Late 1800s Trunk Restore

Great Job!! What type of wood?

-- -- Remember, a chip on the shoulder is a sure sign of a woodturner.

thanks alot. it was made of pine

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com

That is amazing, i would just get so frustrated that i would make a fire and invite the neighbors for a barbecue :D
(simplest solution :P)

-- My signature is awesome.

it came out very nice … now it should last for another hundred years

welcome to lumberjocks

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Ron, Fantastic job. I have one in my basement that looks exactly like that one. (the before pictures). Do you have an idea when it was built?

thanks for all the comments. Loucarb… im not exactly sure when it was built, through research i found one similar to it with the same decorative hardware and it was built around the 1870s. The lady i restored it for was gonna try to find out more about it and let me know but she never called me back about it

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com

Beautiful!!

Nice leather work, too!

I am curious, what was frustrating about the job?

Man! Hats off to you, sir! I’ve got two of my Great Grandmother’s trunks that have been starting to “crowd” me for the last week or so. Wouldn’t know where to begin. Did you disassemble completely? That sounds like an awful headache, keeping track of everything. I’m missing hinges on one and some of the locking hardware, the trays fell apart and got tossed about a half century ago, the outside cloth is stained but retains the original shipping stamps and stickers from pre-1920 travel from France- how the heck would I retain those? Ugh!! It makes my brain hurt!!
My thoughts are going towards building a sort of upside-down cradle to rest on top of the domed one, to make a level surface for a heavy sheet of glass. Voila! Instant coffee table! The flat topped one is actually in use containing all the family photographs.
Again, excellent job Ron on what, to me, is a more than daunting task!!

-- Mike in Manchester, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.

just the whole process. this was one of those few jobs where everything goes wrong and doubles your work

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com

VERY nice job…is it for sale?...:-)...haha

-- Randy, Allen Texas

good job and hard work

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

not for sale. hehe i done it for a customer. thanks

-- BlueMillWoodworking@gmail.com

I have 7 trunks and counting.I love the history and if thay could talk :)

-- Roger,N.Y.

You did a nice job on the trunk. Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

The best done projects are never easy to do. Congratulations on a beautiful result.

-- Mike, American in Norway

Hey Ronnie, your customer should be very happy with that fine end result.

-- I will just keep doing it till I get it right.

Beautiful job, Ronnie! I have a very similar trunk that is in need of restoration as well, and my mother holds about a dozen more in similar condition!!!

I would love to read a blog about how you actually performed the restoration.

-- "The German is like a willow. No matter which way you bend him, he will always take root again." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn -

Wow this came out sweet. The end result was worth every moment of restoration. The detail and color will make a great conversation piece. I once saw one used as a coffee table retrofitted with a glass top, just a idea. Nice project enjoy and thanks for posting …Blkcherry

very nice, what a stunner… timeless

-- James, Bluffton, IN

A fantastic looking chest. Now are you going to distress it to make it look like it came to you.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †