Let's restore some dignity to this cedar chest

[Thumbthumper]

I don't really need another cedar chest, so I'll probably sell this off when it's restored.


1880 ish, with solid Kauri sides. Would have been a pretty little thing in it's day.


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This is going to be a lot of work. Pretty much a complete rebuild. It's loose in most of the joints.
I'll have to turn new knobs and bun feet. One of the top drawers is missing, so I'll have to build one from scratch. The main problem is that someone has used a caustic strip. Cedar hates this. The Kauri is fine though.


You can see how dry and open the grain is on the drawer fronts and the top (note the kilos of nails in the top as well :~).
I'll have to plane off the drawers and top to bring it back. I don't like doing this as it removes all of the character, but the stripper has ruined the surface.


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Nails in the dovetails :no:

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Here's the surviving top drawer front with a section planed off. I should be able to bring back some colour.

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At some stage the rail above the bottom drawer has been replaced upside down. You can see the lock keeper facing up :?

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I'll post some WIP pics as I find some time to make a start on it.

[Horsecroft88]

Looks like you will have your work cut out for you Thumbthumper but I agree it does have nice proportions and is worth saving. I have to admit in comparison the large cedar chest I am restoring is a walk in the park in comparison.

The thing is I have paint stripped plenty of cedar by hand (heat gunning off paint and using caustic based paint stripper and never encountered the problems you have with this chest. But on the other hand I have acquired pieces including doors that have been dipped and as in your chest equally had such problems. So yes agree one does need to be careful with cedar, but I think it is possibly a concentration and time factor re exposure as to how it affects cedar.

The good thing I think with your chest is that you have sufficient clues in terms of residual parts as to how it should look (ie such as the drawers). It is fortunate that you can turn up handles and bun feet. I am going to have to commission a local turner to turn up some blackwood feet for my chest and while I have two handles that are partially missing (broken) having completed the polishing of all the drawers including handles I think I might leave them as they are, in a sense an indication of the chest's history.

Hope you don't have to loose too much of the patina to bring back the colour. Will be watching your rescue of the chest. All the best with it. Dave

[gyropilot]

That sure is a lot of work ahead for you... including building a drawer....
(By comparison my latest is just a sand/stain/finish of a solid timber set of drawers)

Should be good to watch how it goes....


Geoff

[Thumbthumper]

Hope you don't have to loose too much of the patina to bring back the colour. Will be watching your rescue of the chest. All the best with it.
Dave

Cheers Dave,

I'm going to lose a lot of the character from the drawer fronts and the top. I will be planing off a fair bit to get to stable cedar.
This is not optimal, but required when the caustic stripper has eaten this far into the surface.


That sure is a lot of work ahead for you... including building a drawer....
(By comparison my latest is just a sand/stain/finish of a solid timber set of drawers)

Should be good to watch how it goes....

Geoff

Yup ....
This will be a lot of work.
A complete rebuild. Its rare to have to rebuild a chest from the ground up, but it's either that, or it's firewood :no:.
This is a learning experience for me. It helps to know how they went about building these things.



I've been taking heaps of pictures so that I have a chance of getting it back together again.
This chest is held together by nails (lots of them) and glue blocks.

I'm still in the process of pulling it all apart.

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Here's a couple of shots of the worn drawer runners.
These blocks will be replaced.

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I'm not really sure of where to start once it's in bits.

Maybe I'll just clean each piece and start nailing it together like a big jigsaw puzzle.

I'm going to need to have a good think about this restoration :C

Cheers all,
Stu

[Horsecroft88]

Hey Stu,I think you are probably quite correct. Given how far you need to strip it down, from my experience the best thing first of all is to clean up each part, making sure of course you know where it fits in the jigsaw and then slowly start putting the main frame of the chest back together.

I have done this in the past with a small Huon Pine dresser top I previously restored and am doing exactly the same with the cedar box I am currently restoring. I think it really is the only way you can make sure it will come together nicely. Similarly that way you will also know what parts you may need to replicate to replace missing sections, or damaged areas.

[pampelmuse]

Aah, you've started down the dangerous path of taking on a lost cause.:; I dunno if you remember my post from a while back in this forum section but your task seems akin to this (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f173/chest-drawers-restoration-unintentional-complete-rebuild-144606/). I several times questioned in that instance why I was rebuilding a poorly made original but maybe this is different in the sense that the original was well made and therefore there is less redesigning required. I desided early in the process that replacing worn runners (in both the drawer sides and in the cabinet) with equally soft timbers (like red cedar or kauri) are a waste of effort and replacing them with harder timbers is worth the fiddle, even if it isn't strictly traditional in a restoration. Where did you find this particular cabinet in a such a sad state?

[Thumbthumper]

Aah, you've started down the dangerous path of taking on a lost cause.:; I dunno if you remember my post from a while back in this forum section but your task seems akin to this (http://www.woodworkforums.com/f173/chest-drawers-restoration-unintentional-complete-rebuild-144606/). I several times questioned in that instance why I was rebuilding a poorly made original but maybe this is different in the sense that the original was well made and therefore there is less redesigning required. I desided early in the process that replacing worn runners (in both the drawer sides and in the cabinet) with equally soft timbers (like red cedar or kauri) are a waste of effort and replacing them with harder timbers is worth the fiddle, even if it isn't strictly traditional in a restoration. Where did you find this particular cabinet in a such a sad state?

I was either a dangerous path or it was firewood :U

Your chest turned out quite well. Useful again.

This is a learning experience for me. I love seeing how they 'did' things. I love the fact that the sides are different dimensions, nothing is square, oversize (original) nails were used. They just grabbed bits that were handy for the interior case work.
I will be putting in reinforced drawer runners, and replacing the case runners with new Kauri blocks. I'm a bit of a traditionalist :doh:
There's a lot to do (see my next post).

This chest was bought cheaply at a Canberra market and has been sitting in the shed for years.
I haven't seen many Cedar fronted chests with solid Kauri sides, so I'm looking forward to the end result.

[Thumbthumper]

We're down to the bare bones now.

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Here's a pic of the base frame before removing the side and after. None of the glue blocks were holding.
I'll rebuild the base frame because there's a bit of dry rot, and the nailing points aren't sound.

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The first job I'll tackle is to replace the molding that runs around the base of the chest. It was missing the side boards that follow on from the front section.
I'm just glad that the rounded corners weren't smashed. These are the tricky bits to make.
I love an excuse to get out my hollow and round planes :U

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Stay tuned.

[Horsecroft88]

Looking good Stu. I know what you mean re the combination of cedar (front) and sides out of Kauri. I too have a small 4 drawer chest with cedar front and top but sides out of baltic (which a previous owner) tried to stain to match the cedar. Basically it looked rubbish and by stripping it back I gave back its honesty. I too had to do the base plinth repair as you will. Was an interesting fix to have to make.

Subscribed to this restoration.

[Thumbthumper]

Starting from the ground up.

Cleaning up the base molding.
Heat gun to scrape of the paint, then a scrub down with steel wool and metho.

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Choosing the appropriate hollow and round.

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After tracing out the profile onto the end grain, I nailed the board down to my workbench, and used a rebate plane to start the shaping.
The round and hollow plane finished the profile. Last pic is after a light sanding.

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Everything seems to match up well.

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I spent the rest of my workshop time today removing the last of the paint from the front frame, and cleaning.

I'll build the base frame next, and start nailing everything together.

Didn't have much time today as there was an AFL grand final (it wasn't going to watch itself :U).
I'm also settling in tonight to watch an elimination final in my preferred code. My beloved team just happens to be one of the teams competing :2tsup:.

Go the Roosters !!

[Thumbthumper]

Managed to get a few more things done this morning.

Planed off the large drawer fronts.

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I nailed the front frame together using the original nails.
I repositioned them slightly for strength.

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Once the frame was together, I grabbed a beer (I'm still celebrating the fact that my football team has made the grand final), and sat down to cut plugs to fill the nastier nail holes in the frame.

Tools of the trade.

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Here's the result.

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The front frame after a cleaning.

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And this .... is the rest of the chest :C

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I'm finding it hard to imagine seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
I'll get there though.

Cheers all,
Stu

[Horsecroft88]

Nice work Stu, keep going as I can well see how good this is coming along. The front face looks really nice now.

Love see the tools you have, sadly mine are not as aged or impressive. Nice touch too in using timber dowels to make the joins. So much more original to the construction, and in being able to reuse the original nails etc. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel for this chest.

[Thumbthumper]

I spent the long weekend away, so I didn't get much workshop time.

I did manage to get the bun feet turned.
The original feet would probably been pine. I used Bhutan Cypress, which is what I had laying around.
No template was used, just calipers.
They were then stained with a mix of red and brown ochre with metho, then given a light polish with shellac in the lathe. I'll use the same stain for the sides. This is probably what was originally done.

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Hope to get more done this weekend.

[Thumbthumper]

Some other commission jobs have been getting in the way of this restoration (picture frames, boxes etc.)

I managed to strip and clean the Kauri sides.
I don't like this part. Messy and time consuming.

Whilst my helper was scraping the paint from some parts (tests indicated no lead)...

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I got to work on the sides.
Someone did a good job painting them.
Sanded, primed, undercoated and topcoated :doh:

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They cleaned fairly well.
I used a gel strip, shavehook and a cabinet scraper. There is still a bit of primer in the grain which I may have to scrape. I'll test the ochre wash before going too much further.

You don't get wide Kauri boards like this any more.

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These side are part of the structural integrity of the chest. Now that they are ready, I can start the build from the ground up.

[Thumbthumper]

I spent the morning fixing most of the drawer runners. Cut off the excess, planed them back, and glued on new strips.
I'll be using plough strips to strengthen the runners after assembly (pic 2).

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I had a play with the staining of the knobs.
I set up a threaded dowell in the drill press, cleaned the knobs, rubbed on the ochre mix, and gave them an initial polish. This is a lot easier when they are spinning.
For the stain, I used a cloth dipped in my metho brush wash (metho with a bit of shellac), and dabbed a bit of red and brown ochre on the cloth. It's not an exact science :U

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I'll start building the case and the drawers soon. Stay tuned.

[Thumbthumper]

Managed to get a few more things done today.

Planing off the drawer runners.

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I glued down some drawer stops because it's easier when you have the drawer fronts separate.

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I put together a drawer today for fun. All the cleaning and fiddly bits that I have been doing have been getting a bit boring.

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I also made a heap of plough strips.

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[Thumbthumper]

I've now made all the case runners.
I'll nail these to the sides through the original nail holes. No glue will be used, it's a sure way to split the sides.

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Glueing the plough strips to the finished drawer.
You can NEVER have too many clamps :D

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One of the large drawer fronts has both knob holes chewed out of the back. I don't know why this happened, but it made it impossible to tighten the knobs with the knob screws.
I chiselled out a section around the holes, flattened the area with a router plane, and will glue in pieces of cedar.

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I'm hoping to get the case built this weekend.

[Horsecroft88]

Looking good, but know what you mean re having to fix up all those small little problem areas.

I too still have a couple of such issues to finish off with my chest's restoration, especially now as I have finished off the polishing of the chest frame & drawers.

Looking forward to seeing how your chest all comes together, especially given how much re-construction work has had to be done. I have got that ahead of me with my cedar box restoration project.

[Thumbthumper]

The backing inserts are finished. Planed off and drilled.

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I've nailed the drawer bottom into the small drawer and given it a coat of shellac.

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I put together the large drawers, glued in the runners and given them the first coat of shellac.

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I'm building the case now. I'll post some pics soon.

[Thumbthumper]

Now that the chest is somewhat together now, I started to tune the case runners to get the drawers sitting nicely.

I glued in the drawer stops.

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Tweaking all the runners.

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The drawers are sit properly in the case now.

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I must have removed a couple of kilos of nails from this chest, but I've already put about half a kilo back :D

I'm currently cutting out the foot blocks that will have the bun feet doweled into them.
I'm going to stain the sides soon. I'll do this while I have good access to the sides and won't get stain all over the other pieces.

[Horsecroft88]

Really impressed with your reconstruction work on this project. It is going to look really nice once finished. Given the sides are kauri, what stain were you planning to use, given the front is cedar ? I too next need to cut the blocks for the bun feet for my chest. Given the size of the hole I need to cut, for the dowel, again how do you achieve this. That is do you have a large enough drill piece on your drill press or is this a job for the good old brace and bit. That is what I was planning on doing for mine.

[Thumbthumper]

Really impressed with your reconstruction work on this project. It is going to look really nice once finished. Given the sides are kauri, what stain were you planning to use, given the front is cedar ? I too next need to cut the blocks for the bun feet for my chest. Given the size of the hole I need to cut, for the dowel, again how do you achieve this. That is do you have a large enough drill piece on your drill press or is this a job for the good old brace and bit. That is what I was planning on doing for mine.

Thanks.

It's been a long process.

I'll be using the same stain that I used for the knobs and bun feet. I use my metho brush wash, which is just metho with a bit of shellac in it, and mix it with red and brown ochre (artists pigment) until I get to a reasonable colour.

The feet have 25mm dowels turned onto them. I'll be using a brace and auger bit. It'd be easier with a 25mm speedbore in the drill press, but where's the fun in that :wink:

[Thumbthumper]

Hi all ...

I've given the sides a rub with the ochre mix.
They should look fine under a good coat of polish.


Before and after.

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[Thumbthumper]

I've now built the top case runner/dust cover for the chest.
This has to be installed at the same time as nailing on the backboards. The runners are nailed to the backboard for support at the back.

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I should have the whole thing together tomorrow.

[Thumbthumper]

I'm getting pretty close now.

The backboards are on and the runners are working nicely.
Another half kilo of nails added :U

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I've built the foot blocks, drilled the holes, and rounded the corners of the front ones.

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Nailing on the foot blocks. I won't glue the bun feet in yet, as I need as much stability as possible when it comes time to plane the top.

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The poor old top has a fair bit of ... um ... character. I'll need to plane it because the caustic strip has bleached away a lot of the colour.
It's fairly cupped, so I'll need to nail it down before I can start.

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It was jointed very well, but I'll re-joint it because there is a lot of paint that has seeped down in the join and it's impossible to scrape or clean it without messing up the seam. It must be clean wood for the glue to hold.

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All glued up.
Next job is to nail down the top and grab out the trusty smoother.

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[Horsecroft88]

Damn fine work happening here Thumbthumper. Wish I had your workshop though for my projects.

Was most interested to see you rounded one of the corners of the your mounting blocks. Is this a traditional thing to do, or was it something you liked. I need to get this stage done on my project too, and while on my large chest I am currently finishing off I will probably keep the blocks square, for my small chest (like yours) this could be an excellent detail to incorporate. Have learnt much from your work/pictures. Thankyou for documenting this.

I also really like the colour you managed to get into your feet. Once again I take it the red ochre mix. I have only been lightly sanding my feet so far and was going to experiment with some stains, but perhaps I too should go and grab some artists red ochre to help build up colour first.

Well done with the top, I can certainly see this was needed. Starting to get close to finishing all the construction work on this project. It sure is going to be a lovely chest of drawers once more to enjoy and use. A far cry from what you started with.

[Thumbthumper]

Damn fine work happening here Thumbthumper. Wish I had your workshop though for my projects.

Was most interested to see you rounded one of the corners of the your mounting blocks. Is this a traditional thing to do, or was it something you liked. I need to get this stage done on my project too, and while on my large chest I am currently finishing off I will probably keep the blocks square, for my small chest (like yours) this could be an excellent detail to incorporate. Have learnt much from your work/pictures. Thankyou for documenting this.

I also really like the colour you managed to get into your feet. Once again I take it the red ochre mix. I have only been lightly sanding my feet so far and was going to experiment with some stains, but perhaps I too should go and grab some artists red ochre to help build up colour first.

Well done with the top, I can certainly see this was needed. Starting to get close to finishing all the construction work on this project. It sure is going to be a lovely chest of drawers once more to enjoy and use. A far cry from what you started with.

I've seen foot blocks that are square, and some that are rounded on the corners (only at the front of the chest). I have a small cedar chest that has rounded blocks, and I have a massive cedar chest that had square blocks all round. It seems to mirror the base of the chest (my large chest has a square base and my small chest has a round molded profile like this chest).

Having said this, I chose to make rounded foot blocks for this chest because I could see the age mark outline from the original blocks underneath. That made the decision simple :D

The pigment mix (which uses both red and brown) was used to colour secondary timber to emulate the cedar, which was getting scarcer.
Are your turned feet cedar? I can't quite tell in the photo.
If they are, what I would do is either coat them in a Potassium Dichromate mix and put them in the sun (a few times), or wash some 'dirty' polish over them (or both).
Potassium Dichromate is an oxidizing agent that is really good at darkening woods such as cedar and mahogany. I understand that not everyone has it in their shed :no:
If you have some old bits of furniture with original polish on them, you can scrub at them with steel wool and metho, and make a dirty polish mix. It blends cedar very well.

If your feet are pine, go ahead and purchase red and brown pigment. Mix it with metho, and make your own stain. The pigments will last for years and years.

Sorry for my rambling, I get passionate about colonial furniture and restoration techniques :B

[Horsecroft88]

I've seen foot blocks that are square, and some that are rounded on the corners (only at the front of the chest). I have a small cedar chest that has rounded blocks, and I have a massive cedar chest that had square blocks all round. It seems to mirror the base of the chest (my large chest has a square base and my small chest has a round molded profile like this chest).

Having said this, I chose to make rounded foot blocks for this chest because I could see the age mark outline from the original blocks underneath. That made the decision simple :D

The pigment mix (which uses both red and brown) was used to colour secondary timber to emulate the cedar, which was getting scarcer.
Are your turned feet cedar? I can't quite tell in the photo.
If they are, what I would do is either coat them in a Potassium Dichromate mix and put them in the sun (a few times), or wash some 'dirty' polish over them (or both).
Potassium Dichromate is an oxidizing agent that is really good at darkening woods such as cedar and mahogany. I understand that not everyone has it in their shed :no:
If you have some old bits of furniture with original polish on them, you can scrub at them with steel wool and metho, and make a dirty polish mix. It blends cedar very well.

If your feet are pine, go ahead and purchase red and brown pigment. Mix it with metho, and make your own stain. The pigments will last for years and years.

Sorry for my rambling, I get passionate about colonial furniture and restoration techniques :B


No no, your ramblings speak my language and your advice is really appreciated. I too love colonial furniture and appreciate the quality of the pieces, their construction and therefore the required techniques to restore and/or conserve such pieces. My antique collection includes a significant level of cedar furniture, the majority colonial though some victorian. My home was built in 1850 and includes a mix of cedar, baltic, huon and kauri joinery. The doors in the main part of my home are two panel but immensely thick baltic (never seen such internal doors ever). I also have a 1825/26 Regency farmhouse, which is heritage listed, was nominated for the National Estate, and a significant part of the joinery in this house is cedar, 6 panel doors, architraves, window reveals, skirtings etc. Don't get me started as I probably could write a book on the restoration of both these houses.

So to answer your question, the feet I had turned are cedar so I will go with your advice, one question though where does one obtain potassium dichromate from, apart from perhaps a laboratory ?? which I possibly could manage given my work has a comprehensive NATA accredited laboratory.

I hear what you say re the mounting blocks, on both my very large cedar chest of drawers they are/were square. Not sure re my small cedar and pine chest. Will have to investigate. But yes in this instance I totally agree with the decision you took as you have replaced what was original per the design on your chest of drawers. Might just have to invest in a spokeshave, and a decent plane or two. Mind you a decent work bench and vice equally would come in handy.

I also like the dirty polish technique. I am familiar with that process, as have used it also to blend in repairs. A bit like incorporating wood cutting particles into putty to fill holes in. So many little tricks to getting the appearance just right.

Cheers Dave

[Christos]

This has been a great read so far. What sort of shine are you considering giving this.

[Thumbthumper]

Dave,

I can only dream of home like that.
My wife and I have pretty much decided that we will retire in Hobart (sooner rather than later hopefully).

I have never bought K2Cr2O7
My FIL gave me some crystals that I have had for years. I made up a solution (dissolved in water), and have been using that.

I do notice that it can be bought online.

Potassium Dichromate Patina : Adelaide Moulding & Casting Supplies (http://www.amcsupplies.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=817_589_612_619)

It's not a very nice chemical and needs to be treated with respect. It does work well though.

If you're going to continue to restore furniture, you'll be amazed at how much you will use a plane.
A spokeshave is handy but not used as much.
You can start with a #4 plane and a few chisels. This is a very slippery slope though (see the hand tool forum) :U.

[Thumbthumper]

This has been a great read so far. What sort of shine are you considering giving this.

Thanx Christos ...

I'll be polishing this chest. Not a real deep French polish, but I'll build a fair shine. Then it will be buffed with a hard wax.

I'll give it a couple of coats of neat shellac, cut it back with a fine steel wool, then I'll pad on the shellac over the course of a week or so.

[Horsecroft88]

Dave,

I can only dream of home like that.
My wife and I have pretty much decided that we will retire in Hobart (sooner rather than later hopefully).

I have never bought
My FIL gave me some crystals that I have had for years. I made up a solution (dissolved in water), and have been using that.

I do notice that it can be bought online.

Potassium Dichromate Patina : Adelaide Moulding & Casting Supplies (http://www.amcsupplies.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=817_589_612_619)

It's not a very nice chemical and needs to be treated with respect. It does work well though.

If you're going to continue to restore furniture, you'll be amazed at how much you will use a plane.
A spokeshave is handy but not used as much.
You can start with a #4 plane and a few chisels. This is a very slippery slope though (see the hand tool forum) :U.

Cheers Thumbthumper, yes I was fortunate when I first got into the house market that I was able to buy my 1850 home for $83K !!, needless to say I have done an immense amount of work to get it into the condition it is now. Thankfully it has appreciated in value somewhat :D

The early Colonial property, kind of fell into place, we were looking around, and by chance it came available. The first time in 80 odd years. I have done a lot of research on the property and it has quite an extensive history. Again timing and having the means to buy was all about being in the right time and place. Mind you again the extent of work done, plus money spent has been significant and there is still quite a lot of work yet to be completed. But it is responding well to the care being given it. Again a great learning project in conservation/restoration. A bit like furniture, just on a larger scale.

I wish you well in your plans to come to Hobart. It is a pretty special place, especially for anyone who appreciates heritage. Thanks for the heads up on K2Cr2O7.

Ah yes given I certainly intend doing plenty more furniture restoration, its got into the blood. So yes ongoing investment in tools is planned. I am slowly starting to build up a collection of tools to help me with my projects, but a plane is a definite on the list to purchase. But I also hear you re the slippery slope.

[Thumbthumper]

I've nailed the top down and punched the nail heads fairly deeply.
I hate hitting nails with my freshly sharpened plane irons :~.

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I chose a number 3 plane for the job because of it's small footprint. It tends to ride the dips.
I don't want to take too much material off.

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There's some nice cedar under there.
I haven't finished yet. I want to take some time a do this part properly.

This is going to leave sharp edges around the top. I'll relieve these with a block plane.

[Thumbthumper]

The top's now finished.

I used a scraper plane to remove any stray smoother marks, and to clean up a little bit of tearout.
Cedar doesn't scrape very well as it can be a bit fluffy. This will clean up when the shellac is applied and cut back.
I then used a card scraper to concentrate on some difficult areas. The block plane relieved the sharp edges of the top.

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I have a range of different coloured waxes to plug small nail holes, This is just beeswax mixed with ochres.
This took some time :C

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The first coat of shellac. You could almost hear the cedar crying with joy. It's been a long time between drinks :U

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Before I start polishing proper, I'll build the missing drawer.
Here's the stock. Now I just have to get motivated.

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Cheers all ....

[Horsecroft88]

Oh yes, I can well imagine how the cedar would have been overjoyed to be treated to some shellac. Simply wonderful. Don't I know how this feels.

Great work happening here. In building the drawer will you construct using dovetails, if so I will be really interested to see this, as that is a skill I am not sure I would even know where to begin.

Looking forward to your next posting on this. So close now. :2tsup:

[Thumbthumper]

Oh yes, I can well imagine how the cedar would have been overjoyed to be treated to some shellac. Simply wonderful. Don't I know how this feels.

Great work happening here. In building the drawer will you construct using dovetails, if so I will be really interested to see this, as that is a skill I am not sure I would even know where to begin.

Looking forward to your next posting on this. So close now. :2tsup:

I've built and restored a lot of drawers. It becomes easier over time. The hardest part is dimensioning the stock with hand tools. Planing off wide boards can be a chore. Wax plane sole, plane, sharpen, wax sole, plane etc. Luckily cedar and pine are fairly soft.

I still have blisters from when I made a shelf for my entertainment unit out of brushbox. I WILL use a thicknesser and sander next time :doh:

There will be half-blind dovetails at the front, and simple 3 pin dovetails at the back.
You can see the half-blinds on the side of the drawer fronts in the picture in the first post.

I'll post a few pics as I progress with the drawer.

[Rickey Herb]

Really enjoying this thread. In the early 80's we rescued some furniture that had lino nailed to the top and painted (many coats). As we knew no better we stripped off the paint with caustic soda, stained the timber and then finished with a nice coat of polyurethane (high gloss). When I have the time (building a house at the moment) I want to do it again properly.

Great work

Rickey

[Thumbthumper]

Really enjoying this thread. In the early 80's we rescued some furniture that had lino nailed to the top and painted (many coats). As we knew no better we stripped off the paint with caustic soda, stained the timber and then finished with a nice coat of polyurethane (high gloss). When I have the time (building a house at the moment) I want to do it again properly.

Great work

Rickey

Thanx Rickey,

I'd be happy to offer any assistance I can. It can be fixed.

:U

[Rickey Herb]

Thanks Thumbthumper. I might need your advice when the time comes

Rickey

[Thumbthumper]

A few more things achieved.

I knocked the corners off the back of the drawer runners. This helps prevent the drawer from snagging. I've seen this on a lot of old drawers.
You can use a block plane, but I find a chisel and mallet is quicker.

293821

I finished dimensioning the new drawer face. It was quite cupped, so I needed to straighten it up.
Pic 1, Scrubbing with the Stanley 40
Pic 2, Flat now (I had to do this on both sides)
Pic 3, After smoothing with the number 4
Pic 4, Using the shooting board to true up the end grain with a low angle block plane.

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The new drawer front was a bit paler than the original fronts. I used some Potassium Dichromate to darken it.
The first pic shows the colour difference. This is a bit of runoff on the back of the drawer front (completely dry).
Pic 2 shows it in place to check the colour. I'm happy with this.

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I thought I had wide enough pine boards for the drawer sides, but the boards I had were a touch short.
Time to get the horse sauce bubbling.

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The sides and drawer base are drying now.
Tomorrow I'll plane them off and start the build.

[Thumbthumper]

Getting very close now.

I planed off the drawer sides, and squared them up.
Pic 3 is marking out. I'm a tails first guy. I also need to make sure the groove in the drawer front for the bottom was hidden in the dovetail.

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Cutting out the tails

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Marking out and chopping the pins and sockets.

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The result was actually better than it looks in the photo. I was able to clean out some material in the socket and it pulled together a lot tighter.
I forgot to take a picture :doh:

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Cutting the groove for the drawer bottom in the back of the drawer front.

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The dovetails in the back of the drawer are a lot less involved.

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I glued the drawer stops into the case while the drawer was apart.
I drilled two 5/8" holes for the knob and escutcheon with a brace and bit. I'm not going to install a lock.
The drawer's now together.

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While the glue was hot. I trimmed the dowels on the bun feet and glued them in.

293964

I need to put the drawer bottom in and glue in plow strips.
Almost time to start polishing.

[Thumbthumper]

Not much to see now.
It's the polishing stage.

Tools of the trade.
The clear liquid is paraffin oil, used for a bit of lubrication if required.

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Rubbing the drawer face.

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Everything's just starting to pick up a bit of shine.

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A few more days of polishing to go.

[Rickey Herb]

Top work!

[Horsecroft88]

Looking seriously good now, and think back to what it looked like when you first got it. Such a superb transformation. You might find you really like it, that it will simply have to stay rather than be sold on ! :2tsup:

[Thumbthumper]

Looking seriously good now, and think back to what it looked like when you first got it. Such a superb transformation. You might find you really like it, that it will simply have to stay rather than be sold on ! :2tsup:

I have grown quite attached to it, but I have no room for another chest.
I do need to sell it for some pocket money :C

[Thumbthumper]

Polishing polishing polishing.

Starting to build a good shine now.

295365

I temporarily added the escutcheons and knobs to see how things were looking.

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I also trimmed the bun feet to stop a bit of rocking.

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Back outside for some more polishing :(

[Thumbthumper]

Drum roll please ......

All finished. Waxed and buffed.

We've come from this ...

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To this ...

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A colleague at work saw the WIP pics and said "mine", so it's off to it's new home on the weekend.
This has had it's good moments, and the result is satisfying, but a complete rebuild like this is going to be only for stuff I really want to keep for myself in the future.

Next projects are more card boxes and a martial arts dummy (go figure) for commission.

Thanks to all who had a look.
Until next time.

Cheers,
Stu

[Rickey Herb]

Great work Stu. Really enjoyed the thread. Good to see things being rescued rather than just thrown out.

Rickey

[Horsecroft88]

Hey Stu such a great result. I am certain the new custodian of the chest will have many years of enjoyment of it. But I agree with you re such future full restorations. Much nicer to be able to keep them. Well done, have enjoyed your thread on this

[scrounger]

that's some great work & it turned out to be a lovely piece.

[restoration]

Hi Stu,
Your piece seems very similar in style (particularly the top) as the piece I'm looking at starting work on. Id be interested if anyone gave any advice on the style/possible maker?
Cheers
Matt
I'll be stoked if mine looks as good as yours ended up!

[Thumbthumper]

Hi Stu,
Your piece seems very similar in style (particularly the top) as the piece I'm looking at starting work on. Id be interested if anyone gave any advice on the style/possible maker?
Cheers
Matt
I'll be stoked if mine looks as good as yours ended up!

Hi Matt,

I've had a look at your dutchess and it looks Edwardian/Federation. I'm guessing early 1900's.
The plinth base can signify an early piece, but the mirror finials and headboard carving scream federation to me.
A lot of dutchesses had the mirror and top drawers removed, and were used as a normal chest of drawers.
I've restored a few of this type that met the same fate.

These were made these in the thousands by many makers. It is very rare to find a makers mark (especially in early pieces). A lot of them had paper trade labels which fell off after a few years.

Good luck with the resto.

Cheers,
Stu