I inherited a large cedar chest that my mother had painted in her 70s "milk can antique green" phase. At some point a decade ago, I attacked the paint with a belt sander and was so frustrated with the process that I declared that the chest would never be presenetable and it became an attic storage unit for my camping gear. During a "clean out the attic of my shop" phase, I decided that it would no longer be used as attic storage and we decided to use it to hold quilts in the guest room in the house.
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So I started the restoration project on the top of the chest with a sanding session with the 150mm sander.
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Even after most of the paint was removed, it was pretty clear that this would never be a beautiful piece...it certainly has a "distressed" look. |
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| The edges were all sanded with 90mm Rotex.
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The top...ready for some finish...the first coat will be 1# Super Blonde Shellac. |
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The shellac was padded on...just that quick first coat really changed the appearance. |
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After the quick drying...rubbed the top out with 0000 steel wool. |
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| The next layers will be rub on varnish...General Finishes Arm-R-Seal oil and urethane top coat. |  |
This coat was applied with a disposable pad. |
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First coat... |
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On to the chest...the unit before the final sanding. |
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After the sanding...ready to start the finish...shellac was put on with a pad. |
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Chest after a rub-on coat of blonde shellac and then a varnish oil and urethane rub. |
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After a knock-back of the gloss of the urethane with 0000 steel wool. |
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