Chair looks tired

[Birdseye Bill]

I have an old craftsman style chair. My daughter just recovered the old cushion. What would be the best way to renew the finish? It's in good condition structurally. I don't have the tools to do a spray finish.

[JR1]

How bad is the finish? If it's not really bad then simply scuff sanding the current finish and doing a little touch up will suffice. If it needs real work then removing the upholstery, stripping the extant finish and refinishing my be the way to go. A few pictures would help.

[Birdseye Bill]

I'll try to get some pics up here tomorrow. When you say scuff sanding, what grit are we talking? I have some arm r seal finish by General finishes. Will that work over what's on there now?

[JR1]

I generally scuff sand with 120 to get loose finish off then follow with 300 before finishing. I use a very light hand though. Depending on what's there a 1# coat of shellac followed by Arm-R-Seal may be what's needed or just Arm-R-Seal may be fine.