Antique furniture restoration! Any ideas on how to remove this damaged finish?
I bought a heavily carved Japanese fern stand, approximately 200 years old. It is covered with shiny black lacquer, which is damaged, and looks bad.
I can’t find anything that will remove the lacquer!
I have tried Jasco and Dad’s paint stripper, acetone, paint thinner, lacquer thinner, naptha, mineral spirits and denatured alcohol.
I even tried my paint gun, and this stuff is impervious to even high heat. I have scraped the top, and find beautiful wood. I know how it could look, because my mother owned one very similar, that was a clear finish, and it was gorgeous.
Any of you restoration experts have any ideas?
I have been restoring antiques for 45 years. This finish is an abomination to the lovely wood underneath.
If the lacquer is still intact, and if you care about the value of the fern stand as an antique, do >>Nothing<<. Even if the finish is quite badly damaged, removing an original surface substantially lowers the worth of the antique.
Lacquer solvent does exists, but it is extremely volatile, an extreme fire hazard, and really difficult for an inexperienced person to handle.
Leave well enough alone (polish it, love it, dust it), or else send it to someone who does this work for a living.
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