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Antique
Clothes Chest - Before & After



After more than 100 years of use and abuse, this clothes chest was
in dire need of restoration. Construction is very low density pine, with dovetailed corners.
Finish was a clear varnish with no stain. The bottom, back, and inside had no finish at all.
Restoration consisted of knocking apart and re-gluing most joints, sanding, and filling. Minwax
dark walnut stain was used everywhere, and allowed to dry for a week. Then two coats of Deft
satin clear were brushed on with 320 sanding and 0000 steel wool between coats, then three coats
of Deft spray clear satin were applied, with 0000 steel wool between coats. Finally, 1/4" cedar
was installed in the bottom and on the underside of the lid. A heavy brass piano hinge replaced
the two door hinges on the original, and a length of black chain keeps the lid from opening too
far. Time: 3 months.
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Antique Cobbler's Bench - Before & After
 
This cobbler's bench has been in Melanie's family for a couple generations. It
was in pretty rough shape. I chose to sand the finish off rather than use chemical stripper. A
leg had been broken and some drawer joints needed regluing. All of the square strips on the work
surface were removed for sanding. The wood was very soft. Final finish was Minwax stain and
Minwax Polyurethane. Although polyurethane is hard to work with because if runs so easily on
vertical surface, I like too use it where there is likely to be wear and tear. Fall 2007. |
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Antique Regulator Clock - Before & After
 
 This
regulator wall clock was purchased on eBay for around $50 in early 2007. The mechanical
pendulum-regulated, spring-driven escapement movement took a bit of cleaning, oiling and
adjusting to get working; it can be seen in action online on YouTube. The finish as
received was in really awful shape. It took a lot of chemical stripper to remove the finish. I
removed as many parts as possible for sanding and the reinstalling. The design on the top plate
was made of copper and was in very poor shape, with parts of it corroded away, I just disposed
of it. The brass dial ring, hinges, and pendulum were wire-wheeled and lacquered. The glass is
silkscreened on the back surface. Interestingly, the clock was made in China (circa 1899), and
has what looks like a Star of David pattern on in the middle. My standard Minwax stain with Deft
lacquer clear coat was applied. Summer 2007.
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Antique Secretary Cabinet
Here is an antique secretary cabinet that was given to us by Melanie's parents
shortly after we were married. As received, it was in fairly good shape, but the finish was very
tired and stained, and most of the joints were loose. There was no glass in the door, and the
beveled mirror panel was missing most of its silver backing. We used it for many years after
just buying a piece of glass for the door.
Sometime
around 1998, we decided to refinish it. At that point the decision was made to totally
disassemble the entire secretary because all of the joints were so loose. It came apart like a
puzzle with just a few whacks of a mallet. All the pieces were stacked in a neat, flat pile and
ended up being moved twice until finally in Loveland, Colorado, in 2001, I got up the nerve to
tackle the job of assembling and finishing it. After much chemical stripping and sanding, it was
finally ready to be glued back together. Figuring out where some of the parts went was a bit
challenging, since even the edge-joined long side panels had been pulled apart. After applying
glue, squaring, clamping, and checking squareness again, the entire secretary was finally ready
for finish to be applied. I used, for the first time, a water-based stain. I'll never do that
again because it raised the painstakingly sanded wood grain terribly. A total re-sanding was
done, and an oil-based Minwax stain was applied. Minwax clear polyurethane was used as a top
coat. We found a 12" square beveled mirror tile at Home Depot that exactly fit in the original
frame. All the original hardware was wire wheeled and lacquered. Is is now our prized furniture
possession. Spring 2001.
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This
is my second-favorite picture that Melanie has made. It is made using a form of embroidery
called crewel. This
is a fairly large picture that is mounted in an 18" x 22" oak frame. I did not make the frame. |
These two counted
cross stitch pictures were done by Melanie sometime in the mid 1980s, when we lived in Arnold,
Maryland. I made the octagonal frames out of mahogany sticks that we bought at
Hechinger
(a home store similar to Lowes and
The Home Depot) that were being
sold as stakes for tomato plants.
The glass was cut
from some old window panes that had been left in the basement of our house when we bought it.
The frames are about 9½ inches from side to side. |
Two
other pictures in the country building series were complete in later years.The rectangular
oak frames for those two were purchased.

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Antique Mantel Clock - Before & After
 
 This mantel clock also is a multi-generational heirloom. It was not expensive,
but had emotional value. Melanie's parents gave it to me for Christmas of 2006, and I decided to
refinish it and return it to them the next Christmas. Unfortunately, Melanie's father passed
away from cancer last summer, but we were able to present it to her mother. I used chemical
stripper to avoid sanding to preserve the intricate and shallow engravings. As it turned out
there was a milk paint coating underneath the black paint that was hard as a rock. The case
insides and back cover are stained with a Deft lacquer topcoat. The case outside and door are
black lacquer paint. All the metal hardware was wire wheeled and clear lacquered. The dial was
replaced with on from another old wind-up clock I had, and the broken pendulum-driven mechanism
was replaced with a nice electronic one from Klockit. Fall 2007. |
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Banjo Weather Station
This banjo style weather station is an
original design that I designed and built waaaaay back around 1984, shortly after Melanie and I
were married. The wood is laminated from three layers of wood that came from the side of an old
farm house that Melanie's father tore down in West Virginia. The basic pattern was cut with a
handheld saber saw, and the the final shape was formed with files and sandpaper - a lot of work.
A router was used along the top edge for decoration. The hygrometer (top), thermometer (middle),
and barometer (bottom), along with the finial at the very top, were ordered from Klockit (they've been around for a long time - like me). All the
instruments are of very high quality. 1984ish. |
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Antique Night Stand
This antique nightstand was given to us by my Aunt Bernice, who lived in Mayo,
Maryland. Like most of our other furniture, this was used as provided for a long time before
undertaking a refinishing project. It was a pretty straightforward job. Chemical stripper
followed by sandpaper followed by stain followed by a Deft lacquer top coat. I don't recall why
I chose to use lacquer rather than polyurethane here. The drawer handle was sprayed hunter
green, which looks good against the reddish stain.
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Counted Cross Stitch in Teak Frame
Back when Melanie had more time (and better eyesight),
she made a lot of counted cross stitch pictures. This one remains her most ambitious project
ever - a large nautical map of the ancient world, fashioned after the works of famed
cartographer Gerard Mercator and titled with "Orbis Terrae Compendiosa Descriptio,"
which is, loosely translated, Latin for "A Comprehensive Description of the World." Melanie's
work was done on 22-count fabric, and measures approximately 13" by 8" (not including white
border). Such a fine effort needed a special frame, so I set about making a custom 23" by 17"
frame out of teak wood. The fancy fluting was done on my Craftsman radial arm saw with the
molding head. It was a scary operation with the sharp teeth flying while feeding that teak
through it. Teak, as you might know, is used extensively on boats because it weathers well. It
is an oily type wood that starts out life with a shiny golden patina, but turns to the familiar
gray if left unprotected in the sun. The oiliness of the wood make it extremely difficult to
glue. After numerous regluing attempts over the years, I finally mixed up some epoxy and that
has lasted the longest. No finish was applied to the wood, and more than 20 years later it still
looks fine. 1984. |
Melanie made the picture on the top for me before we were married. Before life
robbed me of my time and willingness to do such things, I used to run a couple miles every day.
I never had a dog, but the picture was a standard one from the Precious Moments collection. She
did change the hair color from the original sandy brown to black, to match mine.
The picture at the bottom was made by Melanie after were were married (May 22,
1983). Both are counted cross stitch on 22-count fabric. I made the frames using my Craftsman
table saw with a shape cutter head. If I recall correctly, the wood was standard framing 2x4
pine. |
This counted
cross stitch picture with a Christmas theme was also done by Melanie sometime in the mid 1980s.
It sports the same type of custom built mahogany frame. |
Melanie loves the seashore and sailboats, as you might
have inferred from her selection of topics for pictures and from her having had a radio
controlled Victoria sailboat at one time. It is in a 16" x
20" oak frame (purchased). |
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Melanie made this picture for her grandmother (mother's
mother), who actually sat in a rocking chair and did needlework and sewing. It is also one of
the Precious Moments series. The frame is made in the same manner as the other pine models cut
on my Craftsman table was. |
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Much more to come... |
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