Dumpster Dive Find 1: Plywood Chair Back

[alan2001]

Hi guys, long time no speak. Everyone still got the regulation 7 fingers and 1 thumb? Great.

Part 1 of 2. Here are some photos of a quirky old school chair that I found recently. It is in amazing condition and it's a travesty that it's been lying in a dumping area for nearly a year. Well, now I have it, and it's gonna be my wife's workstation desk chair here in our playroom, with a bit of work.

Bent plywood back, in great condition, no delamination, some discolouration. I'm not gonna touch it until I've had some words of advice from you guys. Tips on finishing this will be most appreciated.

The ultimate plan is to put some castors on it, and the wife wants to reupholster it (even though it's in great nick). Some numpty made a cack-handed job of stapling some brown plastic over it, which I took straight off to to reveal the nice blue coloured original cushion.

The steel frame is almost perfect (wee bit of rust) and is missing a foot, which will be replaced by castors anyway.

Any comments or advice, most appreciated.

I'll make another thread about the oak stool (also pictured in the bath) in due course.

 

[alan2001]

By the way, I still have a useful amount of Birchwood Tru-oil Gun Stock finish, that I'm intrigued to try on this plywood. I think it was Jimi that forced me to buy a bottle of it a few years ago. :wink:

Worked lovely on my old Record plane handle a while back, amongst other things.

 

[alan2001]

I'm bumping this one again in the hope of some useful advice on what to do about the plywood back.

Whether the chair is to your taste or not, my wife has recovered the seat beautifully, and we have some specialist castors in the post which will fit it perfectly. This is all far preferable to going out and buying some generic piece of tat from Ikea or Office World.

So... any expert ideas on how to finish the plywood? Or should I just go at it with some sandpaper and hope for the best? The dark areas on the rear of the back are going to be the biggest problem, I'm guessing.

Thanks in advance for any help.

BTW, current status:

 

[gregmcateer]

Alan,

I haven't a scooby about the finish, but I like what you and the missus have done - from salvage to recovering.

Good save.

Greg

 

[alan2001]

Thanks for the kind words, it's most appreciated.

We were sent a sample castor & insert from the very nice people at http://www.castors-online.co.uk/ , which fitted perfectly, so have just bought a full set. Can't wait to get it up and running.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

So... any expert ideas on how to finish the plywood? Or should I just go at it with some sandpaper and hope for the best? The dark areas on the rear of the back are going to be the biggest problem, I'm guessing.

There's probably an existing sprayed lacquer finish on the plywood, most likely pre-cat lacquer or acid catalysed lacquer - it's a batch or mass produced chair, so a spray finish is most likely. Obviously the thing has been out in the rain which has got through the finish and discoloured the plywood. You might be able to sand the existing finish off if it's badly degraded, but if not you should use paint stripper, Nitromors brand for example, but get the one that's washed off with and neutralised with white spirit or cellulose thinner, not water. Water raises the grain and might damage the glue of the laminates.

After that you would probably use an A/B bleach, i.e., two bottles, A is applied first and then B and once combined these liquids (usually) take out the colour. You'll get a quite pale end result typically with a yellow cast to it. After that you neutralise the A/B sodium peroxide/hydrogen peroxide residue with white spirits, although instructions that come with the bleach might say to use another neutralising liquid - follow those instructions.

After that, it will just be a case adjusting the colour if desired with some dye followed by applying a finish such as water based polyurethane which can be put on with a brush. I'm guessing your experience of wood finishing and equipment is a bit restricted because I'd prefer to refinish with a spray gun, but I don't know if you have one. If you do I'd probably suggest a sprayed lacquer to refinish. Slainte.

 

[Setch]

I second Richard's advice, chemical stripper then a Bleach like Rustins Wood Bleach, followed by a finish of your choice - a very gently amber tinted clear lacquer would look nice.