[OP]
Contributor
Title should refer to "worn" rocker.
My wife and I picked up an oak rocker for $65. I figured we could not go wrong. Seems to be put together the old-fashioned way.
The finish is like new on most of the chair, but the seat is worn, and there are little places where it hit a white wall. Stuff like that.
The finish is dark brown.
What's the best way to fix this thing up?
23 12 01 oak rocker 01a.jpg
23 12 01 oak rocker 02a.jpg
23 12 01 oak rocker 03a.jpg
Last edited by Steve H Graham; 12-01-2023 at 6:18 PM.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
[OP]
Contributor
I slapped some Pledge on it just to get a start, and I am surprised how different it looks. I didn't think grocery store furniture spray could make wear less noticeable, but it does. I may just leave it alone.
The bottom says it's from a company called Bent Brothers. It is apparently real furniture, not from China.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Contributor
If it were me, I'd just put a cushion on the seat and not do anything to it. My wife would put a cushion on it regardless. The other spots, I might try Howard's Wood Restorer and see what it looks like.
< insert spurious quote here >
[OP]
Contributor
Thanks for the help. Now I'm wondering if it's oak or ash.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Contributor
Looks more like oak than ash to me, but it's irrelevant. Putting Pledge on it made any finish repair work a lot more difficult. That stuff has silicone in it, which is not fun to try and remove as prep for refinishing.
I agree with Stan's recommendation, especially knowing about the Pledge. Put a cushion on it and just use it.
John
Contributor
Restor A Finish would probably even it back out enough. It's made me look like a genius more than a few times. The newer Restor A Shine also did the same recently, but I used a power buffer with it.
[OP]
Contributor
Good information about the silicone, but I am specifically looking for a way to avoid refinishing the chair. I just want to make it look a little better. I'm going to try Restor-A-Finish and see what happens. I'll try it on the bottoms of the runners first. I'll hit them with Pledge first and see if I get a good result with Restor-A-Finish afterward.
Now that I know about Pledge, I will have something to think about as we add new pieces.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Contributor
Using Pledge first is just going to make it harder with the Restor-A-Finish. It's likely to make a cloudy mess with fish-eyes when it dries. Save yourself the grief.Originally Posted by Steve H Graham
Pledge was pushed on the consumer as something you do to take care of your fine furniture. Nothing could be more wrong. It's easy to use and looks great for a little while, but it attracts dust and dirt that gets ground into the finish, making it necessary to use it frequently, a Marketer's dream. And the silicone makes refinishing very difficult.
A good film finish requires nothing more than wiping it clean with a damp cotton rag, with a little dish soap if it's really dirty, or first with mineral spirits or Naptha if it has a lot of greasy stuff on it. An oil/wax finish can be maintained just with mineral spirits, Naptha, or turpentine and a new coat of oil/wax when the finish is looking tired.
John
[OP]
Contributor
The chair already has Pledge on it, so I am applying it to the runners before Restor-A-Finish to see if I can get them to work together.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
S. Bent & Brothers, Inc. was started in 1867 by Samuel, Charles and Roderic Bent in Gardner, Massachusetts after Samuel Bent left the Heywood-Wakefield Company. They made colonial chairs, rockers, children's chairs, and, in 1920s-1950s, breakfast sets and institutional furniture.
You may want to talk with an antique appraiser before you do much more work on your chair. Some of them that showed up on a google search were quite valuable. Removing the old finish can drastically affect the value of old furniture.
Lee Schierer
USNA '71
Go Navy!
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[OP]
Contributor
Thanks for the tip. I suspect this one is from 1982 because it has a 4-digit stamp ending in "82" on the bottom of the seat. Apart from the seat and arm wear, it looks like it could have been made last week.
Are things made in 1982 antiques already? It's hard to make my mind understand what it means to live in 2023. Madonna is elderly, Macaulay Culkin is middle-aged, CD's are obsolescent, computers are commonly sold without removable disk drives, and where I live, the newest Lamborghini Countach has been eligible for an antique plate for three years.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
[OP]
Contributor
The Restor-A-Finish arrived, and it worked very well. It did not work miracles on all the parts of the rocker with the most wear, but it completely disguised a fair amount of damage I thought it wouldn't fix.
The front ends of the arms and the seat were the parts that most needed darkening. The arms improved slightly. The seat looks almost like new. There are a couple of tiny bits of white paint where the rocker must have hit a wall, and the Restor-A-Finish didn't do much of anything to fix these areas. Maybe I can get this stuff off with acetone and a Q-tip.
I was going to leave the rocker alone because the Pledge made such a difference, but the temptation to use the Restor-A-Finish was too strong. I feel more positive about buying more used stuff.
I appreciate all the suggestions.
Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of bench.
I was socially distant before it was cool.
A little authority corrupts a lot.
Contributor
I like that chair , nice spindles and posts. Seat glue-up might be the work of Picasso! To me the only weak feature is
the “ decoration” on the top rail.
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