My paternal grand father was a High School wood shop teacher. some time in the last part of 1950 he made a desk for my dad as a house warming gift for the new house we moved into that year. I was a fairly sophisticated 6 year old. 
All my childhood and subsequent adult years my memories of that house and the one he bought in Waco when he retired in 1982 revolve around that desk. Furniture came and went in his house(s) but that desk was one of the very few constants.
I seemed to have inherited my grandfathers passion for wood and wood working and I took wood shop in my junior and senior years. My senior year we were only a short time before years end and graduation and I didn't have enough time left to begin a new project. I asked my shop teacher if I could refinish this desk as a project to assure I got it done in time. He approved so my dad took it up to the wood shop at dear old PHS and I got to work.
It was made out of mahogany and I took it down to the wood removing all existing finish. Filled and seald it Then stained it and put 3 coats of lacquer on the body and drawer fronts hand rubbing with pumice and linseed oil between coats. The shop teacher suggested I put a heavier more durable finish on the top so I gave it 7 coats of lacquer again hand rubbing with pumice and linseed oil between coats. It was nigh unto bullet proof. Got an A+ for a grade on it. And Dad 'bout did a back flip when he saw it. We were sad that my grandfather had passed away only a few months earlier. Dad said he would have loved it.
Dad used the desk until his death in 2009. I didn't have room for it but I wanted to keep it in the family so I offered it to my grandson who was about 12 I think at the time. It was in pretty rough shape but he wanted it like it was. Even after 47 years of use it was still in better shape than you might think but I wanted to clean it up and refinish the top (the body of the desk was in good shape). He asked me to let him have it as it was. So I did.
We lost his dad (my son) in 2015 and tragically his mother last year. They had been having money problems that we didn't know about and their house was being repossessed. The step dad was PTSD and freaked out and went back to Ohio or somewhere.
The kids wound up moving to Florida to live with my daughter and her husband. Stephen asked me to take the desk and keep it until he graduates from college and gets settled somewhere. I told him I would take it back and keep it for him if he would agree to let me refinish the top. The body was still in great shape but the top was awful. I even considered replacement over refinishing.
It has been sitting in the garage waiting for me to get off my lazy bee-hind and git 'er done. Today was the day. I spent most of the morning and into the early afternoon sanding on it. The wood looks pretty good as far as I can tell at this point so I'm going to remove all the original finish and redo the top. I don't have the equipment or facilities to do the bang up job I did 56 years ago. I will re-stain it and put a high gloss verathane finish or I may just paint it. I really need to get a better look an the entire surface of bare wood to see if it's condition precludes either choice.
I'm down to the wood in a few places and so far so good. It occurred to me after sanding for just a few minutes to do the before and after thing so I took a break and took some pics. I'll take some more after I have removed all the finish and a final few after it's all done.
It's been a long time since I have done any real woodwork and it feels kind of nice to have the smell of sawdust in my nose...even if it does get me to seezin' a bit.
I sure hope it turns out well..my grandson is going to have my hide if it doesn't.
All my childhood and subsequent adult years my memories of that house and the one he bought in Waco when he retired in 1982 revolve around that desk. Furniture came and went in his house(s) but that desk was one of the very few constants.
I seemed to have inherited my grandfathers passion for wood and wood working and I took wood shop in my junior and senior years. My senior year we were only a short time before years end and graduation and I didn't have enough time left to begin a new project. I asked my shop teacher if I could refinish this desk as a project to assure I got it done in time. He approved so my dad took it up to the wood shop at dear old PHS and I got to work.
It was made out of mahogany and I took it down to the wood removing all existing finish. Filled and seald it Then stained it and put 3 coats of lacquer on the body and drawer fronts hand rubbing with pumice and linseed oil between coats. The shop teacher suggested I put a heavier more durable finish on the top so I gave it 7 coats of lacquer again hand rubbing with pumice and linseed oil between coats. It was nigh unto bullet proof. Got an A+ for a grade on it. And Dad 'bout did a back flip when he saw it. We were sad that my grandfather had passed away only a few months earlier. Dad said he would have loved it.
Dad used the desk until his death in 2009. I didn't have room for it but I wanted to keep it in the family so I offered it to my grandson who was about 12 I think at the time. It was in pretty rough shape but he wanted it like it was. Even after 47 years of use it was still in better shape than you might think but I wanted to clean it up and refinish the top (the body of the desk was in good shape). He asked me to let him have it as it was. So I did.
We lost his dad (my son) in 2015 and tragically his mother last year. They had been having money problems that we didn't know about and their house was being repossessed. The step dad was PTSD and freaked out and went back to Ohio or somewhere.
The kids wound up moving to Florida to live with my daughter and her husband. Stephen asked me to take the desk and keep it until he graduates from college and gets settled somewhere. I told him I would take it back and keep it for him if he would agree to let me refinish the top. The body was still in great shape but the top was awful. I even considered replacement over refinishing.
It has been sitting in the garage waiting for me to get off my lazy bee-hind and git 'er done. Today was the day. I spent most of the morning and into the early afternoon sanding on it. The wood looks pretty good as far as I can tell at this point so I'm going to remove all the original finish and redo the top. I don't have the equipment or facilities to do the bang up job I did 56 years ago. I will re-stain it and put a high gloss verathane finish or I may just paint it. I really need to get a better look an the entire surface of bare wood to see if it's condition precludes either choice.
I'm down to the wood in a few places and so far so good. It occurred to me after sanding for just a few minutes to do the before and after thing so I took a break and took some pics. I'll take some more after I have removed all the finish and a final few after it's all done.
It's been a long time since I have done any real woodwork and it feels kind of nice to have the smell of sawdust in my nose...even if it does get me to seezin' a bit.
I sure hope it turns out well..my grandson is going to have my hide if it doesn't.
some people....
