Refinishing day in the workshop at Fort Kickass. Two small projects.
The first is a wooden case that originally held an old radio speaker. It was dirty and worn with cracks in several places. I stripped the old varnish off and glued her back together. The grain of the walnut was so pretty once I cleaned her up I didn't even bother to stain or oil the case, just put a clear coat on. This is going to be a Christmas Themed project once I am done with her, so stay tuned for her to reappear again in the future 😄🎄
Next is an old tiger oak, finger jointed wooden card file box. Weiss and a few other makers produced these, and similar pieces, as common office equipment for many years. This was before thinner metal and plastic materials replaced oak and other woods due to cost.
I needed a box to keep remote controls chair-side in the living room and thought this would do nicely. The hinges on this were pretty typical trash and prone to coming loose and wobbly. It does have a nice brass piece that holds the lid open at 90 degrees, so I kept that piece intact while replacing the hinges with a short piano hinge and adding an old sash lift to the front to make it easier to open the lid one handed. Aside from that she was in OK condition so I just stripped off the old dirty varnish and refinished with a natural teak oil and a clear coat.
