Cedar food cabinet

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Here's a small Cedar food cabinet that needs a bit of love.
It has been messed around with over the years. It was originally a two-door cabinet, but someone has changed it to a single large door. I'll leave the door as is.
The middle shelf was missing. I'll replace that.

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The front leg turnings were cut short. New tips were doweled in and turned.

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All the parts were cleaned down ready for the initial glue-up.

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The front frame is put together first.

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The back was a plywood panel. I have some old Baltic Pine lining boards that I'll clean up and use for the back.

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When I got the cabinet, the top was installed upside down (I could tell from the edge molding). I haven't had a close look at the top yet. I'm a bit worried about what I'll find that convinced someone to flip it :no:.

I'll post some more pics as it comes together.

Cheers all ...

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Stage two of the glue-up ...

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Time to add the back legs.
These were just nailed on with a dab of hide glue.
The top rail is morticed in.

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Some Kauri boards to joint for the missing shelf.
Also some Cedar shelf supports.

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The board has been notched to fit into the frame, and the end grain trimmed.

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Shelf support added ready for the shelf to be nailed down.

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Here's where I'm up to at the moment.
I'll give the frame a light polish before adding the back boards and the side mesh.

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[Xanthorrhoeas]

Great to see something resurrected like that.

David

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Great to see something resurrected like that.

David

Cheers David.

I'd love to find something like your secretaire to do up.

Maybe there's one in one of my FIL's cedar sheds?


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I'll just keep on restoring things until I unearth one :U

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Cheers David.

I'd love to find something like your secretaire to do up.

Maybe there's one in one of my FIL's cedar sheds?


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I'll just keep on restoring things until I unearth one :U

WOW - a goldmine... make that cedar mine!

Yes, I am still struggling with the finishing touches to the secretaire,having injured my leg earlier this year it is slow progress but I will post when I have finished it. Hopefully that will be in the next month.

You have a wonderful resource right there at your fingertips it seems. That lot will keep you very busy for a long time.

Finding the special pieces is just pure serendipity, but over the years I have been amazed at how many turn up. There were many more early pieces of cedar and Huon furniture produced that I originally conceived when I first started collecting in 1978. And, a lot of them have had a hard time and need your kind of skill to bring back to life. When we lived in Sydney we saw a lot of lovely stuff around Bowral, Mittagong etc. so in your part of the world. There is very little of the great quality early cedar or Huon here in Queensland, unfortunately, so that find was pure luck.

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WOW - a goldmine... make that cedar mine!

Yes, I am still struggling with the finishing touches to the secretaire,having injured my leg earlier this year it is slow progress but I will post when I have finished it. Hopefully that will be in the next month.

You have a wonderful resource right there at your fingertips it seems. That lot will keep you very busy for a long time.

Finding the special pieces is just pure serendipity, but over the years I have been amazed at how many turn up. There were many more early pieces of cedar and Huon furniture produced that I originally conceived when I first started collecting in 1978. And, a lot of them have had a hard time and need your kind of skill to bring back to life. When we lived in Sydney we saw a lot of lovely stuff around Bowral, Mittagong etc. so in your part of the world. There is very little of the great quality early cedar or Huon here in Queensland, unfortunately, so that find was pure luck.

My FIL started collecting in the early 80's I believe. It's his retirement fund.
The good pieces (pre 1850) go into his homestead, and the others get restored and 'flogged off' for some cash. But he's always happy to supply furniture for his sons and SWMBO.
His sons aren't equipped for restoration, so between him and myself, we have a lot of work to do :doh:.

I've only ever found one truly special piece in the wild. It was a Lenehan carver that I found in a house in Sydney. It's trade label dated it to 1848. My work is mostly run of the mill type stuff that I buy cheaply and put into my house or sell it off if I don't want/need it. A lot of my projects come out of FIL's 'shed'.

I understand that the really good stuff (early) is found around the early colonial settlements. I don't think QLD is particularly early.

Looking forward to the secretaire pics.
Look after that leg.

Cheers,
Stu

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Here's the top.

This was the face side which will be underneath when I'm finished.
Full of putty and it looks like someone may have spilled their whiskey on it at some stage :U. I'm not going to worry about this side.

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This will be the face side. I've already cut through a PVA glued crack (carefully to remove most of the PVA) with the bandsaw. PVA looks terrible under shellac.
I'll joint it up with hide glue.

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Problem areas.
I'll need to plug some of the nastier holes with some cedar.
Also, something has been spilled that has bleached the cedar. This is why they would have flipped the top.
I've scraped at the bleached areas and there's some good colour just underneath. I'll have to plane (or scrape) the top before finishing.

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The cover strips that hold on the mesh sides had sharp edges. They're newish additions, but were cut well and were cedar, so I'll reuse them.
I used a small hollow plane to round them over and gave them a light sanding.

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The baltic pine backboards are now trimmed and nailed on.

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I dry fitted the backboard and side panels to mark out the screw holes.
Drilled from the top and countersunk at the bottom for the screws.

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I nailed the top on prior to planing and scraping the bleached areas. The nail heads were punched well under.
I'll plug the bigger holes with cedar plugs and filler the smaller holes with coloured wax.

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The top was wet down with metho that I wash my shellac brushes in. This fills and raises the grain a bit.
I'll scrape it down once more after it's dried.

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Fixing the top, backboard and side boards.

The big holes in the top were squared and cedar plugs were cut to fit. After the glue dried, they were planed/chiseled flush.
The top had one more scraping after this.

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Here's the top after a couple of coats of shellac.

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The dovetails in the backboard were very sloppy, and had been fixed multiple times in the past. The fixes involved nails mostly :~
I want them to be a bit tighter, so I've spliced in pieces of cedar. I essentially need to re-cut the dovetails after the glue dries.

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On the home stretch now ...

[Horsecroft88]

Wow Stu, no wonder you not only have the skills to undertake such authentic restoration work but as David noted you have a somewhat rather fantastic resource of projects, and materials to be able to put these back together and give them a new life. I am seriously impressed.

While I myself have plenty of old timber and old joinery, plus a few projects, it is nothing like what you have. Worse still between my builder, my ex and my new partner they all seem to be wanting me to get rid of what I have collected. I don't, and I certainly don't wish to cut up and burn the old timber (be it Baltic, huon, oregan or even cedar) !

I am again really pleased to see the great progress on your latest projects.

In terms of colonial furniture and properties, down here in Tassie we certainly have our fair share. My country property itself, dates back to 1826 and has a lot of cedar joinery in it. These photos show what the main hall looks like, and the work I am currently finishing off on it. Sadly, I will have to sell the property very soon, such that the Ex can be happy in getting a payout. Such is life, and divorce :(

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Wow Stu, no wonder you not only have the skills to undertake such authentic restoration work but as David noted you have a somewhat rather fantastic resource of projects, and materials to be able to put these back together and give them a new life. I am seriously impressed.

While I myself have plenty of old timber and old joinery, plus a few projects, it is nothing like what you have. Worse still between my builder, my ex and my new partner they all seem to be wanting me to get rid of what I have collected. I don't, and I certainly don't wish to cut up and burn the old timber (be it Baltic, huon, oregan or even cedar) !

I am again really pleased to see the great progress on your latest projects.

In terms of colonial furniture and properties, down here in Tassie we certainly have our fair share. My country property itself, dates back to 1826 and has a lot of cedar joinery in it. These photos show what the main hall looks like, and the work I am currently finishing off on it. Sadly, I will have to sell the property very soon, such that the Ex can be happy in getting a payout. Such is life, and divorce :(

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm sorry to hear about the hurdles in your life. DON'T BURN ANYTHING!
There are many people out there who would appreciate the resources.

I just wish I was in a position to offer a fair price on your property. It sounds like my dream residence and you've done most of the hard yards.

Best wishes,
Stu

[Horsecroft88]

Hi Stu

Many thanks equally for the kind words. It is appreciated, such times to go through are never easy or pleasant.

Sadly, I know I am going to loose all around, money (and probably a lot), let alone all the time and hardwork that has been put into the old place in bringing it back to life. It has been quite a journey. In a way it is a pity that I won't get to see this project through to its completion. That would have been most satisfying.

I am waiting to see what the valuer calculates as to the value of the property, I hope at least what I paid for it 8 years ago, and maybe a little more to reflect what has been spent on it (which is quite a lot). But somehow I suspect the value will be very low. Next I need to talk to the real estate agent to see what can be done. hmn.

I also now will need to look at thinning down my antiques' collection, since I have too many for my home in the city, and also some of them are too large for home. What joy.

Anyway enough of my problems, and yes I will resist burning my old wood. I would rather sell or give it away then do that ! I certainly appreciate that others might be able to make use of what I have collected, but may not be able to keep.

Sorry re the thread hijack Stu, lets get back to the successful completion of this project. :)

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The repairs to the back and side boards were cleaned up with planes and chisels.
The pieces were polished before assembly.

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The back section glued up.

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The door only needed to be washed down and polished. I did add a beaded strip to the edge to better fit the opening.

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All finished!

Before ...

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And after ...

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I'll be moving it into the house after a waxing and buffing.
Then, I'll stock it with tins of baked beans to prepare for the zombie apocalypse :U

[Horsecroft88]

Wow Stu, that is an absolute treat for the eyes this morning. I really like how well it came up, the top is a thing of beauty and as for the shield door, and lovely turned front feet it is a treasure. Well done on taking this one inside. It deserves to be enjoyed. Looking forward to seeing more of your restoration projects as you get around to them.

Cheers Dave

[hiroller]

Lovely work.
What did you use for the side mesh?

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Lovely work. What did you use for the side mesh?I used the tin mesh that came with the cabinet. I'm pretty sure that it was a fairly recent replacement as it was clean and straight. I've seen some very battered, grubby and rusty mesh on old food safes.It can be bought. The FIL has a huge roll that is used for restorations.