Posted 10 years ago
everydayss…
(2 items)
I call this one the "Wedding Trunk". I restored this for a nice lady who gave it to her son for a wedding present. It is a smallish dome top, 30" long, tin covered with a raised floral pattern. The before picture shows that it was in fairly good shape for being way over 100 years old...I believe it dates to around 1880...the front latches are patent dated July 9, '72. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning the wood slats and the floral tin areas. Bleached out the wood and scrubbed it with a stiff brush to remove all the dirt, grime and stains. Same with the tin. The floral tin areas cleaned up nicely. I mixed up a concoction of paint to match the highlighted floral areas and touched up the portions where the paint had worn or rusted. After the touchup was completed I clear coated all the floral tin areas. Next step was to sand all the black tin areas smooth and removed all the rust. I then masked off the wood slats and floral tin areas and spray primed the black tin area. When the primer dried I spray painted with satin black. I took a little artistic license and added some gold highlight to the rosettes and the slat clamps to jazz it up a bit....also added a metal lid lifter that was originally leather. The interior is cedar wood. I modified the original tray (had to resize it to fit the cedar lined interior) and used cedar on the tray bottom. Final touch was a plaque of the bride and groom that is attached to the inner lid. Their heirloom should last at least another 100 years!
I'm wondering how you prepared the grooved wood for restoration. Or perhaps it is replaced? Thanks for your advice. This is very beautiful work.
Thank you for the kind words trunkingforfun. The wood slats were not replaced. I spent a ton of time cleaning them with a mixture of bleach and detergent. Scrubed them good with a stiff brush (not wire) and let it dry for a couple of days. Next came hand sanding with 220 grit sandpaper then fine steel wool. I coated the slats with 3 coats of tung oil with steel wool sanding between coats. Again, thank you for your comment.
Can I ask what detergent you recommend and the dilution with bleach? Also, can you tell me the name of that type of latch? Is it tension loaded or just a slide catch? Thanks again.
The cleaning mixture is not exactly scientific.....I use a large bowl half filled with hot water. I add about 1/2 cup of bleach and a few dashes of "Bon Ami" powder cleaner....enough to make some suds....adjust as needed! The reason for the use of bleach on this trunk was to remove / lighten dark stains on the slats. The latch is a slide catch latch. The latches on this trunk are original....replacement latches can be found on :
http://www.brettunsvillage.com/trunks/howto/parts/1872hasps2.jpg
Thanks for the info and inspiration. I'll get right on it after the holiday...
You are more than welcome...would love to see some pictures when you complete it. Happy Holidays !
Finished the scrubbing and now will have to sand before the steel wool. There are some pretty rough spots. I have been on the lookout for one handle end cap to match as one was missing and just today found it on eBay. Hope I "win" it. Ha! Happy new year!
I found a trunk very similar to this one in my mothers attic recently. It has the same metal hardware and floral print. Do you have any information on who the manufacturer is or the date of manufacture of this type of trunk? I found a copy of an old Virginian Pilot Newspaper dated April 26, 1899 inside the trunk. My mother bought this trunk at an antique shop in VA several years ago. I am very curious about it. Wish these old trunks could talk!