A member over at IAP email me a picture of a pen he made from Antique Heart Pine blanks I've been selling over there. I really think this pen looks cool and I don't know why but it makes me think of a piece of candy.
Anyways I thought it was pretty cool so I figured I would post it.
Thanks
It was easier to replace the entire leg than to replace the missing foot. A circular saw was used to cut a groove on the face of the old leg, and a chisel to remove it. The old glue joints were easy to break apart.
This is my second furniture restoration project. At this stage, it doesn't look like the piece will ever amount to anything. If it wasn't a family heirloom I would have.... (fill in the blanks).
The drawer construction has dove tail joinery. The material used to construct the drawers was not as impressive - rough, and un planed wood. A lot of elbow grease, sanding, and Shellac, and they look and smell, good!
Initial efforts to remove all that varnish from the wood carving was not working. I was thrilled to discover they could be removed with a sharp putty knife.
This was my Grandparents turn-of-the Century Oval Mirror Dresser. I remember it in their house in the 50's and 60's. The hardware is original. A little cleaning and it looks almost new. Restoration was completed October 2004.
This was my Grandparents turn-of-the Century Oval Mirror Dresser. I remember it in their house in the 50's and 60's. The hardware is original. A little cleaning and it looks almost new. Restoration was completed October 2004.
And now for "The rest of the story". The dark spots on the top look like ink. The discolored wood is soft, and the discoloration is very deep in the wood. I believe this is why Grandma used the dark varnish! My only recourse was to make a new top.
Note how heavy the old varish is. A lot of my Grandparents furniture had the same old dark color. My Aunt told me this was how they did spring cleaning; Grandma just put on another coat of varnish.
This is the original bevel glass oval mirror. You can see the black streaks where the silver has worn off during the years, but that just adds more character!
There was a purpose for the old dark varnish - I'll explain later! This is what the dresser looked like when I was a growing up. I can still see it in Grandma & Grandpa's bedroom. Stripping this old varish was not fun! What was fun however, was the time spent thinking about my...