Hi Campbell

Sounds like by the time you finish you should be quite a hand at bringing
old furniture back to life.

Considering the circumstance I'd still recommend the book for you. Amazon
has used copies for as little as $4.00. And I would also urge you to
experiment with the Deft spray can lacquer. Lacquer is somewhat higher on
the protection ladder then shellac yet still very workable and, like shellac
has a solvent (lacquer thinner). That means that, unlike a varnish, it can
be removed and or manipulated, after it has been cured, with out the need
for some really nasty strippers. Not that lacquer thinner is all that nice.
It will also impart less of an amber tint then shellac.

Best of luck

--
Mike G.

Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Campbell Freeman" wrote in message
...
Thanks for all the advice. I knew I was opening a can of worms.

I realize all the implications of restoration and what it means to value
and
all the rest. The pieces I am working on are from my late great aunt's
estate and farmhouse and I am "re-working/re-finishing" them for my
children. Some were in very bad shape...finish and structurally. The
farmhouse was not air conditioned and used wood stoves for heat along with
propane floor heaters which caused damage over time. I am not trying to
become a antique furniture restorer or professional (I don't even have a
workshop)...just to give some family heirlooms to my children for them to
have. I know that if you have a piece; the moment you do anything to it
you have taken from its "value."

These are not museum pieces or even pieces for sale to someone...just 100
year old furniture, oak, cherry, walnut, mahogany, etc., that I am doing
piece by piece over time to pass along through my family. Most of what I
have learned and done I have "figured out" as I go along. I realize a
professional could do a much better job, but I wanted my children to have
them as something I had helped to salvage somewhat and as a gift to them
from my hands.

Thanks again.