The finish was in sad shape. As you can see there are finish issues on the front and side of the cabinet.
I finally got to the last dresser in our Rio set. The restoration was straight forward just like the other pieces we completed. The only thing left to refinish is our queen dog bone bed. This is not the original bed that came in the Rio set but I like it’s styling more. I am very pleased with the results and have discovered a new trick for those of you who have had difficulty getting a smooth finish.
Here it is…
I love this stain! It looks absolutely fantastic.
We were fortunate that when we purchased this set of dressers they came with glass cut for the tops.
I discovered a trick that could be used when using the Heywood Wakefield stain sold by Jeff at needful_useful_things on Ebay. If you are like me you do not have a paint booth which means you sometime have particulate such as dust affect your final results. Here is my new tip: after the stain is completely dry you can use the following products to smooth the surface to a slick finish.
This stuff isn’t only great for the finish of your car but also your refinished dresser. The clay bar actually sheers off imperfections from the surface and creates a slick and smooth surface. Use is pretty straight forward, spray, rub clay bar over surface and wipe with microfiber cloth.
After I use the clay bar I apply wax and buff it off to reveal and really nice finish.
It is sooo important when you restore things to keep your mind moving thinking of ways to fix problems and sometimes that may mean using a product for a purpose outside of its intended use. When I come across a problem I try to think outside the box to help resolve the issue I am facing. That is how I thought of this idea and the repair technique that I pioneered to repair chalkware lamps. The most important thing to do when you have an idea that could help others is to share it and that is the purpose of our blog. Here are the other pieces we have finished:
Rio vanity
Rio tall dresser
Rio night stands
Mel and I had Bill from B&T Upholstery start on upholstering the vanity stool. We were able to find some really cool geometric cotton Frieze fabric to make it look authentic, here is a sample of what we found:
This fabric is pink, black and has silver threading accents. (hard to see in this photo).
The stool base is complete, just waiting on the cushion.
I cant wait to see what a great job Bill will do on the cushion!
Next on the agenda is to refinsish the bed frame and then work on the Brown Saltman desk. It feels good to get these larger projects knocked out.
