Restoring an old project

[teamtj]

When I was a senior in high school (graduated 1991) I made a TV stand that had a shelf and 2 drawers. Cost me $75 in lumber and earned me an A+ in addition to my wood shop teacher taking it to a show as an example. I still have the sheet I used to do the costing...

4 kids and 23 years later (has it been that long?? ) I'd like to restore it to its former glory.

You can see pics of its current state here:
http://www.teamtj.net/ss/1.jpg
http://www.teamtj.net/ss/2.jpg
http://www.teamtj.net/ss/3.jpg
http://www.teamtj.net/ss/4.jpg
http://www.teamtj.net/ss/5.jpg
http://www.teamtj.net/ss/6.jpg
http://www.teamtj.net/ss/7.jpg

Is it as simple as re-creating the broken boards for the bottom drawer and cleaning up the finish? It looks in good shape otherwise...

How would I clean up the finish? I can't even recall how it was finished in the first place...I don't believe it was polyurethane as it was never shiny...

Any suggestions appreciated!!

[benush26]

To test for shellac, rub a small area with denatured alcohol. If it gets tacky, the finish is shellac.

To test for lacquer, yup, try lacquer thinner. Tacky means lacquer.

If you say it's not polyurethane, then probably varnish.

You "could" refinish even without knowing, though take this with a grain of salt.
Clean with mineral spirits.
Somewhere hidden -
Sand with extra fine sand paper to give the surface some tooth.
Put on a thinned coat of sealer
If it dries to a finish you are okay for shellac.

Others will probably have better and easier solutions, but this "old fart" remedy is about the most fool proof this old fart knows.

Good luck!

Be well,
Ben

[nuhobby]

There are also other products out there I haven't tried yet, but they talk about 'amalgamating' some new finish into the prior finish. Something like Howard's Restore-A-Finish. There are also waxes that have a good deal of active solvent to do something similar, like colored BriWax.