SY860 Posted November 19, 2024 Share Posted November 19, 2024 (edited) Hi everyone! I'm a new member and I just acquired a pair of 1979 Cornwall I's I intend on restoring. The back bottom corners are missing a fair amount of wood, and the top of one of them has ring marks. They were originally raw birch (the label says C-BR) but at some point they were finished with tung oil I believe; they have a walnut appearance now and do not appear to have been re-veneered. With that being said, How feasible would it be to sand the cabinets to get them back down to raw birch? I restored a pair of raw birch 1980 Heresy I's earlier with extensive water damage and surface scuffs using 400 grit sandpaper, but I wasn't trying to sand away a stain or oil finish. Are there products that could strip a finish? Edited November 21, 2024 by SY860 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SY860 Posted November 21, 2024 Author Share Posted November 21, 2024 Bump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted November 22, 2024 Share Posted November 22, 2024 On 11/18/2024 at 7:10 PM, SY860 said: How feasible would it be to sand the cabinets to get them back down to raw birch? Are there products that could strip a finish? The Cornwall plywood has an outer birch ply - 50-50 mineral sprits with steel wool super fine 0000 can remove some of the dark stain , apply with the grain of the wood , once you can no longer remove any stain with the steel wool , clean the surface with a wet cloth with dish soap , let it dry for a few days , sand with 600 grit . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted November 22, 2024 Share Posted November 22, 2024 You can lightly sand the finish and use a paste of Barkeepers Friend on it. It contains oxalix acid, which can bleach the stain. And welcome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SY860 Posted November 24, 2024 Author Share Posted November 24, 2024 Using Barkeepers is a first. I'll have to check that out. Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SY860 Posted December 2, 2024 Author Share Posted December 2, 2024 On 11/21/2024 at 7:07 PM, OO1 said: The Cornwall plywood has an outer birch ply - 50-50 mineral sprits with steel wool super fine 0000 can remove some of the dark stain , apply with the grain of the wood , once you can no longer remove any stain with the steel wool , clean the surface with a wet cloth with dish soap , let it dry for a few days , sand with 600 grit . Between when I first posted and now, I learned mineral spirits and turpentine are tung oil solvents. I did not know about cleaning the surface with dish soap, but it makes enough sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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