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Help to Identify - Shaker chest of drawers

Discussion in 'Furniture' started by SEAN DINEEN, Feb 18, 2020.

  1. Joan

    Joan Well-Known Member

    I wonder if it could be butternut. I refinished the butternut chest below(it had peeling black paint). The drawers have the same type of dovetails as yours. Where did you buy the chest? Butternut trees (also known as white walnut) grow in the upper east U.S. and southern Canada, but can also grow as far south as Georgia.
    Butternut.jpg
     
  2. SEAN DINEEN

    SEAN DINEEN Active Member

    Wow, what a wonderful refinished chest!! Love the natural finish. I found at a local Goodwill in Texas but most likely moved here from the East.
     
    judy, James Conrad and Joan like this.
  3. Ghopper1924

    Ghopper1924 Well-Known Member

    Yeah, butternut/walnut. Nice job on yours, Joan!
     
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  4. Joan

    Joan Well-Known Member

    Thank you Sean. I used many coats of hand-rubbed tung oil (a lengthy process). Your chest could have come from the upper Midwest (I bought mine in Wisconsin -- butternut trees grow as far west as Minnesota). I also have an antique butternut secretary, an antique lawyers' table from a local courthouse. My husband made all of our kitchen and bathroom cabinets from butternut. It's my favorite wood.
     
  5. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    Could be but, i see no "twin peak" Butternut grain like i do on your chest, naturally OP photos aren't the best.
    Butternut is a very cool wood, carvers love the stuff because it carves like a dream and is very stable & resists splits plus, it can be carved in either direction.

    Agrees, very good refinish job, attractive chest.

    Butternut

    butternut_5F00_21.jpg
     
    komokwa, KikoBlueEyes, judy and 3 others like this.
  6. Jeff Drum

    Jeff Drum Well-Known Member

    I don't see or recognize butternut (interesting illustration, maybe I will now), but I'll go with ghopper that this is likely walnut. Grain and color looks right to me.
     
    KikoBlueEyes, judy, Joan and 2 others like this.
  7. Joan

    Joan Well-Known Member

    I didn't know about butternut grain having "twin peaks" (thank you for that information), so I looked closely at the secretary desk that I thought was butternut, and am now wondering if it's walnut. Some of the grain on the fold-down panel has more than two peaks and it has lighter edges which I've seen on walnut.
    ButternutSecty.jpg
     
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  8. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    Hard to say on your desk, this is why photographs alone on old furniture simply can't replace an in person examination, the camera LIES!:p I don't know why, it just does.:singing:
    The "lighter edge" you see is called "sapwood" and all tree species have this, the darker wood is called "heartwood".
    Since butternut is in the walnut family it's often hard to tell with pic's alone. Here is a photo of a very wide (16.5 inches or so) butternut board.
    I'll guess your desk is butternut! made from wider timber and the classic "twin peaks" tougher to see as with this board.

    9517-5.jpg
     
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  9. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    Here is a photo of butternut & walnut side by side, pretty dang CLOSE!
    Brothers or sisters if you will! :p :hilarious:

    butternut_5F00_11.jpg
     
  10. Joan

    Joan Well-Known Member

    Thanks so much, James, for all your helpful information on butternut and walnut. I know butternut is softer and less durable than walnut. My chest of drawers has lots of little distress marks (which I like), while the secretary desk not so much even though it's in rougher shape overall and has many poorly-done repairs. But I suppose that doesn't necessarily prove anything one way or the other.
     
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  11. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    No problem! :happy: I don't think it matters much either way since both are in the same family of tree. Is fairly confident your chest of drawers are butternut, less so with your desk.
    Butternut is highly sought after by wood carvers for sure (duck carvers for example come immediately to mind) and these days might be more expensive than walnut.
     
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  12. SEAN DINEEN

    SEAN DINEEN Active Member

    Suggestion(s) for refinishing - should I strip and refinish with tung oil or use paint thinner and steel wool, finish with wax paste? The drawers are a little smelly (old) as well; so thinking of using 90:10 water to bleach...Any thoughts?
     
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  13. verybrad

    verybrad Well-Known Member

    I would start with a good cleaning. After that, strip any remaining finish with lacquer thinner and steel wool. I would then use 3 coats of tung oil varnish applied with a lint-free rag. It is available commercially from several makers or make your own (equal parts oil-based varnish, mineral spirits, and tung oil). Steel wool between coats and afterwards. Finish off with paste wax.
     
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  14. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    I am not a big fan of just a tung oil finish, they require maintenance. I vote for poly, either oil or water based, no maintenance and it comes in whatever sheen you want.
     
    judy likes this.
  15. verybrad

    verybrad Well-Known Member

    You can try your bleach solution on the drawers but you may need to varnish them inside and out to get rid of the smell completely. Others have some other methods for smelly drawers that they will probably provide here.
     
  16. verybrad

    verybrad Well-Known Member

    I am surprised at this since you buy such early and potentially valuable pieces. I do not like polys since they tend to sit on the surface and can chip off. Have seen some successful results where the polys have been cut first so that they penetrate and bind better. Polys are also very hard to strip or touch up should you need to do so down the line.
     
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  17. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    Well, I am lazy, :hilarious: so i usually have restorer do the finishing on my pieces. I am not really sure what he uses but thinks it is a poly varnish. I don't want finish to darken over time and if a tabletop no water marks either and, absolutely no maintenance for me!:hilarious:
    So i am guessing i limit his choices!:p
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2020
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  18. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    A straight tung oil finish is a pain to install, requires many coats, lots of dry time and after all that, it needs a tune up every so often (more tung oil).
    And Oh, BTW, if you put wax on after your tung oil finish, you are gonna have to remove that wax before you give it a tung oil tune up down the road.......
    uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, nooooooooooooooo

    Yeah, no doubt and i bet expensive if you hired someone to do it.
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2020
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  19. Joan

    Joan Well-Known Member

    I refinished my chest of drawers about 25 years ago and haven't done anything with it since and it still looks great (but then it doesn't get any hard use). I used more than 3 coats of tung oil, but can't remember exactly how many. My husband finished my bathroom countertop with tung oil about 20 years ago, and I just put a few more coats on a year ago (should have done it sooner). Polyurethane would be much more practical for a surface that gets lots of use and drips of water, but I wanted tung oil, so I could easily touch it up myself when needed. I can't remember if it was waxed, but I first went over it with 0000 steel wool, also between coats, then vacuumed, then wiped with a tack cloth.
     
  20. James Conrad

    James Conrad Well-Known Member

    Yeah, i have seen those as well, Sam Maloof has a poly/oil blend that some furniture builders swear by, not sure exactly what it is though.
    Oil brings out the beauty of wood, no doubt about it but, it's just not very durable.

    Agrees, poly is very practical, COUNT ME IN! :hilarious:
    Finishes on wood furniture is a very subjective topic, what works for some, doesn't for others, there is no right or wrong way in my view.
     
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