This is my first real project from the yard sale finds of 10 days ago. I started on this old cedar chest and boy is it in bad disrepair...can't believe I shelled out $10 for it! But I know once it is all finished it will be beautiful!!!
And talk about old...I removed the old hinges and took them to a local hardware store thinking I could easily replace them. The guy there just shook his head and said that they are REALLY old and referred me to a place about 20 miles away to see if I could find replacements there. I'm not so sure I'll do that, I think I'll just put the old ones back on and make do with them.
In the meantime I started to strip the top using the Klean Strip spray...this stuff is so good and the piece is so old that it actually loosened the veneer top so I ended up pulling the whole thing off. Unfortunately I used the end of a can from my last project so I had to resort back to the gel stripper...not pretty!
The top of the chest is made of two different colored wood, so this is going to have to be painted.
After getting the veneer off I sanded down the whole top. Next I tipped the thing on its side to start working on it there. Not sure if the sides are veneered or just covered in several layers of old paint although I am suspicious that the front is veneered so I plan to just do a light sanding there and calk where needed. The bottom piece has to be solid wood so out will come the Klean Strip for removing the paint on the rounded surfaces and intricate grooves. I really hate stripper but this stuff sprays on so you are not dealing with all the glop ping of the conventional strippers and it works in only 15 minutes.
Anyone ever heard of this furniture company?
Looks like ER Co., Forest Park Lin