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New felt for an old Kennedy chest

reggie_obe

Diamond
Joined
Jul 11, 2004
Location
Reddington, N.J., U.S.A.
I purchased an old Kennedy machinest chest and the felt in the drawers is prettty worn out or stained. Any advice of how to remove the remains of the old felt without damagingthe finish underneath? Any suggestions for the type of felt to replace it with and the best adhesive?
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I guess I should have been more specific. I am looking for some DIY help. I could call the manufacturer, who may say, "We will sell you all the materials at $$.$$." or "Ship it to us and we will refurbish it for $$$.$$." But that isn't the type of approach I am interested in.
 
Peel it up, as much as you can. Then use some commercial Goo-remover product, to soak the last glued down bits with. How come you are worried about the finish, if you are gonna cover it up again?
Cause if you dont care, then the easiest way is to use a single edge razor blade scraper, scrape it all out, use a solvent to get the last of it, then just respray with a spray bomb in brown wrinkle (or red, or whatever).
Kennedy sells touchup paint, but if for some reason you dont want to buy from them, you can get brown wrinkle spray paint.
Then go to the nearest fabric store, and find a felt you like, in a pleasing color or pattern- NFL logos, say, or Halloween. No, really felt is usually only available in solid colors, but any fabric will work just as well. Cut fabric to size, test fit, then use some spray glue on the drawer, and put it in. Trim any over size with a mat knife or another single edge razor blade.
The goal is just a soft bottom to keep tools from banging each other up- You could use red velvet if you wanted.
 
Thanks for the help Ries. I didn't want to just scrape it out and leave bare metal as a place for rust to start in the future. But I'm not interested in a full-blown restoration project either. So I'm not planning on doing any paint touch-up. My other concern is: do any of the spray adhestives release in the presense of oil or grease? I'm sure some is bound to get carried into the drawers as tools are removed and replaced. I've used the Elmers spray adhesive to adhere mylar to cardstock with good results. I don't know how it work work with felt to paint/steel.
 
I alternate materials. some are crushed velour, some salmon taffeta, some white lace, some black vinyl. A real show stopper it is!

just kidding. I like cut up jeans or courderoys.

most of the felt I've seen at the fabric store was not of the same quality. more hairy, less dense.
 
Hi, Reggie,

I don't know about removing the felt from a Kennedy chest.....I've refinished a few old Gerstners, and the felt on those was glued down.
A sharp wood chisel made quick work of removing the felt, down to clean sheet metal of the drawer bottoms.

The glue in a Kennedy chest may be water-soluble.....it probably isn't, but its worth a try...

Once the old felt is removed, and the drawer bottoms sanded clean/smooth, fitting new felt is dead easy.

The choice of felt for the drawers is purely according to your personal preference. If you'd like to restore the Kennedy box to exact originality with their trade-mark brown felt, then there may be nothing for it but to order the replacement material from the Kennedy works.

Another alternative would be to call Kim Campbell at Gerstners, and purchase a small roll of the green felt they use in the Gerstner chests.

The most practical alternative, tho, and the one I recommend, is to go to any good fabric/sewing shop, and ask to see their stock of best quality thin wool felt material. A good fabric shop should have a number of colours from which to choose, and the price will be moderate.

Cutting the felt to size is obvious....I use an ordinary paper cutter, which will work well, but if you haven't a paper shear, just grab a single-edge razor blade in a small vice-grips, and use a 24" scale as a straight-edge....its dead easy...

Use any suitable adhesive to hold the felt to the sheet metal....I used a series of little dots of common white woodworking glue, and pressed/smoothed the felt down with a little improvised hardwood burnishing tool....

cheers

Carla
 
Carla, the chest I am re-felting is a model 520 and the felt in is green, so maybe it has been replaced before. I've used fabric store felt for re-covering the bottoms of candlestick telephones. I never could seem to find any that was as durable or high quality as what I was removing. But anything is better than what the chest has now. I might as well re-line my old "fake" Gerstener chest at the same time. It has sheetmetal for drawer bottoms and is made of as ash instead of oak. Thanks for all the suggestions.

For those interested in more information on felt see:
http://www.sutherlandfelt.com/
 
Folks:

What about the issue of "acid-free" felt?
(Doesn't this also apply to felt lubricationg wicks in lathes?)

Gerstner says their felt is acid-free.

[We won't talk about the fact that Oak has tannic acid in it!]

I'd also be wondering about possibly using "archival" glue, which is also acid free.

John Ruth
Who may be over cautious in this case.
 
Pool table covering is a VERY high grade of felt. You could probably get scraps from a local dealer from installation work. Green is common and blood/wine red is probably #2. Den
 
I agree with Dennh, pool table felt is good stuff, mostly wool with some nylon, some is even backed with a cloth that makes it easier to glue.
Try calling a place that has video games and pool tables they will probably give you a load of the stuff. They will have some good glue also.

Beware of the velvet - taffeta tricky stuff. I relined a gun box years ago, last time I looked at the gun, the material had dissolved from the oils and solvents in the gun :eek: not good.

Dave J
 
I'm just curious, has anyone written down the sizes of the felt pieces on a 520 or better yet have a pattern?

I've done it, make your own patterns.
A rectangle with squares missing in each corner.

White wood glue and WOOL felt, not synthetic.

A couple of magnets helped put it in place as gluing in.
Dry fit, magnet it in. Glue half, glue the other half.
 
Old thread, but curious where you guys have bought your wool felt for tool box (re)lining?

Seems that most crafting felt is thick, like 1/8" or more, while the old stuff used in these drawers is much thinner. I have one I used 1/8" felt for and the added cushion on the bottom wasn't bad, but the thick sides meant it was easy to tear away from the glue over time. I want to re-do that one and a couple others with the "proper" thinner felt, but most suppliers don't list a weight/thickness and picture the heavy stuff. Kennedy sells it as a kit, but doesn't say how much comes with it. One I want to redo is a two drawer riser that goes with a little 520 chest. For mine I'd like to stick with the classic Kennedy brown.
 
If you want the original felt then you can later auction it off at Sotheby's.

I would use high grade rubber that can be cut to fit. And later it can be removed to vacuum out aluminum dust.
 
Update: I bought a couple kits from Kennedy and am very pleased with the results. The pieces are precut with the sides attached so a single piece does one drawer. A kit for a 520 is around $50 and money well spent IMO.....
IF.....
You want brown. That's the only color option I see them selling. One older chest I want to re-line in green, so still on the lookout for bulk thin felt.
 








 
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