Advice needed for some new projects

Given it was time to get on with some repairs to the RHS. let alone base and repolish, and as nothing much was on the box last night I got stuck in. I will post photos which shows what I had to do. First off, I needed to square off the base plinth section as this had rotted away partially and remove some old nails. You can see that at some point in the past the bottom of the chest or at least this side has been affected by dampness but regardless of that it still in reasonable condition to work with. I will need to find a suitable piece of cedar and shape to match the rest of the RHS base plinth but that shouldn't be too hard.

The base plinth is also important as in each of the four corners I am going to need to cut and fit some 100x100x20 mm cedar blocks (drilled) to enable the feet, once received to be fitted up to. More on this later.

Next off, there were two small repair sections I needed to work on. Firstly a small section of cedar had previously obviously broken away from the side of the chest and glued back in but very poorly such that it was proud of the surface. Luckily the repair was so poorly executed that I was able to lever the broken section away without damaging it, and thereafter with chisel was able to scrape away the excess glue (acquadere) and a little wood to enable the section to be re-fitted correctly. Once I was satisfied it was a simple re-glue and pin job and allowed to dry/harden. Next off I needed to cut/shape and fit a small square of missing cedar from the side, next to the other repair.

Cutting it was a little tricky as I don't have a vice to enable me to be able cut pieces precisely but I managed anyway. Looking at this repair I know I am going to need to do some slight work on this as it is a little proud of the edge/surface, but overall it should be fine. Again I glued and pined this piece also in. There are some small areas of missing wood and a few small cracks. To ensure this all looks good I will fill with cedar putty and use a little cedar stain to blend the repairs in. I will do that tonight/over the weekend.

Once I had sorted these repairs out, it was the usual thing, sanding the side back using 180, 240 and 400 papers, dusting off and then padding on around 5 coats of shellac and left to dry overnight. Again, either tonight and/or over the weekend I will continue with this polishing stage with the aim all going well of having this completed by the end of the weekend or at most early next week.

Thereafter I need to re-polish the LHS of the chest. Once these two stages are complete the final polishing job will be to the block edges and feet. So the light at the end of the tunnel for this project is certainly close. What I do with the chest once finished I am not sure, as it is far too large for home (hence I am doing the final jobs in my lounge room as dragging it down to the "workshop room" by myself was not possible). I must admit doing these final stages on the project in my loungeroom with furniture, hi fi and antique rugs is not something I would recommend to anyone. :no:

So now for the photos.

How time, work and other matters keep on getting in the way of completing this stage of the project. So having just returned from Sydney after a weekend away, I managed to do a little more work on the RHS of the chest. I fine sanded the side, using 400 grade with sanding block as for such flat surfaces I really don't want to either sand or finish this with imperfections due to pressure and/or uneven padding of shellac. Once satisfied I had the surface I wanted, which also included some harder sanding of the small repair section on the bottom corner, I stained this using some cedar stain and shellac. I ended up coating this side with about another 5 coats of shellac.

Looking at it, overall I am happy that the surface is nearly ready for steel wool and wax on wax off, but as I had to sand hard on the repair area, and try to colour match it, I am not satisfied I have blended it well enough yet. So I will give this side of the chest another cut back and again stain with cedar and work this area some more to blend it in. At least the other repair section now looks pretty good and the surface is flat, unlike when I first started work on this side of the chest.

I still also need to replace the base plinth section plus cut and fit cedar blocks for the feet to sit on, speaking of which I also havn't yet received the feet. Hopefully soon. So a couple more photos to show this next phase in polishing this side but with more work and photos to show the completed works in due course.

Over the weekend I managed to get some more completed, with the final polishing/waxing off the RHS and sanding back and shellac finishing of the LHS. I now need to get some more 0000 grade steel wool to give the LHS a final cutback and thereafter polish it.

All going well, I am told I should have the feet by the end of this week, and so it will be a push on to the final stages of this project. More photos and notes to come as I can.

Is anyone else having trouble loading photos, (hint hint Neil), as both yesterday and today it has been impossible. I even tried shrinking the photo and it still won't work. Loading photos on to this site remains my number one gripe !! :((, it is always painful and involves multiple attempts at editing, shutting down, reloading etc and mostly eventually it works.

It being a public holiday here today in Hobart (show day) and it always rains, why not get on today and finish off the LHS I figured. Anyway thankfully it didn't take too long and soon I was buffing off the bees wax. I always enjoy this stage as it means that all the previous hard work is paying off and I get to see the grain and colour of the timber shining through. I also really enjoy how it feels to one's fingers after it has been buffed.

So, not too much more and this large project will be finished and I can then put some time and energy back into finishing off the cedar box. I havn't forgotten about it, it is just that the chest being so large demanded my time and that way I can thereafter get it out of my lounge. Not sure where I will put it yet. Or at the worst case I will have to sell it.

Still, given the price I bought it for and while I will have spent say perhaps around $280 in materials and having the feet turned up, overall the total cost at less than $600 is still very reasonable for the size, condition and age of the piece. Of course in that equation I am not counting my time, which if I had to would mean my total investment in it would be say around $1100. But even if you did, I would't sell it for anything less than $2K and on a good day it possibly could fetch a little more. However, that wasn't the point of the exercise. I have enjoyed bringing this piece of Australian colonial furniture back to life so that it can be enjoyed for hopefully at least the next 100 years or more.

Anyway enough of the self congratulations, now for the photos, one of which I previously tried to post from my desktop at work, and then the 3 photos I have taken following completion of the LHS. Thankfully posting from home via my Mac laptop seems to work. Strange. Hope you all like.

So I managed to collect the feet for the chest yesterday. Am really happy with them. The woodturner has done a really superb job with the design/finish in their raw state. The design is based off the feet from a similar age chest of drawers which belongs to my brother in law. Each foot inc dowel was turned from a block of cedar. Oh and also good was that the price I needed to pay was $20 less than quoted. :D


To give you all an idea on the size of the chest and also feet, hence the issue of proportion being important I should explain. The chest dimensions are 130 cm (L) x 138cm (H) x 58cm. The top is an extra 6cm in length. Hence the feet dimensions are 13.5cm (L) x 10cm (diameter) at the widest.

Next off I will need to start experimenting with colour matching of the feet to the chest. Hence I am going to need to check out some different stains before I can apply and shellac finish. The other thing I really need to get on with is collecting some cedar I need for the mounting blocks the small repair section to complete and get this all attached to the base of the chest. This also includes drilling the holes for the dowel section of the feet to be mounted through. A brace and bit job as I don't have any drill bits of the sort of diameter required.

It is good to be gettting to the final stages of this restoration project.

These are the feet I had turned up for me for the chest, and in their raw state. Obviously in fitting them to the chest, I may need to cut the dowels down but I won't know until the mounting blocks have been cut and fitted allowing me to do a trial fit of the feet. Again if I do need to cut the dowels down this going to have to be as accurate as possible, otherwise the chest will not sit evenly on the floor.

But first off a light sanding, perhaps a little bruising in places to give them a slightly aged look and then trial staining to make sure the feet don't stand out looking too fresh in comparison with the chest. Will be interesting to see how this all works out. More photos of this process as it happens in due course.

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Originally Posted by Horsecroft88

These are the feet I had turned up for me for the chest, and in their raw state. Obviously in fitting them to the chest, I may need to cut the dowels down but I won't know until the mounting blocks have been cut and fitted allowing me to do a trial fit of the feet. Again if I do need to cut the dowels down this going to have to be as accurate as possible, otherwise the chest will not sit evenly on the floor.

But first off a light sanding, perhaps a little bruising in places to give them a slightly aged look and then trial staining to make sure the feet don't stand out looking too fresh in comparison with the chest. Will be interesting to see how this all works out. More photos of this process as it happens in due course.

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They look good.
You will need to cut the dowels, but that won't contribute to the chest not sitting flat. The dowels just need to be cut a bit shorter than the hole they are going into. The base of the feet will sit hard up against the foot blocks.
If the chest rocks, you will need to trim the tips of the feet. Not many of these old chests were made square, and chances are you are going to have to do this.
I find that a japanese saw with very fine teeth works well. You only need to trim a couple of mm off the high ones.

Thankyou, that makes complete sense and now at least I know how to manage this part of the project. Time to have a little play with some light sanding and colouring of the feet.

Hi there Dave...I'm back after a long absence from the forum, and glad to see this is still a live thread!! Will catch up on it.
Alas, before you ask, I have NOT commenced any new project yet...too many distractions!! Cheer, Lawry

Hi Lawry, mate, I too have been somewhat absent (otherwise known as MIA), so I know exactly what you mean. As far as the chest is concerned, I actually havn't quite finished it. I started work on one of the new feet I had turned up. The colour and polish looking good, but as yet I am yet to complete this or start on colouring/polishing the other feet or make/fit the base plates.

In short what happened is that I moved the chest and some other pieces out to the country property back in mid November, as it seriously was taking up far too much room in the lounge room at home. And that is about where it sits. I will shortly finish off the feet as I am taking most of January off to do some more renno/house maintenance projects, so will try and get the feet finished and with luck perhaps even fitted to the chest.

As for the cedar box it too is taking a bit of a holiday for the moment, while I have been catching up on other rennos at home etc.

As far as our projects well 2014 is all there in front of us to get on with some I guess. Cheers and Happy New Year. Dave

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Originally Posted by Thumbthumper

They look good.
You will need to trim the tips of the feet.

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Aye. I have found the best way for me to get around uneven feet/legs is to glue circles/pads of leather underneath as appropriate.

Happy New Year to you Dave, and all others on this thread!

Keep up the good work on the renos. Too damn hot here to do much work....expected 41 degrees tomorrow!! (excuses, excuses!!)

A mate has offered me his grandparents blanket box to restore..not sure of the condition, or timber, but he estimates it around 1850's 1860's. Looking forward to picking it up. His family have been icons in this area for a couple of generations, and have donated a massive amount of bits & pieces, furniture, farm equipment etc. to the local museum . Based on this I am hopeful of a nice piece to work on!! (unless its a cast-off not worthy of donating!!)

Also looking forward to seeing your progress! Cheers, L

Wow ! looking good !

Geoff