So, I am restoring an old Union tool chest, and was hoping to get some tips.
It is 17" wide, and covered with leather. In the bottom right corner of the box it is stamped/engraved with "79"
Thus far I've only dusted it and removed the ripped and tattered felt from the drawers.
As you can see in one of the images, one drawers plywood has an inspection stamp dated "NOV 11 1918", so presumably this unit is around that age. I haven't seen other Union chests with the leather cover though, so I'm curious if that is original.
The work to be done includes:
Advice, tips, etc are much appreciated. I will post photos as I go
It is 17" wide, and covered with leather. In the bottom right corner of the box it is stamped/engraved with "79"
Thus far I've only dusted it and removed the ripped and tattered felt from the drawers.
As you can see in one of the images, one drawers plywood has an inspection stamp dated "NOV 11 1918", so presumably this unit is around that age. I haven't seen other Union chests with the leather cover though, so I'm curious if that is original.
The work to be done includes:
- Rebuilding the bottom drawer- I have the front, back, and bottom of it. However, the sides and rails are missing. I think I'll talk to a carpenter friend to determine the wood types and rebuild the drawer.
- Re-felting the drawers. This seems easy enough, though there seems to be a lot of discussion out there regarding felt and glue types. I do plan to store some measuring tools in the box, so I want to avoid rust prone combinations.
- Deciding what to do with the leather exterior. It's tattered, and some of the wood of the box needs to be straightened underneath. I'm inclined to remove it and clean underneath. I think I'll leave the decision to re-leather or wood finish the outside until later. What're your thoughts?
- Lightly cleaning the wood finish of the drawers. I want to remove some of the deep oil stains, and possible provide some protection to the areas where the finish is essentially gone. However, I intend to leave it mostly intact so as to preserve the history, logo, etc. I was planning to use Murphy's oil soap, are there other good options?
- Replacing hardware- I need 3 drawer pulls. I've seen them new for $7 from machinist chest, however, I hate to have them mismatch the originals, and don't want to flock out $70+ to replace them all at the moment. Does anyone have other ideas where I could pick some up?
- Restoring the front panel. I am not sure if the one I have is original, as it doesn't look like others I have seen. However, the lock seems to look generally correct.
Advice, tips, etc are much appreciated. I will post photos as I go