Any DIYers out there?

[Ludwig]

I would say leave it as it is because it is all part of the patina and character. If you start stripping back it will be hard to blend in. If you must do anything then a stain and a light going over with boiled linseed oil but you must realise that anything old is going to be full of blemishes. Antiques exoerts will say just leave it. If you look at old tables and desk there will be ink staines, coffee, tea and wine staines on old tables which is all part of the character.

 

[raleighnut]

Use Nitromors on the specks then use a Non-ferrous wire brush (suede brush) to remove the softened paint (wear gloves & goggles). If you want to remove dents use a damp cloth and a soldering iron. Sand down with medium then fine "Garnet" paper (or Aluminium oxide paper) then finish with a spirit varnish thinned 60/40 with white spirit then wax with clear Briwax or a good quality beeswax with carnuba wax mixture. Well worth the effort though as its Mahogany ( City & Guilds qualified Cabinet Maker)

 

[swee'pea99]

Use Nitromors on the specks then use a Non-ferrous wire brush (suede brush) to remove the softened paint (wear gloves & goggles). If you want to remove dents use a damp cloth and a soldering iron. Sand down with medium then fine "Garnet" paper (or Aluminium oxide paper) then finish with a spirit varnish thinned 60/40 with white spirit then wax with clear Briwax or a good quality beeswax with carnuba wax mixture. Well worth the effort though as its Mahogany ( City & Guilds qualified Cabinet Maker)

Wow! Now that's what I'm talking about! When you say 'use Nitromors on the specks', do you mean dab it on each individual fleck? Because that would be a year and change I reckon. Or is it more a case of paint it on, then work on the flecks? In which case, is it ok to do that...it won't sink into the wood and stain it?

(Oh, BTW, I do understand the point about patina and character, and that would be my first instinct...but this is beyond patina. It's visibly damage rather than charm.)

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Use Nitromors on the specks then use a Non-ferrous wire brush (suede brush) to remove the softened paint (wear gloves & goggles). If you want to remove dents use a damp cloth and a soldering iron. Sand down with medium then fine "Garnet" paper (or Aluminium oxide paper) then finish with a spirit varnish thinned 60/40 with white spirit then wax with clear Briwax or a good quality beeswax with carnuba wax mixture. Well worth the effort though as its Mahogany ( City & Guilds qualified Cabinet Maker)

Be easier to nail it to the wrong side of a door I rec, that's what I'd do.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

[QUOTE 3034593, member: 259"]It's not even the end of April, and its already time for Show Us Your Pre-loved Black and Decker Workmate!

View attachment 42715 [/QUOTE]

That's a beauty, does look like it's still got all its rubber feet, a true DIYer such as moi would've lost at least one (which I have), one orange holdy thing missing though.

 

[raleighnut]

Wow! Now that's what I'm talking about! When you say 'use Nitromors on the specks', do you mean dab it on each individual fleck? Because that would be a year and change I reckon. Or is it more a case of paint it on, then work on the flecks? In which case, is it ok to do that...it won't sink into the wood and stain it?

(Oh, BTW, I do understand the point about patina and character, and that would be my first instinct...but this is beyond patina. It's visibly damage rather than charm.)

Yes I did mean dab it on, Work on a 2ft section at once using a 1/2" brush, leave it to work (cup of tea) then wire brush/small plastic scraper then neutralise and move on to the next section, Couple of days should see it right just work slowly and methodically and after the 3rd section you should start to see why its worth it (that couple of days can be spread out into 2hr sessions over an indeterminate timespan) Gets you brownie points as well in that "you're making a lovely job of that"

 

[swee'pea99]

Yes I did mean dab it on, Work on a 2ft section at once using a 1/2" brush, leave it to work (cup of tea) then wire brush/small plastic scraper then neutralise and move on to the next section, Couple of days should see it right just work slowly and methodically and after the 3rd section you should start to see why its worth it (that couple of days can be spread out into 2hr sessions over an indeterminate timespan) Gets you brownie points as well in that "you're making a lovely job of that"

And it won't damage/blemish the wood? And when you say 'neutralise', how do I do that? Thanks for this, BTW - it sounds very encouraging. I would like to get these rails back to their original wotsit if I can. As someone said upthread, look past the accumulated crap and it's actually nice mahogany underneath.

 

[Gravity Aided]

That's a beauty, does look like it's still got all its rubber feet, a true DIYer such as moi would've lost at least one (which I have), one orange holdy thing missing though.

Cut up an old inner tube and fit it over the foot missing a rubber boot. I may have gone this way, before.

 

[raleighnut]

And it won't damage/blemish the wood? And when you say 'neutralise', how do I do that? Thanks for this, BTW - it sounds very encouraging. I would like to get these rails back to their original wotsit if I can. As someone said upthread, look past the accumulated crap and it's actually nice mahogany underneath.

Some versions of Mitromors neutralise with water some with Meths it will say so on the tin both are equally effective, P.S. Well done for referring to them as rails this is the correct architectural term not bannisters/balustrades as many think as they are the uprights. In Victorian staircases the Balustrades would normally be in softwood (pine) or even cast iron and would generally be painted from new/original

 

[rich p]

As I said in #13, you'll need a lot of patience to get every little speck out. Although there's no way round it if the paint specks are 1 or 2 mm deep, as you wouldn't want to sand that much off anyway.
I did something similar with a mahogany chest I liberated from somewhere once. It was a labour of love and is still the centrepiece of my hallway. The thing I found was that the half I had to repair never got the sheen of the other undamaged half. Briwax is the best finish though as raleighnut says.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks all. Think I'm going to give it a go. Not right now - I have doors to paint first - but when I do I'll post back...if it works!

 

[swee'pea99]

Use Nitromors on the specks then use a Non-ferrous wire brush (suede brush) to remove the softened paint (wear gloves & goggles). If you want to remove dents use a damp cloth and a soldering iron. Sand down with medium then fine "Garnet" paper (or Aluminium oxide paper) then finish with a spirit varnish thinned 60/40 with white spirit then wax with clear Briwax or a good quality beeswax with carnuba wax mixture. Well worth the effort though as its Mahogany ( City & Guilds qualified Cabinet Maker)

I'm delighted to say that I've followed your advice on the Nitromors and it's come up a treat:

In fact, once I got started, by giving it a preparatory clean, I found that most of the paint specks were emulsion, and a bit of vigorous scrubbing with a sugar soap solution and one of those green abrasive washing-up sponges got rid of most of it. Nitromors did for the rest.

Now, I don't think I'm going to bother with any sanding - it's super-smooth as it is (100 years of hands going up & down) but I was wondering about this varnish/spirit solution. In my ignorance, I'd just assume that the thing to do would be to get stuck in with the Briwax onto the bare wood. Is that not the way to go? I don't really want any kind of a varnishy finish. What's the thinking behind the vcarnish/.spirit? Needless to say, I've got no problem with it, and I'd be more than happy to do it if it's the right thing to do...I'd just like to understand why wax on bare wood isn't the right way to approach it. Thanks.

 

[hopless500]

Personally I'd sand it down and revarnish or wax afterwards.

 

[hopless500]

Ah, should have read more of the thread first

Brushing wax is a good place to start it off and finish with Briwax afterwards.

 

[Markymark]

Move house.