The 100 year old Kitchen Cabinet

Beautiful cabinet! I’ll bet that looks fantastic in your kitchen.

There was a similar cabinet in my parent’s basement when I was growing up, and it hadn’t been terribly abused. Unfortunately, the basement got five feet of water from Hurricane Agnes in the early 1970s and the cabinet just crumbled. The only thing that we salvaged from the basement was a six-foot-long wood chest that had been in my grandparent’s kitchen when my father was growing up. The lids show the wear of children’s butts since dad and his brothers used it as their seats at the table. That chest is now in my dining room.

-- John, co-owner Sawdust 'n Stitches

That my friend is STUNNING! My wife also likes that type of thing. I’m no letting her see this.:)

wow, heck of a restoration! :)

-- Adventure? Heh! Excitement? Heh! A Woodworker craves not these things!

if she’s happy….all LJ’s are happy! :)

-- George..." I love the smell of a workshop in the morning!"

Wow, I bet it’s worth more than the $8.95 price in the catalog! Do you have any pictures from before the restoration?

-- Cody Crisp - http://www.ruggedcrosswoodworks.com

Very nice restoration.

Welcome to LJs.

CtL

-- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."

I’m embarassed to admit, I didn’t take any “before” photos.

Boy, do I feel stupid!

d

-- If a man says something in the forest and there's no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

From the advertisement ad it looks like it was quartersawn oak.

oh to have this in my kitchen!!!!!

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Ms Deb, I’ve got a oak kitchen Hoosier with flour sifter and frosted pattern glass doors. It needs to be refinished, but the good part is that it was never painted. Someday I need to either refinish it or sell it, it’s been sitting in the basement for 20 years. I have another one that is oak and was painted and not quite as nice that I refinished back down to the bare wood, stained, and finished about 15 years ago, that sits in the kitchen now. I guess the reason I never got around to refinishing the other one is I want to do it when I feel comfortable enough to do it without damageing the frosted glass. I have refinished alot of old furniture over the years, so it’s not that refinishing is the problem.

you have a kitchen Ms Debbie well I wish I had a kitchen my wife cooks out of an old cardboard box.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Beautiful work Don, I like the old toaster on the top it fits nicely. Exactly how many tools is a restoration like that worth to the wife?

-- Paul Sayre Creativity is a drug I cannot live without. Cecil B. DeMille (1881 - 1959)

Woodchuck,
I know the illustration in the catalog looks like oak, but the actual unit is maple where it shows and poplar inside and underneath.
Refinishing furniture with glass parts shouldn’t be any different from other refinishing projects. Just remove the glass first. Look carefully in the back of the glass where it’s fastened. Variously you may find clips, moldings or whatever that can be gently removed. In the rare case where the glass was glued in with caulk, it needs to be cautiously sliced with a sharp carton knife. Work slowly and be careful. In the event that the glass breaks, a good glass shop will be able to match it with new stuff.
If you can, take a close up photo of the glass where its fastened in and post it here. I think many of us would be able to give some good advice about removing it.
Paul,
Marge buys me tools all the time. If she bought me another major tool I’d have to sell something to make room for it.
Remember, the Outback has to be garaged EVERY night! ;-)

d

-- If a man says something in the forest and there's no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

The glass is held in with 1/4” oak molding, nailed. I know it’s probably going to be a slow process, but then again maybe not, I don’t know yet. But I do know that the glass would be fairly expensive to replace, there is a pattern that is etched into the glass, and if I can’t get one panel of glass to match perfectly, color also, then I’m pretty much committed to replaceing all 4 panels.

Woodchuck.. be still my heart!
I saw a cabinet at an antique store. The wanted $1200 for it.

Scotsman: I count my blessings every day.

This is a cabinet that I do have. It was my parents (when they had only boxes for a kitchen). It’s really “cheap” but it’s family history. It was cut in half at one point and has been in my basement for years. When I started gathering antique items for my kitchen I brought it up from the basement and cleaned it up as best as I could.

If only I had donbee’s skills to rejuvenate it.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Kitchen Hoosiers aren’t cheap, thats for sure.

I have refinished a few these in my career, and you did a great job on this cabinet. most of the one’s I have had the pleasure of working on have been in bad repair much like the one you have. nails holding joints together glue on top of glue, and many coats of paint. rusted flour bins and hardware. but I manage to bring all but one of them back from the edge. the one I didn’t still gets used as a plant stand by my in laws and they love in its present state. Once again, fine job, they are alot of work to restore but well worth the effort.

Joey

-- Joey~~Sabina, Ohio http://sleepydogwoodworking.blogspot.com/

Debbie, Don’t be afraid of it, you can do it!
Take apart what comes apart and reglue or refasten whatever came apart but shouldn’t have.
Then strip or sand the old finish and put on new stuff. It really is as simple as I just said.
Having said that, I do emphasize that making new wood parts may be beyond your skill level, but find someone to partner with for that.
I feel very strongly that this project is very do-able.
Jump in there, Debbie!
Just do it!
Best regards,
Don

-- If a man says something in the forest and there's no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

Well thanks for thinking that I can do it….. I’d be so afraid of it all falling apart.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Well, if it all falls apart, believe it or not, THAT’S GOOD!
Howcome?
You will then have the opportunity to put it all back together again with fresh glue. It will be like a new piece, then.
Come on Debbie, don’t let this hunka wood buffalo you!
d

-- If a man says something in the forest and there's no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

Nice work on that Don. You do good stuff.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

Beautiful job on this piece. Both you and your wife should very pleased the way it came out. Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

yah.. well…. when it starts to wobble, I’ll take it apart and fix it up :)

and i’ll be looking you up for tips! :)

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I just seen this. Wow. It’s really nice. You did a very impressive job with it.

-- Janice

Thank ya’ thank ya, thank ya verra much.

-- If a man says something in the forest and there's no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?

That is a project. I got an old Sears Book. I will check and see if one like it in there. I’ll try and find the book that my Dad had tomorrow.

-- Mike, VT