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Antique Trunk

7K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  BobWill 
#1 ·
When Mrs. Kenbo was a child, she had a toybox/trunk. Over the years it has become weathered and worn. The handles broke and the old steel wheels that were imbedded in the trunks base did nothing more than damage our floor. She asked if there was something that we could do with it and together, we worked on restoring the trunk to a more appealing state. We didn't want to take away any of the old character of the trunk so we tried to leave as much of the original structure as possible.

This is the before...............


Chest Trunk Baggage Wood Furniture



Machine Machine tool Chest Metal
 
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#2 ·
And this is the after.....

A new false bottom was constructed and secured to the bottom of the trunk to house the new rubber wheels. A second hand leather belt from the local thrift store was used to replace the old broken leather handles.


Chest Trunk Box Furniture Antique



Several coats of flat black, oil based paint was applied to the trunk after sanding all of the old orange paint.

Chest Furniture



And lastly, several coats of high gloss varnish was applied to all the existing wood after some sanding to finish it off.

Chest Furniture Box Hardwood Wood


A joint effort by myself and Mrs. Kenbo. She's happy to have her trunk back. :thumbsup:
 
#5 ·
The original finish on the wood was not removed. The wood was only lightly sanded to give the varnish something to adhere to and it was never sanded down to bare wood. The original finish is still there. The orange colour also isn't original. It was just ugly. This particular piece doesn't have any value whatsoever (other than sentimental for my wife) and the goal was to make it look a little better without making it look new.
I agree, however, that if this was an antique with any value whatsoever, that reconditioning would be the way to go. :thumbsup:
Ken
 
#8 ·
Thanks guys. I actually had the original fastener tucked away. I decided to take the before photos after I had already removed one of the handle pieces. All of the original nails that were used in this trunk were square nails and I was able to save and reuse all of them as well.
 
#10 ·
Good looking project Kenbo. :thumbsup: My daughter had acquired a trunk several years ago and was going to fix it up and I just found out about a week ago that she put it in the burn pile on their farm. :furious::censored:. Now I have to start over, but your work gives me a guide line to go by. Hopefully it will be a toy box for our Granddaughter.
 
#15 ·
Thanks Bri. It used to have steel wheels that were embedded right into the wood. They basicall tore the living heck out of anything that they rolled over. By building and installing the "toe kick" at the bottom, I was able to installed a set of 2" rubber casters to make it a little more mobile.
If I get the chance tomorrow, I will take a picture of the old "wheels" to show what they used to be like.
 
#19 ·
I wish it was some exotic woods. I'm not even sure what type of wood it is made out of. But other than the trim that was varnished, the entire wooden trunk is covered with metal. Almost like a galvenized metal but I'm not sure. It's the strangest thing. If it was osage orange and ebony, I think that I would have told my wife that it wasn't worth redoing and that it should just be trashed. Who knows what treasures I could make from that wood. :yes:
 
#22 ·
Coming from a Harley guy

That was Allis Chalmers orange anyway...no loss! Nice Work!
I'll say this about you Kenbo, you always put your heart, soul and mind in everything you do and it shows! :thumbsup: bill
 
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#24 ·
Ken, Nice job! I'll bet the Missus is quite pleased.

Man there is nothing like your childhood toy box. My Dad had told me he would make me a toy box when I was a wee little tyke and then proceeded to make a trunk to store some tools in. I was convinced that it was MY toy box and claimed it. Dad let me have it and I have used it for everything you can imagine over the years. Made out of plywood and trim salvaged off of a job and I wouldn't sell it for $10,000.

Thanks for the post.

John
 
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