v done is probably fine, i guess just leave it dry for a day or so and seal with shelac...

Andy,

I hear fire works wonders! Just chuck it all in the fireplace & lo & behold...... No More Problems!! :wink: :U

Seriously though, a good quality paint stripper will do the job for ya. :2tsup: