SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 12, 2014 10:39:26 GMT -8
Can you wipe most of it off with alcohol to lighten it up then use clear? I'm going to try! It really sucked up the shellac, very differently from the real birch!
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Post by bigbill on Jan 12, 2014 10:57:07 GMT -8
Good Luck hope it works.
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 12, 2014 11:46:15 GMT -8
Well, didn't work real well. I even tried just clear on a scrap of the other. The wood has a natural redish tint . BUT, I have a plan now. I'll just mix my woods strategically!
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jannica
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Post by jannica on Jan 12, 2014 15:13:58 GMT -8
Ugh reading through this scares me! I'm afraid to start tackling any of my wood refinishing. I bought the amber and clear shellac today, and I was planning to start with one of the birch panels later this week. SusieQ - did you shellac the birch inside the trailer or before you installed it?
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Post by Hamlet on Jan 12, 2014 15:18:32 GMT -8
We didn't even try to match the woods in Hamlet. The cabinetry was partly original, partly new. The wall paneling is all new. The paneling has a heart-shape in the grain, pretty different from the rest of the trailer. We sanded everything down and didn't stain it. We figure that over the next dozen years, the new wood will age and eventually be closer to the original. The original doesn't all look the same, so we decided not to worry about it. If you look closely, you can tell, but nobody has looked closely enough yet to notice it.
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Post by bigbill on Jan 12, 2014 16:12:39 GMT -8
Hamlet you are right about not noticing, the owner always sees thing no one else notices.
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 12, 2014 16:17:42 GMT -8
Ugh reading through this scares me! I'm afraid to start tackling any of my wood refinishing. I bought the amber and clear shellac today, and I was planning to start with one of the birch panels later this week. SusieQ - did you shellac the birch inside the trailer or before you installed it? Sorry, Jannica! Didn't mean to scare you. Just ignore my drama queen posts It's not that bad. I have shellacked my birch plywood but have not put it in yet. Today, I did experiment and I used some amber shellac on a piece of the original wood that I have removed. I don't think that I'm going to have a problem getting the wood to match or at least be close enough. The wood grain I can't do anything about and ash is not an option. I'm going to keep the wood on the sides of my trailer and just replace the backwall and ceilings with birch. Who knows, maybe the contrast will actually be nice. That's what I'm counting on! Nothing ever works out exactly like one plans, but it all works out in the end!
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 12, 2014 16:20:39 GMT -8
We didn't even try to match the woods in Hamlet. The cabinetry was partly original, partly new. The wall paneling is all new. The paneling has a heart-shape in the grain, pretty different from the rest of the trailer. We sanded everything down and didn't stain it. We figure that over the next dozen years, the new wood will age and eventually be closer to the original. The original doesn't all look the same, so we decided not to worry about it. If you look closely, you can tell, but nobody has looked closely enough yet to notice it. Thanks, Hamlet! That's just what I needed to hear! And I originally started out to make this a comfy camper, not a show piece. I got a little caught up in the preserving the vintage look thing! Now if I could just have a few more good weather days like today, I could get on with it!
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 12, 2014 16:53:50 GMT -8
And I did find a "golden glow" today. It's under the benches! I guess the other has just faded over the past 50 years from being exposed to light. DSC00507 by susieqilvu, on Flickr
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jannica
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Post by jannica on Jan 12, 2014 17:12:51 GMT -8
Did you strip the old shellac or just sand it down? I bought stripper and a sander, not sure which one to use, or maybe both? So many decisions!
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Post by Hamlet on Jan 12, 2014 17:16:48 GMT -8
SuzieQ - Here's the thing... It IS the vintage look. The only time these little guys (and gals) looked perfect were the day they rolled off the showroom floor. Anyone who has an old oak floor can tell you that every piece of wood takes the finish differently. That's the beauty of them as far as we're concerned. If you take a little closer look at those pics of Hamlet on the blog post, you'll notice the difference in the woods. Enjoy your beautiful vintage trailer for what it was intended - a way to experience and enjoy all parts of our beautiful countries (Canada included!).
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Post by bigbill on Jan 12, 2014 18:49:02 GMT -8
That is true and sometimes they weren't perfect then. As Hamlet said they were made for us to use to enjoy the wonderful Country and its neighbors that we live in. When it is finished even if the grain doesn't match it will still be nice looking to everybody else. Some of us worry to much.
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Jan 12, 2014 19:04:35 GMT -8
Did you strip the old shellac or just sand it down? I bought stripper and a sander, not sure which one to use, or maybe both? So many decisions! No, no stripping. And keep in mind the birch layer is very thin, so you don't want to do a lot of sanding. I have some scratches from the bunk bed poles that I'm going to hand sand very lightly with a fine sanding block. But other than that, I will probably just wipe it down with denatured alcohol and a coat of amber, maybe two if it needs it and and then a coat of clear, maybe two. If your finish is shellac, you should not need to strip it. And keep the pieces you remove for templates and you can experiment on them with your finish, too. Test your finish with some denatured alcohol. Put some on a cloth and wipe it on. If it takes the finish off, you probably have shellac.
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jannica
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Post by jannica on Jan 12, 2014 19:48:35 GMT -8
Did you strip the old shellac or just sand it down? I bought stripper and a sander, not sure which one to use, or maybe both? So many decisions! No, no stripping. And keep in mind the birch layer is very thin, so you don't want to do a lot of sanding. I have some scratches from the bunk bed poles that I'm going to hand sand very lightly with a fine sanding block. But other than that, I will probably just wipe it down with denatured alcohol and a coat of amber, maybe two if it needs it and and then a coat of clear, maybe two. If your finish is shellac, you should not need to strip it. And keep the pieces you remove for templates and you can experiment on them with your finish, too. Test your finish with some denatured alcohol. Put some on a cloth and wipe it on. If it takes the finish off, you probably have shellac. Ok, thanks! I am not sure if what's on there is shellac or something else. It's definitely not amber shellac because it's really light yellow as you saw in my picture. That would be great if the denatured alcohol took it off. I'll try that first. I'll keep you posted on what I find!
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Post by Hamlet on Jan 12, 2014 19:52:33 GMT -8
THere's an easy way to tell if it's shellac... Just drip some rubbing alcohol on it. Alcohol will dissolve shellac... it's easy to fix, but do it in an inconspicuous place. If it doesn't start to dissolve with the ETOH, it may be an early polyurethane.
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