What kind of wood coating?

[Phonesrfun]

I am in the process of restoring a WE 293A compact wall phone.  It was painted, and I have stripped all the old paint off.

It is made of a light colored oak, and the stripping has taken not only all the paint but also the old original stain and petina out of the wood.  Gladly, the wood still looks great after the stripping.

Two questions.

1. Whether or not to apply a light oak stain or leave it like it is.
2. What kind of finish, I.E. varnish, shellac, or ? to use as a coating.

What was the original method of finishing the wood on these?

Below are some before and current pictures.

[Doug Rose]

Bill....Clear howardsrestorafinish will make it look amazing...Doug

[Sargeguy]

Red shellac seems to be what was originally used.  Here's a good page on shellac:

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2009/07/02/shellac.aspx

[Bill]

In the world of antique wood-case radios, stained shellac was used as a wood finish until about 1920-1925. After that, finishes switched over to nitrocellulose lacquer for a number of reasons.  Since your 293 goes back to 1910 or so, I'm thinking that Sargeguy is right.

Bill

[PhoneSeeker]

Personally, I like using tung oil because I can control the amount of gloss by limiting the number of coats I apply. The first coat generally raises the grain a bit but buffing it down with OOO steel wool will knock the fibres down. Allow plenty of time between coats, about a day or so depending on the temperature. I don't like a high gloss so I put on about three coats applied sparingly with a rag and not a brush. Experiment with a piece of scrap wood first bit be aware that old wood tends to darken more than fresh wood. It's a very thin oil but dries a lot quicker than linseed oil. It's not historically correct but it sure looks pretty when done well.

The results can pass for a well cared for original finish depending on how you "tweek" your coats than a "factory fresh" restoration. A few dings and imperfections add character.