Slightly off topic: refinishing 100+ year old drawers

[aquan8tor]

This is a little off the topic, but I thought people in this forum might appreciate it. The dresser drawers in the pics are from a piece I was recently given after my great uncle passed away. He was 97, and full of life until the last couple days of his life.

After taking one look at the dresser, I knew it had been gorgeous, but time had taken its toll. You can see the cracked varnish over the veneer that was masking the true beauty beneath. I used Formby's Conditioning Refinisher which has a combination of petroleum distillates and "conditioning oils" that are supposed to help remoisturize the wood. I didn't want the veneer cracking up when I rubbed and sanded it. A couple spots had been damaged many years ago, but I wanted to do as little damage as possible. After drying thoroughly, I applied a couple coats of tung oil to add some shine. I may add a coat of poly at some point, but plain oil is fine for now.

The pictures start several hours into the project. I thought about pictures after I'd already finished a drawer and a half. I should've taken a picture of the pile of rags, steel wool, and wet/dry sandpaper I went through. Worth the work, though. I had the day off last Friday, so I made good use of it.

110 through 114 are in various stages of sanding and steel wool varnish removal.

 

[aquan8tor]

a few more pics of the finished drawers. I ended up having to use a buffing wheel after my hands got tired from polishing the brass; I thought they were bronze until I got the grime off.
The last pic is just a hike I went on the last time I was in southern PA; strawberry hill nature area near Gettysburg.

 

[aquan8tor]

woops. dunno how that happened. Here are the pics that should've been in the last post.

 

[woodshop]

Beautiful wood. I often get asked to "refinish" an older antique piece of furniture, and I almost always say no because you can easily ruin the worth of one if you don't do it right. I like the burl figure in those drawer fronts. Lot of work cleaning up brass like that. I'd like to see a full pic of the piece, the whole thing.

 

[dustytools]

Nice looking project aquan8tor. I really enjoy all of the so called "off-topic" woodworking pictures that folks post in here. Keep em coming. Thanks.

 

[aquan8tor]

Beautiful wood. I often get asked to "refinish" an older antique piece of furniture, and I almost always say no because you can easily ruin the worth of one if you don't do it right. I like the burl figure in those drawer fronts. Lot of work cleaning up brass like that. I'd like to see a full pic of the piece, the whole thing.

That's going to take some time.....I've only done the drawers so far. I've got to find another lazy day off to do the rest of it, and that won't be for a while. I'll definitely post it when I'm done though. Thanks for the compliments guys. It feels good to show off your hard work.