Hmmmm. I can see why you're disappointed.

Mahogany, like pine and oak, has uneven pores. That might be what you're seeing. It can be tricky to refinish.

At this point, there's an easy way to tell how the wood is going to look when the varnish is applied... wet your finger and apply a bit of water. (Do this when he's not looking.) This will help you "see" what a clear varnish will do. (Then wipe the water off with a paper towel, of course.)

The grey stripes might transform into lovely deep brown stripes. Or, worst case, they might stay grey. In which case... well, I dunno. It might be the original varnish in the larger pores of the wood. Yelling might ensue.

I do the water trick when I'm sanding, staining and varnishing. It helps me know what the finished wood will look like. Doesn't hurt anything as long as you wipe it up right away.

Have you asked for a glossy finish, or semi, or...?

Hard to tell from those pictures...but I *think* it will be lovely when it's got the final coat on. If this guy has 20+ years of experience...and you've seen and liked his other work...trust him.

Well, I really haven't seen his other work. Basically he is the only guy in town, but he's been here for 20+ years. Those stripes really aren't exactly gray. That is kind of just the picture. It just looked like the lighter areas that didn't stain as dark had not much depth. I don't know. He himself seemed so excited about working on the project but although he didn't say, I didn't get the impression he was thrilled with it either. Again, I have never seen this process so it may be that magic will happen when the shiny varnish goes on. He did say that it would look dull and kind of chalky with just the stain on it.

Apparently this furniture is made of ribbon mahogany. The old finish was really almost more like a paint so it hid a lot of the grain. I just hope I'm pleased when it gets delivered Tuesday. I hope his spray finish he plans to apply will add some depth.

Oh boy... looks to me like he didn't get all the stain off.
Did he use a combination of sanding and stripper?
Before he goes any furthur he should show you a sample of
what it will look like with the varnish on it. Tell him to just varnish one side and then go look at it. If you are not satisfied he has to sand it down again.

I picked up a big mahogony desk that I found curbside.
We made a coffee table out of it. We stripped and sanded
the wood down to it's natural state.
I stained it to match our LR furniture. It looks to be about the color your pieces seem to be.

Did he use a wood conditioner before he stained it?
We always use BLO or shellac before staining.

Have you ever used him before?
The way it looks when it's stained is the way it's going to look after it's varnished only more intensified. If you want I'll get you a close-up of what re-finished mahagony
should look like. In the mean time this is the the coffee
table we made from an old mahagony desk that someone was trashing.

I googled ribbon mahogany and all the furniture pieces I found looked like yours, and they were gorgeous! That particular wood appears to always have a distinctive ribbon or striped design, unlike regular mahogany. I saw a sleigh bed that was unbelievably beautiful.

I think the piece is not going to look like what your original vision was, (unless you retreat and paint it) but I think it's going to be better - unlike anything you'll see in anyone else's home, and I know that's what you want for your lovely home.
Dee

I agree with cliff/joann that it doesn't look like it's really ready for the final coat.
I may be wrong, and this is a question for cliff/joann, but is stain sprayed on? I've always thought it's an 'apply & wipe off' technique.

He should have been happy to wet the piece, as Mclarke described, so you could see what the finished product would look like. Don't hesitate to ask him to do so.
Please don't let him finish the whole piece until you've seen a portion of the finished product and are happy with the color.

I don't think he used a wood conditioner. From what I understand, mahogany is supposed to be one of the very best woods to take stain and there should be no need for conditioner. I am coming to grips with the stripyness, but look at the splotches on the sides of the bottom picture that don't have anything to do with the stripes. He told me he wasn't sanding the bare wood as he didn't want to damage the patina of the wood. He ended up using English Chestnut to get the color I wanted. It's like it came out too dark in the stripes and too light in the non-stripes.

It kind of turned me off that he said basically well the next time you see it, it is going to be delivered--basically it seemed to me like if you don't like it at that point, too bad. When I saw him stripping it the other day, I was so excited when I saw all the beautiful grain coming out as the wood was stripped. He stripped it down completely to the bare wood--there was none of the original stain left--I saw it with my own eyes. Here is a pic of a stripped piece:

At the beginning of the job, he said his only concern was getting all of the original yellow finish off, which he said was no problem. He said there should be no issue with staining. I just don't think that looks like a professional staining job. Maybe I'm wrong. When he saw I wasn't thrilled, he kept saying, the wood's gonna do what the wood's gonna do. Bulls**t. That is why you're supposed to be the professional and I am paying you. There is a way to make it look professional, and I don't care if it takes extra work for you. The way it looks reminds me of when I was a kid and my dad tried his hand at refinishing in the garage.

I am getting more angry and this is ruining my day. Every time I have hired a "trade" they have done a sh*tty job and I seemed to have more knowledge about what they were doing than they did. It's like these people learn how to do something one way years ago and then never deviate or learn a new or possibly better technique. I mean is it possible to hire competent people?

I have not outright expressed displeasure to him so far, but I don't think I am just gonna wait for him to deliver it Tuesday "finished" until I see it again. I think I will call him tomorrow. Why does everything have to be so difficult!!! I thought that's why I was paying a grand for this, so it would be EASY, and come out RIGHT!!!!!

Rant over....

Don't wet it with water, instead wipe an area down with something like paint thinner which will evaporate quickly. It will not wet the wood like water will.(I can't remember what DH uses, but will ask him in the morning when he calls)

The depth you are seeking should be there after the varnish is applied. Also as mentioned above, ribbon mahogany does have a "striped" look to it, so that might be what you are seeing.

Jockewing, calm down and as I said, let him apply the finish on the side of one piece to show you what the finished piece will look like.

I use English Chestnut as well on almost all our furniture,
however, depending on the piece or room that it's going in, I mix in a little of some other colors like special wallnut and/or golden pecan. But English Chestnut is the base.

Are you saying he just used a stripper, and didn't use a sander?
The side on the last pic (before it was stained) looks better than the pic above it. That looks like some of the finish is still on it.
The reason to use a conditioner (like BLO or shellac) before staining is so that wood takes on the stain evenly (so that it doesn't get blochy) preventing the wood from taking on the stain darker on certain parts where the wood is softer.
If you use BlO there is at least a three day waiting period between staining and varnishing.

Annz, Stain is applied with a rag -- wiped on then wiped off after several minutes.

Jacko, we did an entire TV unit and I hated the finish, so
started over -- sanded and stripped it again and
refinished it. That's why I'm telling you to have him do a sample side with the varnish. It will be easier to sand down the stained piece and start over, than sanding the finished piece.
If he's a professional, he knowns different woods stain differently and some are tricky to stain.

The key is getting all the old finish off the wood. The stain will not take well on the parts where the old finish was not completely removed.

The blond type
of stain on your pieces was popular in the 1950's.
If he didn't do a good job removing all the old stain or varnish those parts will look blochy in the final piece.

If you're not satisfied with the final varnished sample,
he needs to start over.

I suggest you try and be nice and
reasonable with him or you may not get anywhere with him.

As soon as it gets light I'll take a couple of photos
of my mahagony coffee table (finished with Minwax English
Chestnut)that was made from 'stripped' rescued curbside wood.

We are not professional furniture builders or finishes, it's just a hobby for us, but we have been doing it for many years.
Joann

Ok, fresh off the press. my mahagony table...in it's previous life it was an old desk with a dark mucky
finish.
Jacko, this was minwax English Chestnut, cut slightly
with special walnut and pecan. I mix my stain to match
my existing furniture in the room.

Your finisher should show you the way the stain will
look on the mahagony before staining the piece.
Also are you trying to match other pieces in the room?
If so you should have provided him with a sample such as a
draw from a dressor.

One more thing the top of this table is veneer (just in case he tells you veneer can't be sanded.) It can, but you
have to be carefull.

The table is lovely, and that is the kind of look I want. Again I may be overreacting. I saw the piece only with stain, no varnish. I just didn't get a good feeling at all. Hopefully, his plans to spray another thin coat of stain will help even thinks out and add some depth. BUT, I will insist to see a part varnished before I just allow him to deliver it finished.

Is your table ribbon mahogany? My piece has almost no swirly grain. The grain is all almost totally horizontal--like ribbons laid side by side-some darker, some lighter.

Here is a picture from the web of ribbon mahogany. My piece has graining very similar to this. THIS IS WHAT I WANT!!! Maybe my piece will look like this when sprayed and then lacquered. I hope:

Here are some pictures of a Landstrom dresser in the exact line mine is from stained very dark. You can see the ribboning:

and a closeup:

I didn't want mine this dark, but at least this looks like a professional stain job!

First - it sounds like you have never refinished anything yourself before. Stain with no finish DOES look flat and lackluster. It is the finish (shellac, varnish, poly, lacquer, whatever) that really brings out the grain and the depth of the wood.

What WAS the finish before? Was it stain, or a pigmented lacquer with "antiquing" finish? (That's what it looks like in the photo... especially based on the chipping on one section.) Oh, I just saw that you said it was more like a paint. I believe that it was probably the pigmented lacquer I have described. One thing to consider - certain types of wood will take stain in different ways, and usually there is a reason for certain woods to be painted, or finished with a pigmented lacquer. The clearest, most high-quality and/or most "stainable" woods are not usually obscured in that way. I can't say if that's the case with yours, but it could be - you haven't said whether the existing finish appeared to be the original... "antiquing" in that way was very popular in the '60s - homeowners would buy kits to do it themselves, or bring pieces to professionals to get the finish. But, if this is the original finish, there IS no stain to remove, and stripper is not the product to remove the finish, and he couldn't have left any stain behind. Lacquer thinner is used to remove that sort of finish. It does not act in the same way as stripper - it dissolves the lacquer and the lacquer is wiped away. I am working on a 1950s bureau with that finish right now. If this is not the original finish, he would still have used lacquer thinner to remove the "blonde" finish and then stripper to remove whatever was below (presumably a dark finish)... although that would beg the question of why he would completely strip the original finish rather than restoring it. More info. is needed about how many finishes were on this.

But just because YOU want a certain look doesn't mean that that is a possible end result. To some extent, the wood WILL do what the wood will do, and if you're looking for a clearer result, you might need to be very clear about that up front. You can't just refuse to take delivery of something because it doesn't look exactly like how you imagined it would look. It is possible, though, that with a blonde wood and a blonde finish, some lacquer was left behind. Lacquer, unlike paint, does not cure. It undergoes no chemical changes as it dries. The solvent merely evaporates. What happens when you remove the lacquer is that the lacquer thinner adds back the necessary solvent, liquifying the lacquer. Lacquer thinner evaporates very quickly and it can be difficult to remove every last bit of the lacquer that is left in the pores... especially if the lacquer is about the same color as the wood. The splotchiness (not the ribbon look) suggests there may be some lacquer left in the pores, which the refinisher could not have seen. He may possibly have tried to avoid sanding, or heavy sanding, in order to preserve the patina of the wood.

Regarding wood finishing... uh... the techniques of years and years ago ARE the techniques still used today by the best refinishers. Most "new" techniques are not better - they're quicker and cheaper. I have several books on furniture refinishing which were written in the first part of the 20th century, and the techniques and materials in the books are those espoused by "master" craftsmen today. To be frank, you certainly don't sound like you know more than this guy does.

Well, I am not exactly saying I know more about wood finishing in particular than this guy. That was more of a generalized comment about my experiences working with other "trades" that I have had experience with.

The piece was in what I believe was the original factory finish, which was that blonde look very popular in the fifties and sixties. I saw the wood after he had stripped it and it looked like completely bare wood to me. It seems that the manufacturer offered this furniture in 2 finishes, the blonde I have and a very dark stain as I posted above. I have seen pieces in the very dark stain of this exact line in photos of Jonathan Adler's personal home.

The reason I posted is because I do want to know if I am just overreacting and the "magic" will happen when the varnish goes on. All I know is when I went to see the piece yesterday it just didn't look right to me. To much unevenness and splotchiness and no real depth. Its like the darker ribbons took the stain well and the other lighter pieces didn't take the stain deeply at all. And I was kind of turned off when he told me the "the next time you see it, it's going to be at the delivery stage", like if you don't like it, too bad. I hope it doesn't come out to that result, because I am not going to accept it that way.

From what I have gathered by the information shared here, it looks like he didn't totally get rid of all the original lacquer, and that is causing the splotches and not letting the stain work properly. He did not sand as he said he wanted to preserve the patina of the wood. From everything I have been able to find out, this furniture was made by a high-end manufacturer so I would doubt the wood was inferior. From my research, ribbon mahogany is touted as a wood that takes stain exceptionally well.

Here is how it looked after he stripped it:

Lizzie what I forgot to say in the previous post is I think it was done with the pigmented lacquer originally because that was just a very popular look at the time (think Haywood Wakefield) not because the wood was of poor quality. Why would you use ribbon mahogany if you wanted to hide the wood?!

When he first took the job, he said that his only concern was not being able to completely get out the original yellow pigment, but he told me after stripping a drawer that there was no problem and everything came off.

jockewing...I think it will be gorgeous once he has the final finish on. Seriously. The depth is there...it is just waiting for the finish coat to be revealed. (I've refinished a few things in my time...there is always a stage where one thinks "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?) At this point there's not much you can do, regardless. Why borrow trouble? Wait until trouble rears its ugly head and THEN stress.

Feel free to remind me of the above sentiments if we actually get to re-do our kitchen. ;^)

jockewing - I hope I did not offend, but your posts were beginning to sound sort of unreasonably demanding.

I don't mean that the wood might have been extremely low quality, but it is possible that they might use the less-clear pieces for the items they planned to finish in an opaque lacquer. There's no reason to use the best pieces and then cover over them, even if that's the look.

I also know from experience that it can be EXTREMELY difficult to remove the lacquer from pores - I am working on a piece which has a darker lacquer - which contrasts with the woodtone - so I can see where it's not coming out. I'm using an old brush to try to get the lacquer thinner deep into the pores, and it's still not coming out. So, it's not unreasonable to think that it would be virtually impossible to remove 100% of the lacquer from this piece (even dipping it, which is not the best way of stripping as it can loosen joints.) Since the pigment is so close to the wood color, he would believe he had removed all of the old finish when he hadn't really. Unfortunately in a case like that, even with a skilled refinisher, it may be impossible to get the piece to look exactly like it would have looked if the bare wood had been stained dark to start, short of sanding it to completely bare wood.

What kind of finish does he plan to apply? He could use a shellac, which would provide an additional orange tone which would add a bit of depth. He could wipe on an oil finish, or a shellac and paste wax finish. Different finishes will provide different looks.

I guess what I am saying is that I think it will look MUCH better once it's done, but it will probably not look exactly like what you were expecting. I don't think that means that the guy is incompetent, and you might just have to live with it. I think that when finished, and in the setting of a furnished room, most flaws will not really stand out.

Sometimes if you want to "restore" a piece rather than sanding it to like-new condition, there will be flaws.

Lizzie, I get what you're saying and I'm not offended. It's just that I hired this guy and am paying him almost a grand to get a beauttiful piece of furniture, not something I'll have "to learn to live with". If I wanted that I would have just left the blonde finish on it to begin with, which I'm starting to think maybe I should have.

When the guy tells you the piece should come out beautifully, that's what you expect. If he didn't get all the shellac out, then he needs to redo it. He was using some kind of gel stripper to get the old finish off. I saw him paint it on and then after a few minutes he used some kind of wire brush and it melted right off. The bare wood looked beautiful.

By the way, he said he plans on using an oil based varnish with multiple coats sanded in between. I think he said he will do one coat-sand-another coat-sand, and then final coat. All this is after he sprays another light layer of stain to even out the color.

I just wish I could have brought one of you experts with me so I really knew if what I was looking at was bad or not. Many past bad experiences with "professionals" are clouding my vision.....

jockewing, I can sympathize with your fear and disappointment. I've had mixed results with hiring people to work on furniture (and other things--e.g my recent thread about my remodeling guys) and it is just as frustrating and scary to see a project head south as it is wonderful to see a job well done.

I'm optimistic from looking at the photos that your furniture will look lovely. Please post photos when you see his finished work.

Jocke, be sure to let us know how the sample he finishes
looks.
good luck,
Joann

The old finish was really almost more like a paint so it hid a lot of the grain. If the old finish had pigment in it, this would be difficult to entirely remove.

In your original post, you said, "He said he got all the yellow pigment off with no problem."

You also said you saw him using a wire brush, which I suspect means that he DID have some problem getting the pigment out of the grain.

The opaque stripes you see might be pigment that he could not remove. This might be the reason he wants to apply a tinted topcoat.

This addition of a lighter pigment to a finish was a fashion in woodfinishing... woodworkers sometimes call this "pickling". With an open-pore wood, this pigment can be impossible to remove.

A few years ago, I had some pickled chestnut woodwork I wanted to restore. I tried wire brushes and deadly toxins, but could NOT get the pickling pigment out.

So. What I did was sand the wood as well as I could, then I applied a seal coat. THEN I applied a tinted varnish.

This was not a perfect solution, but it gave me a passable, unblotchy finish.

Good luck.

Oh, and...

Mary Lu wrote: "Don't wet it with water, instead wipe an area down with something like paint thinner which will evaporate quickly. It will not wet the wood like water will.(I can't remember what DH uses, but will ask him in the morning when he calls)."

I do test the grain with water, NOT with paint thinner, because stains and varnishes are oil soluable, which means that if you test the (new) finish with paint thinner, you can dissolve/change/damage the new finish. Which you don't want to do.

A quick test with water will not harm a new finish. It just momentarily mimics the effect of a varnish, so you can see what the new finish will look like. Just blot it up right away, and all will be well.

mcclark, I respectifully disagree. I have an antique wash stand that is red oak. It had a 'very dark blackish stained finish
with several coats of varnish.This piece was so dark and ugly I kept it down my basement for years.
Red oak is very difficult
to strip of all the color/stain penetrates deeply in the
characteristic cathedrals, which are the softer part of the wood. It has been my experience that dark oak furniture
is the most difficult to strip.
So I wasn't in the mood to take
on this daunting task and spray painted it green. (I know what was I thinking?)
Eventually, I stripped it of the paint, dark stain and varnish, and re-stained the piece to match our bedroom.

Before, I sprayed it green, then highlited it with
some bronze paint.

I'll be back when I locate the close-ups of the restored
piece.

this is the finished piece. I had to get everything
entirely off in order to srain it to match our old
existing bedroom set.

not to belabor my point, but if this piece can be stripped
of all stain, varnish and pigment, clearly Jocke
desk can.

in the same room is this mahagony table that my main man
made in 7th grade shop, it was stained a very dark ugly
cherry. We re-finished it to match our bedroom furniture,
here is the pic when it was just done.

this is one of the two end tabels we made from the inspiration gathered from the
wash stained. Notice we duplicated the cyma's from the
washstand.
The table were made from quarter-sawn
white oak (the wash stand is flat sawn red oak and the table mahagony)
We achieved a perfect match on all three pieces.
As I've said many times
we are not professional woodworkers, just hobbyists that strive do the best in everything we do...
Thus, if I was taking a piece to a 'professional' I would
expect him to do a professional job, and not tell me 'the
wood is going to do what the wood is going to do'

cliff and joann,

No disagreement at all! Your refinished pieces are gorgeous!

I agree... if I were taking a piece to a "professional" refinisher, I would expect professional results. I would also expect professional demeanor, as you said.

I can tell that a lot of us are anxious to know the outcome of jockewing's situation...

Went to see the pieces at lunch and I was sooooooo relieved. They look so much better. I'll post pics when I get home. The depth is there and color is good. Striping has been minimized and it looks how ribbon mahogany is supposed to look. What a relief!!!! The varnish really did magically pull it together. He is sanding and doing one more coat before delivering tomorrow evening

I'm so pleased for you. Can't wait until we see the pictures!

Here are 2 pics of the vanity. He still has to sand and do one more finish coat of varnish. We discussed maybe adding a tiny bit more brown, but I think it looks good as is. You get to see the beauty of the ribbon figure but it is not overpowering. I really like how the color has a bit of a golden reddish glow without being "red". It is really more of a brown. The refinisher guy said it really reminded him of teak. That is great because I really like that mid-century vibe.

When we put one of the pulls on it reminded me of those antique elm Chinese wedding cabinets.

My only question is that it felt almost a bit sticky. I am sure that will diminish as it dries further. But is it possible to get that ultra smooth finish outside of the factory?

I take back any doubts I had about the furniture man!

Whew! A sigh of relief :) It looks terrific and it's great to hear that you feel good about your furniture again.

Yes it is possible for it to be ultrasmooth...Once. It. Dries. This guy knows what he is doing. He did a beautiful job. (As far as can be seen from pictures.) He has been up-front from the get-go with his concerns. Trust him.

Also--he only charged you a grand for both of those pieces? Given the stripping job and the finishing work he is doing...you got a bargain. I paid $800+ to have this table re-finished and I was pleased. And it was a WAY easier job:

And, finally, In situ with the rug that hides the worn floor...

You did well.

I'm glad you're pleased. It must have been a stressfull
couple of days.
to answer your question...depending on the weather, the first coat of finish could take between 24 and 48 hours to thoroughly dry.

mjsee, beautiful job on your table, looks like a hand rubbed finish.

They look wonderful -- congratulations! You must be so relieved.

It looks great! I have one question: is he going to touch up the top edge of the drawers? It's just something that would bother me every time I open them.

I'm not sure what his plans are for the tops of the drawers. Good point. Illl ask as he's delivering tonight

Cliff--it's poly--but I think he DID hand-rub it? Maybe? Is it possible to do a hand-rubbed poly finish?

I know that's the look I wanted and explained to him. We talked about some of the more traditional finishes...but this table gets used for EVERY meal and I didn't want to cover it with table-pads or keep a cloth on it constantly...so we decided to use poly. It looks as good today as it did when I brought it home three years ago.

I've been following your thread, but didn't have much to add until now that it is looking lovely. I agree it looks a lot like teak and much nicer in this stain then the original blond. Annz has a sharp eye as I had to scroll back to see what she was talking about. I'd want those fixed as well. I can't wait to see them in situ. Is it going in your MBR?

Yes. These pieces will be going in the Mbr, which is becoming more and more like a chinoiserie laden contemporary take on Hollywood regency. Need to figure out the drapes and the bedding and itll be finished. Oh and need to decide whether or not I will have nitestands. Bed is right between 2 Windows and I don't really like blocking them. I am considering Lucite waterfall end tables for the see through aspect or perhaps not having them. I really need some pattern and don't know whether to bring it in via drapes or bedding. I know custom drapes are quite expensive but there are talented people on etsy that will do it for reasonable fees and they have access to order to the trade fabrics for you.

They really are lovely. Can't wait to see the whole room put together! I couldn't live without a nightstand...I read in bed. And where would I put my glass of water? ;^)

There are some wonderful chinoiserie-with-a-MCM-feel fabrics out there...trying to remember where I saw them....Garnet Hill maybe? Or Antrhopolgie...

Or you could do a complete 180 and look at Marimeko!

Can't wait to see it in the room.

mjsee.
Firstly, when I say varnish I mean 'poly'
We hand rub almost all of our finishes, especially when
we do antique restoration.
yes, it is possible to hand rub on poly, you need to
dilute it first with turpentine and then rub on several light coats, waiting 24 hours between coats. This will give you a nice deep soft luster. yes, it takes us about a week to do the final finish on just about everything we do.
many times we can build a piece of furniture faster than
applying the final finish.

Also we make 'our own finish' we mix poly, terp, and BLO.
We have found over the years using a rough cloth such as
demin works well. The final coat (if I'm not satisfied with the finish) I usually do with 0000 sand paper and my poly mix. we usually do about 5 coats od hand rubbed poly
mix. there is no need to sand between the coats with the method we use. There have been times we use pumice though.

Now for our kitchen cab's we used natural 'waterlox'
seven coats hand rubbed on with denim
Waterlox is wonderful for kitchen cabinets as kitchen
cabinets have to withstand heat and grease etc... there is no need to sand them if you want to apply a fresh coat several years down the road.

cliffandjoann--you process sounds like what the guy who did my table used. He had my table longer than a week.(It needed some minor repair as well.) Thank you for explaining it! I'll remember that denim trick...Can you tell me what proportions of poly-terps you use? (0000 sandpaper I knew about as well.)

Last table I did I wasn't entirely satisfied with the results...but since it was a "down-n-dirty get it done before Elder Son moved into his apartment job" and not a piece of fine furniture I didn't worry too much.

Cliff and joann--

Learning about finishing throughout this process has really piqued my curiosity. I really think I want to try my hand at refinishing something now. I do like to haunt the consignment and junk shops--any recommendations on a good thing to look for that I might try to refinish myself? Maybe like a small table or something like that? Are there things to look for that will tell me it will be a do-able job for a novice?

mjsee, we use about 1/3 terp 1/3 poly 1/3 BLO.
your guy did a beautiful job on your table. It's hard to tell in photos, but I knew it was hand rubbed.

jocke, all you need it patience. Finishing can not be
rushed. Hand rubbed finishing is a dying art. Many
'professionals' do what is 'comercialy exceptable'
a lot of them spray on the finishes or brush on poly and often the results are 'plastic looking'
Good finishing is very time consuming.

scour the good will places and when you see something you like -- get it. When you do, start a thread on re-finishing...and I'll take you through it step by step.
first stripping, then conditioning, then staining and finally finishing.
you will need a sander to strip off all the old finish.
Depending on the piece we remove most of the finish with a sander and hand sanding as well...my wash stand I had to use some stripper in some of the corners that sanding couldn't reach into.
Just remember we're not pro's but as my main man always tells me -- "he's the only man that can work for me cause
I'm so fussy." my reply is, "that he's the only man that can work for me cause he's a perfectionist." Really, he has the patience of a saint and will do things over and over until they're perfect.

So happy for you! Can't wait to see it in your room.

Okay here are the finished pieces. The only qualm I have is that the tops are not totally smooth. There is some roughness there. The man said that would diminish with time--he explained the shine would dull to a glow and the finish would get softer and smoother as time goes by. I have been reading about "rubbing out the finish" and wonder if that is something I might try. Interestingly, the sides and drawer fronts are much smoother than the tops.

Also, I wish the handles jumped out a little more. Should I polish them? I believe the pulls are copper and the plates are nickel.

They turned out very well I think! I'm not sure about polishing the pulls--maybe a tiny bit of gentle polish on the back sides of the handles to see how they clean up.

I DO think you should take all the stuff off the tops for a few weeks though or you'll probably get marks. ;P

They came out lovely. I do like that color.

They look lovely. You much be so relieved. I love the richness of the pulls as-is, though it may look different IRL. Can you show us a whole room picture?