Flea Market Find, Old Oak Bookshelf

Flea Market Find, Old Oak Bookshelf

My sis and I went to a flea market just over a week ago and what do we spy?  This adorable late 1800’s / early 1900’s oak bookshelf.  Sure it was a little dirty.  Sure, it looked like it had sat in something wet.

But the best part?  It was free.  Now there’s an offer I can’t refuse.

I did offer the woman $10 out of guilt.  I told her she drove a hard bargain. 😀

A little dirty, a little mildewy, but oh so cute.

You can’t tell from this angle but the glass is a little wavy.  You know it’s old.

To Paint or Not to Paint

Let’s say you like a wood finish on your final piece of furniture.

When should you strip the varnish off and start fresh? I would recommend  removing the old finish if you don’t like the current color of stain, when the old varnish is flaky or peeling or  if the varnish has lines of crazing.

My finish had the crazing.  Which is just separation of the varnish into fine lines making the finish a little bumpy.

To make all my viewers happy who hate a painted piece of furniture, I’m going to strip my bookcase and not paint.

One of the easiest ways to get rid an old finish is to just sand it off.  Use an electric orbital sander with an 80 grit or finer sandpaper.

A coarser grit sandpaper will take the finish off faster but will leave small swirls in the wood which will absolutely be noticeable in your final piece.

I don’t know if you could tell in the previous picture but the top of the bookcase did not go all the way to the back, there was a gap of about 2 inches.  I had to wonder whether there had previously been an upright decorative piece sitting on the back.

Luckily I have extra pieces of oak just sitting around and they just happened to be the perfect thickness.  Yes, that is a piece of old oak hardwood flooring with the tongue and groove cut off.

The oak hardwood was glued and clamped on then the finish on the flooring was also sanded off.

If a piece of your furniture just falls off at any point in time, glue and reattach.  It’s so much easier to match the wood and the irregular break when it happens rather than later on.

The top arrow is pointing to a piece that fell off while I was sanding, you can see how dark the old stain had gotten.

The bottom arrow is pointing to a random hole which can be filled with another piece of my old oak flooring.

Repaired.  The bottom hole still needs a bit more stain.

For the front of the bookcase, I chose to use paint remover instead of straight sanding since there were too many grooves to sand around.

Here, the paint remover has been applied but I’ve covered it with saran wrap so it doesn’t dry out before I have a chance to scrape it off.

For paint remover, wear plastic gloves and use a putty knife to scrape in the direction of the grain.   You may also need to use an abrasive stripping pad and toothpicks, I prefer nut picks, to get in the crevices where the varnish likes to sit.

Follow the directions on the paint remover for cleanup which often involves giving your piece a final rinse of mineral spirits to remove any lingering traces of the remover.

The inside of my cabinet did not have the problem with crazing that the outer varnish had, but it did need a refresh.

I scrubbed the interior because it was old and dirty then gave all the surfaces an additional coat of oil.  You’ll see me use the Watco Danish oil in a lot of my projects and this one was no exception.  Just wipe on with a clean dry cloth  removing any excess then let dry.  A second coat will create a darker finish.

This size container of the Danish Oil is usually enough for at least a half dozen projects.  Also, try to use rubber gloves when applying the oil as it tends to get under the nails.

These spots appeared after sanding of the top.  I have no clue what created them.  They go too deep to be sanded out…I did try.

While my age spots didn’t feel waxy, I did try this wax removal trick.

Take a hot iron and a paper bag and iron over top of your wax.   The wax should come off on the paper bag.  Move the bag frequently to soak up more of the wax.

You can see some oily stains on my paper bag but I believe that was just oils from the wood, my age spots didn’t lighten at all.  My spots are just going to have to stay.

 

Now for the hardware.  For this project I only had my escutcheon (keyhole) to strip.

Place your hardware in a pot you no longer use for food.  Cover your hardware with a solution of half vinegar and half water.  Bring to a boil then let simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the water with tongs then lightly scrub with Barkeepers Friend.  An old toothbrush works great for the scrubbing.

Reattach your hardware and admire how clean and new it looks.

 

Judging from the label on the back of the shelf, ChatGPT tells me this bookcase was from the late 1800’s early 1900’s.  Sounds about right to me and with his makeover he should easily be able to last another 100 years.

Until next time, stay inspired.

You’ll have to go back to 2024 to find my last bookshelf renovation.  This one was previously an old preschool bookshelf.