Victorian Era Folding Chair Redo

This was the shape of the carpet panels when I got the chair. Dry and torn, they had to go.

The new upholster weight fabric panels are triple reinforced and as much of the original hardware as possible is used to reattach them.

The wood was just given a coat of bee's wax and orange oil to give it some luster.

The maker's label was difficult to read but I got this much:

E.W. Vaill, Patentee and ManufacturerPatented April ??, 187?
A quick search revealed the chair was manufactured locally in Worcester, Massachusetts likely between 1870 and 1895. 

Upcycled Suitcase Becomes a Campaign Writing Desk

This is what I started with. It looks like old suitcase, but it was actually a small wardrobe trunk. On one side there was a swing down tray, and the other side, hanger brackets.  

The first step was to remove the all the guts from the inside. One end of the trunk was hinged and, when stood on end, this panel would swing out of your way so you could access your clothes. Since the desk would not need this, the brackets were removed and the panel screwed closed.

Once the interior was removed I added some textured paper. 

You can see this in my reline an old trunk post. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

                 Here's the paper glued in place.     

 Probably the most important part of the desk is the structural frame. It stiffens the panels of the desk, provides something firm for the drawer to ride on, gives the legs something solid to bolt to, and will really hold the weight of the desktop. It's just a simple flat frame that will sit in the bottom of the trunk.

   The drawer is a shallow plywood box constructed with box joints and a dado joint around the inside to hold the bottom of the drawer.

                                                                                                                                                                                 

The height of the drawer is figured from the top of the structural frame (on which the drawer will sit) to the under side of the desktop.

This is a close-up of the drawer runner on the underside of the drawer. The runner will attach to the bottom of the drawer and the rail will span the frame.

I know...sounds confusing...so here's a labeled pic of the structural frame.

Here's the drawer riding on the frame.

Next up came the legs. I designed a simple "X" style leg to keep with the campaign style look I was going for. I drew it out full size on some rolled craft paper so I can transfer all the angles to my miter saw and can check the pieces after they're made.

The assembled legs.

All the wood pieces on this project are made from salvaged oak flooring. Here the desk top pieces are glued together and clamped.

Once the glue is dry the desktop is flipped over, trimmed down to size, and fitted in place.

Thin oak pieces are glued together to form the top and bottom pieces of the sorter. Then dados were cut to hold the divider pieces, the end pieces were left thick, and a thin plywood panel was nailed onto the back.

I made some small drawers out of thin plywood for end cubbies on the sorter. Oak veneer was glued on the front to dress it up, and leather pulls made from a Salvation Army belt.

Trim, sand, check the fit; trim, sand, check the fit; sand, check the fit...you get the idea. Once everything seems to fit well comes the part I hate most; cutting the front panel off to make the drawer face. If I screw up badly I've ruined the suitcase.  (I did screw up...but not badly)

I lined up the drawer face on the front of my drawer, drilled a few small holes, and used some small nuts and bolts to attach it.

I made a few more accessories from oak including a cork board frame (left), a retaining knob (middle), and a swing down shelf (right).

 The hard board fill of the handle was exposed when I got the trunk so I had to cut a piece of leather-look vinyl and hand stitch it around the handle.

The sorter attaches to the suitcase lid with a very blurry nut and bolt. 

A coat of stain and a few coats of poly round out the finish.

Detail of the leather pulls on the sorter drawer.

Sorter and shelf fold into the lid.

Other than a good cleaning the outside of the case was left as is. All the peeling labels are original and character and provenance to the piece. The desk closes up when when company's coming.

Now I can sit down and get some paper work done--just as long as I don't wake Jessie.

Suitcase Hatbox Upcycled into Vintage Clock

I got this suitcase at a yard sale, the inside was in great shape and I thought it would sell well in my Etsy shop. It was only after I got it home that I realized the bottom panel, that functions as a hinge was torn. Fixing it would have been too tough, So I thought, maybe a clock.  

Since I'd be painting the bottom panel, I tested drawing and painting on numbers. It didn't go so well. So I tested mod podging one of my Etsy shop labels on the back and was happy with the results.

I measured the suitcase and made a clock face to fit. (I used Microsoft Publisher, but everyone has their favorite.) And carefully cut it out.

I tested the fit and marked the center and places where the pieces met. I had to tape them down as they tended to shift around.

I "painted" both sides of each piece with water to stretch it before it went on the suitcase. Wet paper stretches like crazy, by wetting it first I'll get fewer wrinkles.

 I painted the mod podge on to the suitcase and carefully put each piece of the clock face in place,





 I already have a lot of paint on hand, so I used a red that was as close a match as possible and painted the bottom panel. (It'll dry a little darker.)

I got a scrap piece of plywood and traced the curve of the suitcase on it. I'll cut it and mount it inside the suitcase to so it can be hung on the wall.

I glued the plywood in the suitcase, nailed it on through the back of the suitcase, and drilled a hole.

THE FAIL. The red paint didn't match well. So I made some labels to fit the the bottom.

While the mod podge was drying I began getting familiar with the new clock movement. It's super easy to install.

Once the bottom label was dry I drilled a hole through the face panel, inserted the clock motor and put the hands on.

At the time of this posting the clock is for sale at my Etsy shop

Upcycled Trunk Lid Coffee Table

I may have been able to cobble together enough pictures to create a woefully inadequate post about the the creation of this coffee table. 

A trunk lid is kinda flimsy on its own, so I lined it with plywood to beef it up. It will hold a heavy stack of books without sagging.

 I really wanted to have "X" style legs on this which means I need a small spacer on one side of the leg assembly to account for the thickness of the other leg.

The shelf serves two purposes. It adds a little more storage to the table and stiffens the legs so the table won't be so wobbly. Again I needed to add a spacer piece to one side to account for the thickness of the leg.

Hey how did you actually make the legs? 

Good question blog reader. I drew out a full scale plan for them on a large piece of paper so I can lay everything out and play with it until I get it the way I want it. Then I can transfer the angles to my miter saw and the position of the holes directly onto the wood.

All the hardware was spray painted with a metallic finish, the rest of the lid painted black, and the legs and shelves stained, and sealed with a few coats of poly.