Product at Ace Hardware

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

I made my zillionth trip to Ace yesterday, buying trim paint for areas downstairs that are part of "The Project".  While waiting for the paint to be mixed, I noticed some gorgeous wood pieces under a display titled "Amy Howard at Home" -- it's supposed to be a "one step paint for restoring/redecorating old wood.  Can also be used on fabric as the paint saleswoman showed me some throw pillows they had used this stuff on. 

It intrigues me as I made a trip to Ft Collins CO (from Grand Island NE) to pick up a treadle sewing machine I bought on eBay about 5 years ago.  The machine is operational, which is why I bought it.  I knew from the get-go that at some point I would do something to the cabinet as it was repainted in the 80's and this is what was "in" then.  I hate how they destroyed the cabinet.  Anyway, I've been reading the brochures and am really toying with giving it a shot on this cabinet.  The thought of getting all the paint off, sanding, staining, etc. doesn't appeal to me right now.  But I'm not sure that one step paint is accurate.  There are a lot of steps that say "Sand with 400 grit paint" -- I think it's really more like 8 or 9 steps so will just mull on it for now.

Anyway, wondered if anyone else has seen the displays and what those of you who work with woods and refinishing think about it.

Thanks!

Virginia

[kodydog]

I don't know about that product but let me tell you what I did.

Back in the 80's Rose and I took a trip to the old family farm in Michigan. As I was poking around I found this Ice Box abandoned in the chicken coop. So I asked my mom about it. She told me my Great Grandpa bought it in the 20's. She said back then power had not made it to all the rural areas yet so this was their only form of refrigeration.

So we brought it home to Hickory NC. Being the furniture capital Hickory had a well stocked wood working store including a 55 gal. drum of industrial strength paint thinner. They sold it by the gallon.

The Ice box was a mess, The legs were destroyed by termites and it had 3 coats of worn paint on it

Back then I knew very little about refinishing. This was my first project. So I picked a remote spot in my yard, Laid down a tarp and started stripping... the ice box. When the paint started coming off I noticed this beautiful oak underneath. It was tedious work but I took my time and managed to get most of the paint off. It was an extremely messy job.

Paint was left in all the nooks and crannies so I used sand paper to finish this job.

The thing about stripper is it raises the grain of the wood so much sanding is required. for this job I bought an electric palm sander. One of the best tools I've ever added to my collection and I still use it to this day. I started with 150 grit and worked my way to 400. And I finished with hand sanding.

I made new legs for it using what was left of the old legs for a pattern. Only bad thing was I thought I was using oak but when I started staining I found I had used cherry. Oh well.

I used all minwax products to finish it. Probably not the best choice but back then I didn't know better.

I gave the hardware a fresh coat of paint. Its all original and still works. Back then they built things to last.

The first picture is the Ice box soon after we picked it up. That's my Michigan cousin taken at his house in Grand Haven. The second picture is where it sits now almost 30 years later. The inside was lined with tin. I stripped all of it out except that little bit in the upper door.

[SteveA]

V - The difficult part of refinishing is the stripping.  Most refinishers will provide a strip only service inexpensively.  Once it's cleaned off you can stain and apply your clear finish of choice. 

Min Wax products are OK - I've used them for years without issues.  It's just lately the formulas have changed because of the percentages of solvents. 

Golden oak - antique - my favorite combination. Great cabinet !   Do you know how to say refrigerator in Italian ?  Ice-a box !

SA

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Kodadog!

That ice chest is incredible!  I've never seen one before.  My mother told me of having one in her youth but by the time I came along and was old enough to visit her parents, the ice chest was gone and a refrigerator in their house.    I would love to find one of those somewhere!

Steve:

I've done stripping before!  When we bought our house in Leavenworth, the previous owners had painted the window trim and baseboards the most nauseating baby puke peach.  I stripped and sanded and filled in holes with putty, etc.  My only problem was that I didn't know enough about stains and I picked out a stain that was wayyyy too dark.  A friend came over and saw what I had done and exclaimed "Wow, who would ever stain something so dark?  I see why you are stripping it." So, very chagrined, I explained to him that I had stained it that dark, not realizing how it would look.  Once we painted, it looked respectable but still a lesson learned.  No way is the cabinet for the treadle going back upstairs.  Bob and our neighbor across the street about had the big one getting it downstairs.  If I strip, sand and stain, I'll have to figure out how to take out the treadle, etc and then move it into my new "storage area".  I could tarp the floor and work on it in there.  Just kind of hoping for a less time extensive solution. 

I read further in the Ace brochures.  The lacquer product is the one with all of the steps.  They do have a paint that is one step.  Some of the colors mimic original wood stain.  So, I'll continue to spit ball this around for a while.  The cabinet I'm starting to repaint now has 20 drawers.  They will all have to be primed as each drawer is a different color, most dark colors of paint and I want to alternate between the wall and trim colors with the frame of the cabinet in the white since most of my machine cabinets, etc. are white or a soft off-white.  Bob's brother just had a cow that I was even thinking about repainting the drawers.  He loves all the different colors.  I don't and knew from the get-go that I would do this at some point in time.  Now seems like a good time since most of the drawers are empty now.  Plus, the remo has me fired up for organizing, cleaning, touching up.  Once the contractors are out of my hair, there are some other sections of the walls that I will touch up.  I want this place to look like everything was just painted and I'd love for it to be as organized and tidy as it was when I first opened up down here.  4 years later and not much time or deep cleaning and everything looks disorganized to say the least.

Thanks!

Virginia