Do I need to seal or do any finish on the underside of legs after removing really old pads??

[Myrup]

Hi! Today I bought an amazing birchwood bookcase with glass doors from the 30-40s. But today when I took it out of the car I had to put it down on the wet ground o a couple of seconds and the little felt pads under the legs got wet! So I had to removed them. But I don't know if I ripped away some lacquer or sealing with them. Or if it's just really old glue? I have no idea. Can you see it on the pictures? this is the contact side of the pads.

However I really really love this furniture and want to do everything to make it as beautifu as possible and last forever. So I'm wondering if I should do anything with the underside of the legs before I put new pads on them?

And would appreciate any advice of caring for this bookcase I think I'll want to polish is and try to remove some of the scratch on it.

 

[Yojevol]

No there is no need to seal the ends of the legs. They would never have been sealed when it was first made. The residue on the pads is just glue to keep them in place. They were probably glued on long after it was new in order to protect the floor it was standing on. There is no point in trying to seal the wood to prevent moisture ingress; it will naturally contain at least 8% water anyway. The moisture content will vary according to the atmosphere where it is placed which will depend on the seasons and your central heating. Just have fun making good the scratches and enjoy the cabinet for years to come.
Brian

 

[Myrup]

No there is no need to seal the ends of the legs. They would never have been sealed when it was first made. The residue on the pads is just glue to keep them in place. They were probably glued on long after it was new in order to protect the floor it was standing on. There is no point in trying to seal the wood to prevent moisture ingress; it will naturally contain at least 8% water anyway. The moisture content will vary according to the atmosphere it is placed which will depend on the seasons and your central heating. Just have fun making good the scratches and enjoy the cabinet for years to come.
Brian

Okej! Thank you so much for the nice answer!
It's always great and especially for someone like me who genuinely what to learn to get a good and nice answer!

 

[dpmstevens]

If it's helpful, I've got a couple of pieces similar to this. They're made with beech carcases, veneered in walnut. The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer, which you can buy in aerosols and is fairly straightforward to apply. I stripped and resprayed a cabinet and the end result looks pretty good.

 

[Myrup]

If it's helpful, I've got a couple of pieces similar to this. They're made with beech carcases, veneered in walnut. The finish is nitrocellulose lacquer, which you can buy in aerosols and is fairly straightforward to apply. I stripped and resprayed a cabinet and the end result looks pretty good.

Okej thanks! Yes always good to have an ide of what finish is on! I do hope o can strip it and respray it some day, since it's one bigger scratch on the side of it where the lacquer had scratched of. But for now o think I'm going to buy som kind of polish to fill out and make the small scratches better.

Any recommendations for polish?