Sewing Box Renovation...

There is satisfaction to be had when you manage to breath new life into an old object, doesn't matter what it is really, what matters is that it doesn't end up in the rubbish, I'm a firm believer in fixing something to keep it going, everything is expensive these days so not only can you save things from the bin you can save some money as well, can't be bad?

I picked up an old sewing box that was in need of attention, it was in 3 parts when I got it, the lid was detached from the main body of the box and the inner tray was missing the little wood dividers these boxes tend to have, so the first job was to fit the lid back to the box, this was easy enough once I'd located some small brass screws (of which I have many)

Next step was to sort out the inner tray, I removed what was left of the old paper lining using some warm soapy water to dissolve the old glue, kind of like removing wall paper, I did the same for the lining inside the box as well.

They tray had to be glued back together and the side pieces re-attached, again an easy enough task as the wood was in good condition, once that was done I moved on to cutting some wood into very small thin strips so I could replace the compartments the inner tray originally had, I used some old pine, which is what the tray is made from.

I've simplified the process a little to keep this short, but most of the time taken for this project was waiting for glue to set, re-lining the tray and the inside of the box and a bit of polishing and the end result was worth it.

As good as new - 

Below are the 2 short videos I did on the process - 

The end result was worth it, and now it's ready for a new home and will make a lovely sewing box for someone, so one antique rosewood sewing box with mother of pearl inlay saved from landfill, happy days.

Thanks for visiting.

 

From Ash Trays To Pin Cushions...

It's always good when you can find a purpose for an old item, it gives it a new life and saves it from the bin, which is I think anyway something we should do more of, it's not a new thing either, people have been changing things from their original purpose for many years, we tend to call it being thrifty or frugal these days, but it's not new but it is a good idea, it saves things from landfill, it save you money.

So here's something I recently gave a new life to - 

Not that useful these days.

A pair? of small brass shoe shaped ash trays with some nice engraving, they've had some colour added to the inlay as well, they are quite nice and obviously served a specific function, but these days fewer people smoke which isn't a bad thing, but what to do with a couple of old ash trays?

My first thought was pin cushions, my reasoning was that they are small and have a novelty value which is probably why they were ash trays in the first place.

To turn them into pin cushions was easy enough, all I did was get rid of the section on the back that would have held the cigarette, as these are brass I had to use my multi-tool.

Ready for modification - 

Time for some surgery.

It didn't take long to grind away the back section, I used a small sanding attachment to remove any sharp edges and that was it basically, the next step is make a cushion.

Ready for a cushion.

The cushion was made from some old red velvet as it goes well with the brass (better once the brass was polished) and stuffed it with some wadding from an old pillow, I haven't detailed the steps, but basically I stitched a sausage shape from the velvet and stuffed it with wadding, then it was glued into the shoe.

And this is what I ended up with -

I'm pleased with them.

So there we have it, a pair of quirky pin cushions, a good size for a sewing box or bag and a good use of old objects that don't really have a purpose anymore.

Thanks for visiting.

New life into an old box...

I thought it was about time I wrote a post, so here it is and as the title says I'm breathing new life into an old box, an old work box / sewing box to be precise.

Now some people will says that old pieces of furniture like this should be left as they are, and for the most part I agree but not always.

Here's the work box - 

It is a nice little work box on barley twist legs, has the added bonus of a storage drawer and a second shelf so it's useful and structurally sound although old rickety joints are easy enough to fix.

The finish or rather whats left of it is not so good, so it needs removing, which is what I'd just started to do in the picture above.

Before that I took out the old lining, now some will say I should have left it and had it been in in good condition I might have, however it had some staining same goes for the drawer lining, it also had an aroma of old so it had to go.

Removing the lining - 

Was probably quite nice in its day.

The lining came out easily enough, although it did leave some of the old card backing in place so to remove that I used a bit of warm soapy water and a scraper much in the way you do when removing wallpaper, so basically wet the card and scrape off.

Like so - 

It's a bit sticky.

The glue used can get a little slimy and sticky but I've found that it will wash off with soap and water and once done you're left with clean wood, which can be sanded and stained, or re-covered.

I also took out some of the woodwork as it needed replacing because I removed the lining.

Wood out - 

Was never meant to be seen, so they cut costs and used what they had.

With the clean up done it was basically sanding and a fair bit of it, which I did by hand and not using a powered sander the main reason is that over the years I've found the types of finishes used in the early part of the 20th century (which when the box dates to) kind of heat up with the friction of an orbital sander and once they do they clog the sanding pads quite quickly, so I just used some 80grit sandpaper and a cork block, it didn't take long and saved on materials, I could have used a chemical stripper but I try to avoid those where possible.

Top sanded back to bare wood - 

Roughly 10 minutes work.

Sanding revealed a lovely oak top, most likely quarter sawn oak, once the top was done it was just more of the same, so I started with 80grit going with the grain and once it was done I used 120grit and once I was happy it was pretty much done.

All sanded - 

Ready for some wax.

The only repair needed was replacing the wood divider that sits between the bottom of the box and drawer, I used a thin piece of reclaimed oak for that.

And it's all done -

Ready for a new life somewhere.

Once I'd sanded it I wiped it over to clean the wood and then I waxed it with an oak coloured wax which once dry I buffed to a shine, then I coated it with a clear wax and again buffed it to a shine, overall I'm pleased with the results and the box is ready to live on, it is still a useful and compact piece of furniture, some people may say it's not fashionable, it's brown furniture I disagree.

It's a lovely antique oak work box that belongs in a nice room in a house and not in the bin or on a bonfire.

Thanks for visiting.

Up-cycling an old shoe shine box...

A short video where I up-cycle an old shoe shine box into something more useful, in this case an easy to carry sewing box.

The box didn't really need much doing to it, just a new handle and a bit of sanding, I did make a small tray for the inside to add extra storage, all in all I'm happy with the results, and again another object given a new life and saved from the bin and for no cost other than a little effort.

I've found over the years that although an object might need some work the way it was built is much better than modern equivalents and was made from better materials, I guess more effort was put in to making an item that functioned well but would also last for many years and production costs were less of an issue.

Anyway the video is below.

Thanks for visiting.

Cutlery canteen up-cycle...

This is a project I completed a while ago, but I was pleased with the results and it was better than putting the box in the bin, it's worth thinking about other uses for things before chucking them out, especially when peoples finances are, shall we say stretched.

During ww2 the UK government at the time introduced the 'Make Do And Mend' campaign (amongst others) and perhaps in the world we currently live in it's something we should re-visit, anyway, below is a video I made of me re-purposing an old cutlery canteen.

Here's the video -

Turned out nicely, and had I not converted it, it would have ended up in landfill, which would have been a shame.

Thanks for visiting.

Re-purposing some old boxes...

I recently got round to doing something with some boxes I picked up a while ago, there were originally used in the printing industry, and they held monophoto negative plates and other plates.

As everything these days is digital there was a chance the boxes would have ended up in landfill, but I've given them some tlc and turned them into artists boxes, quite pleased with the end result.

You can often find things like this at car boots, flea markets and local market places and boxes are always useful and can be quite decorative, I've added some pictures of some of the boxes I've renovated at the end of this post, sometimes it's not so much renovating the boxes as it is repairing them and making them usable again, maybe repairing splits in the wood, or fixing hinges and if it stops them going in the bin then that has to be good thing, I've also found that old boxes despite any faults are more often than not better built than things you can buy these days.

Here's the video of this particular set of boxes - 

And here are some others - 

This one was an old letter box, probably from the 1950's, a lovely Oak box that just needed some tlc.

The box in the image on the right was another one used in the printing industry, this box held large glass plate negatives, it's a great size for a bookcase as you can see.

So there we are some good sturdy boxes saved from the bin, has to be a good thing.

Thanks for visiting.

Barometer renovation...

There was a time when households would have had a barometer hanging on the wall as a way to tell what the weather might do on any given day, they were also used to forecast the weather as well, in reality a lot of the barometers that were available to buy were I guess treated like a gimmick, perhaps as something one might buy if you had the money, not particularly accurate compared to the instruments used by weather forecasters, but never the less they were interesting things to own.

Most of the barometers I have renovated and repaired have been aneroid barometers, these types of barometers were invented around 1844 by a French scientist called Lucien Vidi, and whilst the movements are largely the same the cases were very varied, often wooden, but sometimes in stone, such as slate, serpentine and marble, some had wrought iron cases (which is what I call them) below is an image taken from a catalogue that dates to around 1950(ish) and although the images are black and white you can get an idea of the variety that were available.

A small selection of what was available - 

Below is a video in which I make a new case for a barometer I purchased, I think it's a better fit for the style of barometer, and I'm pleased with the overall result, including reusing wood from an old pub table and stool set that was destined for the bin, part way through the video is an image of another barometer I renovated, although all that one needed was a refresh to the teak case.

Video -

They are interesting things to own and as the variety of styles is... varied there is something to suit most tastes, and in the case of the one in the video if you have the tools you can make your own case.

Thanks for visiting.