*made out of oak **

** sorry 😉

So, I have bought an old chest, made out of oak and featuring some sort of long ago applied varnish – not bad for the princely sum of €17. I’d like to make it look a bit smarter – what is the easiest/least time consuming way of doing this ? Can I just give it a light sanding and apply some new varnish ?

Not a great picture, but here it is:

Wow, no help i’m afraid but that’s a bloody bargain!

Depends on the look you want. Doesn’t look like it needs too much to me. Rub it back a little and maybe some wax on top?
Not a fan of varnish personally, can look a bit fake/like a yacht…

Whaaaat? Yachts are not real…… 😯

As per Kayak, can I suggest wax instead of varnish finish.

Cover it in cycle based stickers, will look the bomb.

TBH I was expecting a new bra thread 🙁

Don’t wax over varnish.

Danish Oil

Swedish Oil.

Swedish Massage Oil.

If it’s real oak don’t rub it down with wire wool, the steel will react with the tannin and discolour black.

Danish oil looks interesting. http://danish-oil.com/how-to-apply-danish-oil/

If I can’t use wire wool then what should I use to rub it down ?

I had a restoration place sand blast an old(ish) piece of oak furniture*, admittedly it had been stained black & was horrible, so was going to be binned otherwise.

* I have been shouted down on a previous furniture thread, for suggesting sand blasting…

green scouring pad instead of wire wool – avoid varnish as per above – oil or wax .

Turn it into the best jack-in-a-box ever.

Danish oil looks interesting

somewhat apprehensively I clicked on your link….

wooden chopping boards, oh.

Don’t like Danish oil due to it flaking..

Use an Osmo product..

I wouldn’t use Danish Oil on that, just use green scouring pads to get the old varnish off, or possibly media-blasted* if you can find someone handy, then use a quality beeswax based polish rubbed well into the wood to protect it and bring up the grain. You want the wood to breath and develop it’s own patina through age and use, varnish will seal it, and you’ll lose the natural darkening in areas where it’s handled, like along the lid edges.
*using crushed walnut shells as an abrasive, rather than a harsh synthetic grit or sand.

Beeswax

Brazilian wax – comes up lovely every time

I have given the lid a quick scub with green pads and taken some better photos:

[/url]IMG_1956 by danbury collins, on Flickr[/img]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nYkkft]IMG_1957[/url] by danbury collins, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nYkkd4]IMG_1958[/url] by danbury collins, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/ohzp5T]IMG_1959[/url] by danbury collins, on Flickr

I think for the money I got a bargain.

Looks haunted. Give me a tenner and I’ll dispose of it for you before it all turns hellraisin and opens a door into another dimension.

That’s looking really good, you got a proper bargain there! The lid is now showing a proper oak colour, instead of the faux-teak of the rest. If you can get the rest looking as good as the lid, then just giving a polish now and again with a beeswax polish, that’ll patinate beautifully.
Basically I’m just pretty much quoting the furniture blokes on Antiques Roadshow, who always just say give the furniture a dust and a polish every so often, and let time and human interaction give it it’s character.

just add some treasure.

Thanks to all for your help and advice – it is looking a bit nicer now ( note the wax is still wet in some places )

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o2nCYq]IMG_1978.jpg[/url] by danbury collins, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oiSmaX]IMG_1977.jpg[/url] by danbury collins, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o2nCGd]IMG_1976.jpg[/url] by danbury collins, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oiSkU6]IMG_1975.jpg[/url] by danbury collins, on Flickr

Edit: as for treasure – it is planned to be a Bengal cat-proof toy box – there will be plenty of treasure in there. 🙂