Old School Desk project-the frame/scraping, sanding, and thinking about the finish

 Hi Everyone,

Well I've begun removing the old finish from the desk frame and what a mess that frame is in. I was right in that a lot of the joinery is old and no longer holding the frame together so as I go through this, I'm gluing and screwing the joints together. It's still rocks gently so I'll have to flip the frame over and run more screws in from a different direction.

The finish is pretty old-it's flaking off easily with cabinet scrapers. I also found out that it's been finished twice, probably once at the factory where it was made and again at another point in time. The original finish was reddish and the other finish was thick and very dark brown. It almost looks like molasses. I can see how it was just brushed on. And it's really dirty and there were quite a few spider nests in the corners underneath.

The surface of the wood is really beat up. Check this out:

Here's what it looks like after being scraped and sanded a bit:

There are still shallow dings in the surface. The entire frame is turning out to look like this and I'm wondering if I should paint the frame and leave the drawer faces and the top natural wood or should I stain the whole thing the same color?

I looked at some photos on Pinterest last night and saw a lot of old furniture that had been re-finished with paint and stain and some of the pieces looked amazing after they'd been finished. I'll have to think about this as I go.

The frame is enclosed with thin plywood panels that were stained the same color as the frame and I'm going to have to remove that part of the finish with paint remover as the surface is in good condition and the finish is still tightly adhered. More about that later.

Stay tuned,

VW