Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Lee · 14th September 2010, 07:28 PM

I have a close friend who refinishes and rebuilds antique furniture who was over to the house yesterday evening, so we gave this sali a very close look. As a control, examination of my gata gave the expected result of 'unrecognized exotic wood,' but he felt that the grain and density of this sali were consistent with mahogany. He noted that the coating on the broken spur appears to overlay the adjacent finish slightly and to be slightly different and then he remarked that this coating reminded him a lot of the old failed shellac he regularly deals with. So I approached the sali this afternoon with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and found the black finish promptly dissolved. So we are dealing with some variant of old shellac.

14th September 2010, 07:28 PM	#8
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 900	Good observation Vandoo! I have a close friend who refinishes and rebuilds antique furniture who was over to the house yesterday evening, so we gave this sali a very close look. As a control, examination of my gata gave the expected result of 'unrecognized exotic wood,' but he felt that the grain and density of this sali were consistent with mahogany. He noted that the coating on the broken spur appears to overlay the adjacent finish slightly and to be slightly different and then he remarked that this coating reminded him a lot of the old failed shellac he regularly deals with. So I approached the sali this afternoon with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and found the black finish promptly dissolved. So we are dealing with some variant of old shellac.