Formby's Furniture Refinisher: Experiences?

[gryhnd]

Hey all,

Casting about for real world experience with Formby's Refinisher.

For wood that is in very good shape (mahogany in my case), but does have some crazing of the original finish (varnish probably), how has it worked for you?

Does it truly not lift veneers?  What, if any effect did it have on any of the following that you couldn't remove without damaging or mask off:

• Metal parts: brass in particular
• plastic emblems/logos
• decaled(??) lettering under the varnish. 1950s here...doesn't look painted

Any gotchya's you may have experienced?   and so on.

Thanks!

[ami-man]

Hi,

In the UK we have something similar to this called Wood Reviver it is made by a number of companies including Ronseal.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[zafdor]

Many years ago my wife used this on a teak veneer table.  I do not recall it doing a stellar job of getting the finish off, but we still have the table today, so it was not destroyed.  All in all, I think of these type of things as gimmicks and doubt you would see a pro using this stuff.  I would say it's time to get out the sanders.

[gryhnd]

Many years ago my wife used this on a teak veneer table.  I do not recall it doing a stellar job of getting the finish off, but we still have the table today, so it was not destroyed.  All in all, I think of these type of things as gimmicks and doubt you would see a pro using this stuff.  I would say it's time to get out the sanders.

Thanks, but with a sander you run the risk of removing the underlying color (stain), especially on edges and ornate areas. I simply want to get rid of the crazed varnish (or whatever it is) at this point.

I stumbled across an almost full container of 3M Safe Strip in my basement last night. It's not speedy stuff from what I read about it, but that's because it's gentle. I might give that a try first since I have it already.