Cedar blanket chest redone

[Jeff]

A 1940-1950s "Cavalier" chest made by the Tennessee Furniture Co. in Chattanooga, TN. They advertised it as Tennessee Red Cedar but it's just regular ERC found everywhere.

It was finished with so much shellac over the years that it looked like it had been dipped so it had a "plastic" appearance. Really ugly! Stripped and refurbished. The exterior is sprayed Zinnser Seal Coat shellac and the interior is Giles & Kendall Cedar oil to refresh the wood for storage of blankets, sweaters, etc. The interior has soaked up the G & K oil like a sponge so it was thirsty. It smells like real cedar now.

I'm going to add a leather strap as a lid opening stop.

My buddy remembers this chest at the foot of his parents bed for as long as he can remember. He's now 62.

 

[zdorsch]

Looks great!

 

[bobby g]

Nice job Jeff! Looks great.

bobby g

 

[Canuck]

Great restoration! :eusa_clap

Wayne

 

[TracyP]

Beautiful.

 

[AlexSwansboro]

Looks great. What did you do to strip it?

 

[Weekendworrior]

Awesome job on that thing Jeff.

 

[Jeff]

Looks great. What did you do to strip it?

I guessed that it was shellac because of the age and thick brushed on plastic appearance. Voila, I got lucky! I really didn't want to resort to "Tuff-Strip" and straight DNA is much easier to work with. After a 2x treatment it was some cleanup with brash brushes, sandpaper, and a card scraper.

My original post with pics and description was on 7/23/13. See the "Similar Threads" section at the bottom of this page. I would have attached the direct link but can't figure out how to do it.

 

[MagGeorge]

Beautiful work on that meticulously restored blanket chest.

 

[LeftyTom]

You. sir, are a successful stripper..or is that your cat's name?