Stage 5: Varnish

After the glue dried, we moved the chest into a safe location where it could live for a while without being disturbed. I had originally intended to stain the walnut portions of the chest with a natural stain to make its color pop, but decided instead to use Old English dark wood oil. The oils from the stain would have penetrated just as well, but we thought we'd get a much richer effect from the Old English. We taped off the veneer to make "staining" hassle free and applied several coats, until the wood began to refuse the oils. We then buffed, let it sit overnight, and came back in the next day to repeat the process.

Some scuffs and areas that were damaged beyond repair are still visible, but do little to tarnish the overall appearance of the piece. I altered my plans again for the varnish on the cedar - I had planned on mixing stains to give us the classic cedar orange you might find in antique furniture, but found an amber shellac that was already the desired color. I removed the tape and applied a few coats, sanding in between, then began the process of sealing the entire chest with a poly coat.

For some reason (whether it was just a bad can or old I don't know), the shellac I was using wound up drying too rapidly and was going on gummy, which made it incredibly difficult to spread. The result was a varnish that was goopy in places and was difficult to sand without it gumming up the sandpaper. To add to the noise, the poly I used reacted with the shellac and gave the varnish a finish that was smooth to the touch, but scaly underneath. My theory is that as the poly dried, it didn't have enough of a tooth to bond to the shellac and it wound up pooling.

I was dissatisfied with what happened to the varnish, so I took a few hours to sand it away and start over on the lid; I wasn't worried at all about the trim. This time I used a relatively fresh can of amber shellac that spread much more smoothly and evenly, and instead of using a poly coat (which the can actually warns about) went back over with a few coats of clear shellac. Presently we're waiting on cure time. The last of the varnishing will be to finish out with a clear coat or two more, then apply cedar oil into the interior to reactivate the wood and prevent any more cracking. Otherwise we're just about finished!

Work Time: 8 Hours
Total Time: 40 Hours

Stage 4 Cont: Veneer Replacement (pt 3)

Now, I won't bore you with the details of sanding down the lid, but would like it noted that to prevent accidents or irreversible mistakes, we used 220-grit sandpaper on the orbital sander pictured here. Sanding out the black marks took quite a bit of time and required a good deal of patience, but we eventually got them sanded out and got all the pieces of veneer flush and down to the same thickness. The more I sanded the more the wood began to shine.

Work Time: 1.5 Hours
Total Time: 32 Hours

Next on the list was getting the veneer for the trim cut down and prepared to attach. After consulting with some of the shop hands, I decided to go on and use the same type of wood from the lid instead of going for a tri-color look using the redder veneer I had cut previously. To get our corners right, we took our longest piece of veneer (which was just barely long enough) and shaved one end down to a 45º angle. We held that board up to the front of the chest, then marked it on the other end to cut another 45º. As for the pieces on the sides, we cut them long from another board then cut a 45º on the end.

Once we matched up our corners, we set aside the piece that was to be the front to prepare to trace the pattern on the backside. To make life easier, we laid the chest on its back and propped it up on a 2x4 to give us room to play - since we left the side veneer long we needed the room. We laid the front board down on the face and traced the pattern on the back, then cut it out on the band saw.

After finding some 1x4s that we cut to size (which worked perfectly, as the veneer is only 3-1/2" wide), we painted plenty of glue on the chest and laid our pieces on. Using the C-clamps actually made the process a little bit of a challenge; because of the way they function, the clamps would move the veneer on the final crank. We got everything "close 'nuff" and left it to dry overnight. When gluing, we were sure to put a bead along the corners to prevent any pulling or them getting kicked away from each other down the line. No mistakes this time!

Side note: To get the bubbles out of the lid's veneer, we ran a syringe up underneath the pockets to literally inject watered down glue into the trouble spot.

Work Time: 3 Hours
Total Time: 35 Hours

Stage 4 Cont: Veneer Replacement (pt 2)

After allowing the front of the chest to set, we began to apply the veneer to the rest of the lid. Before painting on an even coat of glue and cinching the pieces tight (above), we laid all our veneer down to make sure all the pieces butted up evenly. Where they didn't, we took a block of 100-grit sandpaper and lightly sanded the toes off to get a true edge. Once satisfied, we painted on a good layer of glue and started the process of applying the veneer. As you can see, the wood sucked up the moisture in the glue, which caused it to curl. To combat this effect we kept pressure on the curled edge until the glue got tacky and we could continue to work.

In order to prevent seams or visual gaps between the pieces of veneer, we laid each piece down and drug it towards the front of the chest, causing the glue below not only to spread more evenly over the backside of the veneer, but also to come up between the pieces and seal the seams, where we were sure to wipe down the excess. Sadly, one of our pieces cracked in the handling, and to prevent further damage, we filled the crack with glue before applying to the chest.

With all the pieces glued on, we used masking tape to make sure the edges remained butted up together. We also applied stage weights to keep the veneer from picking up, and you can see where we needed to put a bar across the back to prevent the back of the veneer from picking up like it wanted to - even under weight. When we returned and removed our hardware, we noticed where the stage weights had left some nasty black residue on the wood where the glue had come up between the cracks (below). There were also some places along the edges where the veneer had pulled away from the chest some and we should have (though we didn't know it at the time) put another bar with clamps to give it some pressure. The places marked with tape are where the bubbles were, and there are a few on the other side as well.

Additionally, where the adhesive got too wet in the front bubbled up as well. We have plans to inject all these areas with wood glue using a hooked syringe when the time is right. For now we press on to begin sanding and cut veneer for the trim along the bottom.

Work Time: 2.5 Hours
Total Time: 30.5 Hours

Stage 4: Veneer Replacement

And finally we return to shaping the veneer on the lid. After soaking the piece for the roll off in hot water, we clamped a spare piece of wood across the front to hold the veneer on tight. With a heat gun and wet rag we tested the ability of the veneer to bend, and once we were sure it would work, removed the piece and applied glue with a brush to the chest lid. Then we worked slowly to reheat the veneer and shape it to the chest. Our foreman shared a nugget of knowledge with me: when using this technique, as the moisture leaves the wood, it absorbs the glue. We've left it to cure over the weekend and will return to finish cutting and gluing the rest of the pieces on the lid and sides. Once we get all of those attached we'll be able to stain and apply a poly coat!

Work Time: 1.5 Hours
Total Time: 28 Hours

Stage 3 Cont: Bells & Whistles

With the trim completed, the next step is to cut the rest of our veneer and start the replacement process. But, as is becoming a trend in the process, when I opened the lid at one point in the process I found another little bit to be fixed.

Down in the corner where the original cedar veneer on the inside of the chest had dried, it had cracked and was pulling away from the body of the lid. Since it was still attached at the seam, I took a box cutter to the bottom to prevent it bubbling and cracking once I clamped it down. The veneer was then peeled back some with a tool while carpenter's glue was applied to the inside using a paintbrush. Then we placed a wood block up against it to keep it flat while gluing and clamped it down tight. It was a very easy fix and one that was more mildly irritating than it was truly displeasing. While the glue dried here, we moved back over to the table saw to cut a new board for the veneer in the same fashion as the previous pieces. I purchased this lumber solely to do the veneer along the bottom of the chest, but because I had cracked (see Stage 2; Setback) one of my original pieces and feared the same wood would yield the same results, I decided to go with the new veneer for the complete project. Plus this way the coloration would be consistent (and I actually like this new board better). It's a near perfect board; no knots, which removes the obstacles in the curvature on the lid.

It's the same old story as far as cutting the veneer goes. You can find the process we used in Stage 2: Repair & Replacement. This time, however, I managed to get a picture of how we plan for the wood grain to come out on the lid. The patterning is of course a matter of personal preference, but I chose the wood I did because I knew it would yield these nice white lines that would give us some nice color variation.

Since I got the idea to replace my coffee table with this piece of furniture (protected of course), I wanted to be able to move it easily when it's filled. As it was, the chest itself was relatively heavy and would be a burden to move even by "walking" it one way or another so we salvaged some old casters and attached them to the underside using scrap lumber for spacing.

The black pieces were cut to size and attached to the underside of the chest using wood glue and screws. Special care was taken when drilling pilot holes not to puncture the chest floor. Next we attached squares of 1x6" boards to which we could mount the casters. Once we got it on the floor though, we only had about 1/8" clearance, which is fine for concrete and hardwood floors, but doesn't do much good for my carpeting. To get some more clearance, we removed the casters and reattached them after putting on an additional 1/2" spacer. 

Work Time: 4.5 Hours

Total Time: 26.5 Hours

Stage 3: Back to the Drawing Board

After a long semester, I finally found the time to bring the chest back into the shop. Now that we're not pressed and I'm not trying to rush through finishing it, I can take my time fixing it up and pay attention to details. And boy are there details. It's like the more I work the more I find work to do.

Once we got the chest loaded back in to the shop I realized (as I hadn't paid the back any mind) that the backboard had been broken off and the cleats in the corners were coming loose. I removed the cleats, and sanded down where the original glue was. One of my colleagues brought an interesting point to light - that the glue used on this chest, vintage as it is, was probably an animal glue and being made from fats and natural oils could probably be loosened using a heat gun. I thought I'd use this method in a pinch, but the glue was so dry it sanded away easily. After cutting a fresh backboard and new cleats, I attached them to the underside of the chest using short screws, wood glue, and brads.

I followed the original glue line from the factory installment of the backboard's cleat, but realized once I attached it that the factory line wasn't flush with the back side of the chest. I've ignored it for now, but I'll be returning to this problem area once I get closer to finishing the project. It's on my list, but as of now it's not a primary concern. The plan is to remove the pieces, patch the screw holes with wood putty, and reattach. Next on my list, though, is removing the veneer along the bottom; again, since I had time to perform a fuller restoration, I decided to pull off that cracked stuff and replace it with nice cedar. The piece I picked out had more variety in its color patterns and no knots, and we'll be using it for the top while saving what we had originally cut for the bottom.

As you can see at left, the veneer has been removed, but we were still missing a piece on the upper left hand corner. This is another one of those pieces we didn't notice until we started turning it all around. To match the wood on the opposite side, we used a salvaged piece of poplar that shared a coloration in the grain. The poplar we used didn't have quite the same color, as the original wood has been weathered, but we plan on matching them using a stain to tie it all together. Once we got all these pieces on, we went ahead and flipped it over to start thinking about how we were going to cut a new piece of cedar.

As I was working, I noticed that parts of the trim on the lid and sides were starting to pull loose from the main body. With a gentle tug, the missing piece at right popped right off. Turns out the short sides of the lid are only factory attached using a tongue and groove with wood glue, and the glue had deteriorated. This piece coming off actually provided me with the opportunity to get down into the assembly and really clean up the trouble areas I had a hard time getting to when we were stripping the paint. In looking at the other side, I realized that someone had come back and tacked the piece on with brads, which leads me to believe that "Grandpa" had the same problem I did and reattached the good side. After sanding down the tongue and groove, I applied glue, tacked with brads, and clamped it on tight after getting it flush. 

While waiting for the glue to dry, I thought I might sand the trim a little to clean up problem spots and saw a corner where it was pulling away. I pulled all three off and performed a little hand sanding to clean up the area, which also allowed me to get in deep and remove that raised line you see. The same was repeated for the trim on the other two sides of the chest body and the trim along the lid. Then I applied glue and reattached all the pieces to their original position with brads. One of the trickiest parts was reattaching the trim along the bottom of the chest body. The trim itself measures a little less than 1/4" at its thickest and we didn't have any brads between 1/4" and 1-1/4" available. The former would come through the wood, but only enough to barely tack to the chest wall, and the latter would penetrate the inside wall of the chest. It was also near impossible to clamp the bottom trim to the chest, so tacking was our best option. We were able to cheat a little bit, as the bottom part of the trim lines up with the cedar used to form the chest floor (3/4" thick) and we could drive the longer brads into that while using the shorter ones fired at an angle through a narrower pieec into the chest to secure the top. We had another curve ball thrown at us when the trim started to pull away, leaving an 1/8" gap between it and the chest wall. Our solution for that was to have our foreman push against the top with a hammer handle to get it as seated as possible while I fired short brads to secure them. I'm hoping to come back with putty to cap the holes where we drove the brads (small though they are) and give it a seamless appearance.

The last thing I tackled today was a large gap between the front and side trim on the corner. When reapplying the trim, I went in order of: side, front, side; what I should have done is centered up the front first and adjusted the sides to meet up. Instead I made one corner flush to the other and moved on from there to attach the front. It still looks fine and is pretty much centered, and lines up with the original lines, which makes this gap kind of an anomaly. Thankfully the shop had a premixed walnut wood putty on hand, which works perfectly, as the original veneer is actually walnut and I'll be using a natural stain. I'm also matching the oak, cedar, and poplar to the walnut color, so ideally the filling will be indeterminable from the rest of the piece.


Work Time: 4.5 Hours
Total Time: 22 Hours

Stage 2 Cont: Setback

Here you'll see our shop foreman running a slat of our cedar veneer under warm water to loosen it up. Note how the wood is beginning to bend. We used this technique to encourage the wood to start bending, then as we applied it to the roll-off on the lid, used a heat gun to keep it warm. We clamped the veneer to the front of the lid using a beam (see below), then as we applied heat to the piece, we ran a wet rag across the bend to prevent cracking. Once the piece was the shape we needed, we used another piece across the top and clamped it in as well. It was then left to dry and set over the weekend.

Work Time: 2.5 Hours
Total Time: 15.5 Hours

 

Unfortunately, when returning tot he shop after the weekend, I removed the veneer to begin gluing and got distracted. Long story, short, it was off the curvature long enough to lose its shape and made a big mess. A great deal of wasted glue and time later, the piece cracked on me and I had to start over. At this point the semester started picking up and the chest was taken out of the shop to make room for show production.

Wasted Time: 2 Hours

Total Time: 17.5 Hours