Thread: Fixing up a run down "dining cupboard"

From the description it sounds like it may be 1920's to 1940's - a picture of the whole would help. Timbers used in the 1920's ranged from Qld Maple to Kauri Pine, Silky Oak, Blackwood and eucalypt (and a few zillion others less likely). It is not silky oak, but I'm sorry the photos don't tell me much more with certainty. It is old enough to have had two sets of handles: one a central knob and one with a two-bolt handle that may be earlier as the holes are full of paint (always look for the witness marks).

I will take a punt - probably Blackwood, cheap (nailed drawer sides not dovetails) and 1940's.

Nothing is rubbish, it all has a tale to tell, snobbishness has no place for furniture.

Restoration means do as little as possible, replace as little as possible and keep all original features that you can. It was probably originally finished with shellac so please do not Estapol/polyurethane it.

Have some fun, learn a bit and enjoy the renewed and useful item.

Good luck and lots of fun.

Thanks for the thoughts, i will grab some photos on the weekend (I work in Sydney but live 2 hours away).

I can tell you the cupboards are 45 degree joints with dowels, probably not much help, i will definitely get some good photographs of it. Unfortunately it has had that terrible paint job (it just flakes off by hand) and it has also had some slight water damage in the drawer bases, and had a horrid wallpaper print laid inside on the shelving.

Im happy to use it once its fixed up a bit, and i definitely don't want to paint it! I like the old look to things, and this will teach me some things for some other future projects i have in mind.

I have picked up some shellac as that was my original plan for the piece.

The little knob handles are really heavy on the drawers and the hinges are iron going by the rust and fact they are painted, so maybe they are original or at least older than i first suspected.

I was thinking i could add some wood underneath to hold the base on (the wood has been ground down over the years into that shape and the base is starting to fall out at the back ends) and wax it to slide a bit easier?

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Niflheim

I was thinking i could add some wood underneath to hold the base on (the wood has been ground down over the years into that shape and the base is starting to fall out at the back ends) and wax it to slide a bit easier?

Cheers!

Yes, fixing the drawer sides is essential to be able to use the unit properly. You will also find the drawer runners inside the cabinet are similarly worn.

I do not know what kind of equipment you have, nor your level of experience so my apologies in advance if the following is not at an appropriate level (either up or down from mine).

Techniques to fix the drawer runners depend on whether the drawers can be completely disassembled without breaking them. If they can be safely disassembled ignore the router use described below and do it all on a table saw. On antique pieces with blind dovetails to the front and full through dovetails to the back of the drawer it is often not sensible to pull the drawers apart. In that case I have clamped a guide rail on the side of the drawer and used a router with a straight bit to rout the lower edge of the drawer sides to a straight line (not necessarily parallel with the top in your case because of the necessity to hold the drawer bottom in place). A small trimmer router is easy to hand hold and will usually be quite powerful enough. My Makita trimmer router was only about $110 at Trade Tools and would be my choice unless the drawer sides are really hard timber. You can't cut right up to the drawer front with a router so you have to chisel and pare that out. Then use a saw and thicknesser to produce a piece of the same timber as the drawer sides down to the same thickness as the drawer sides and shape it to get it even to the depth of the original drawer. Glue and clamp that on to the drawer sides to get them running straight again. I usually use animal glue because if I stuff up I can easily take it off and start again, but if you are good with a glue-up PVA will give a strong bond. you can use brad nails to help ensure the new side stays in line but do not drive them right down as you need to pull them out afterwards. if left in place they will wear your new runners down in no time (see below).

I can see from the extent of the wear that you may have to cut a groove in at least part of the new sides to hold the bottom of the drawer. That is a bit fiddly but could be done with a router, a router plane or a dado set in a table saw. It depends on what gear you have available to you.

The drawer runners can be a different issue. In antique chests the runners are usually, though not always, rebated into the cabinet sides. Often they are fitted neatly/tightly but not glued. If they are not worn completely through one can sometimes knock them out of the case and use them upside down on the other side -- that is, use the undamaged lower surface as the upper surface on the opposite side of the cabinet. That may seem a bit of a cheat but it conforms to the restorers guidelines - do as little as possible, remove as little of the original material as possible etc. In your cabinet they may be nailed in and, once prised off, used on the other side in a similar manner. If they are glued in with the original glue it is most likely animal hide glue and can be released by pouring boiling water along the glue seam. If some well meaning but badly advised person has poured in some PVA or Araldite - yuck, destruction time to rip them out in pieces and make new runners. You would also have to make new runners if they are worn through or if they won't fit for some other reason.

Once you have repaired the drawer sides and runners apply some paraffin wax - candle wax to help them run smoothly and wear less quickly.

I hope this helps, does not overwhelm or "teach my grandfather to suck eggs".

Originally Posted by Xanthorrhoeas

Yes, fixing the drawer sides is essential to be able to use the unit properly. You will also find the drawer runners inside the cabinet are similarly worn.

I do not know what kind of equipment you have, nor your level of experience so my apologies in advance if the following is not at an appropriate level (either up or down from mine).

Techniques to fix the drawer runners depend on whether the drawers can be completely disassembled without breaking them. If they can be safely disassembled ignore the router use described below and do it all on a table saw. On antique pieces with blind dovetails to the front and full through dovetails to the back of the drawer it is often not sensible to pull the drawers apart. In that case I have clamped a guide rail on the side of the drawer and used a router with a straight bit to rout the lower edge of the drawer sides to a straight line (not necessarily parallel with the top in your case because of the necessity to hold the drawer bottom in place). A small trimmer router is easy to hand hold and will usually be quite powerful enough. My Makita trimmer router was only about $110 at Trade Tools and would be my choice unless the drawer sides are really hard timber. You can't cut right up to the drawer front with a router so you have to chisel and pare that out. Then use a saw and thicknesser to produce a piece of the same timber as the drawer sides down to the same thickness as the drawer sides and shape it to get it even to the depth of the original drawer. Glue and clamp that on to the drawer sides to get them running straight again. I usually use animal glue because if I stuff up I can easily take it off and start again, but if you are good with a glue-up PVA will give a strong bond. you can use brad nails to help ensure the new side stays in line but do not drive them right down as you need to pull them out afterwards. if left in place they will wear your new runners down in no time (see below).

I can see from the extent of the wear that you may have to cut a groove in at least part of the new sides to hold the bottom of the drawer. That is a bit fiddly but could be done with a router, a router plane or a dado set in a table saw. It depends on what gear you have available to you.

The drawer runners can be a different issue. In antique chests the runners are usually, though not always, rebated into the cabinet sides. Often they are fitted neatly/tightly but not glued. If they are not worn completely through one can sometimes knock them out of the case and use them upside down on the other side -- that is, use the undamaged lower surface as the upper surface on the opposite side of the cabinet. That may seem a bit of a cheat but it conforms to the restorers guidelines - do as little as possible, remove as little of the original material as possible etc. In your cabinet they may be nailed in and, once prised off, used on the other side in a similar manner. If they are glued in with the original glue it is most likely animal hide glue and can be released by pouring boiling water along the glue seam. If some well meaning but badly advised person has poured in some PVA or Araldite - yuck, destruction time to rip them out in pieces and make new runners. You would also have to make new runners if they are worn through or if they won't fit for some other reason.

Once you have repaired the drawer sides and runners apply some paraffin wax - candle wax to help them run smoothly and wear less quickly.

I hope this helps, does not overwhelm or "teach my grandfather to suck eggs".

Mate, all that info is like gold! Thanks a bunch!

I have only basic power tools (drills, angle grinder, a drill press and a jigsaw, belt and random orbital sander, I have a few of my grandfather's old chisels, saws, mallet, planes and other general tools.

I have managed to completely (and carefully) remove all insides to the cabinet and have disassembled the drawers and doors.

I have found glue residue so I just cleaned it off with a chisel.

I've popped some extra pics up for anyone interested.

Thanks again for all the info, I'll update here as progress moves forward!
IMG_20151017_095638.jpgIMG_20151017_095621.jpgIMG_20151017_095608.jpg

Ok, it looks like the runners are nailed in, but they may have a tongue at the front fitted into a groove in the back of the front cross-piece. They are not too worn to swap side to side - but check if there is a tongue and whether that tongue is dead centre to the runner or else the top may not be perfectly in line with the cross piece once turned upside down. There are fixes for that - both for too high (plane off) and too low (add a layer of veneer or even melamine sheet/Laminex sort of material). One thing that is obvious is that there is a side-guide for the drawer nailed to the top of the runner. Prise that off and replace on the other side - but, before you do so measure its position relative to the inside of the cabinet so that you can get it in the correct line. All of this is most easily done after you remove the back of the cabinet.

Whoever painted it really went to town on it! The circular hole in the back is puzzling unless it has been used as a stereo cabinet or similar and someone cut the hole for the cables.

With the limited equipment that you have I suggest that you find a Mens shed (if there is one in Goulburn) or ask on these forums whether there is a member nearby that can help you out. Some timber/hardware merchants can also be pretty helpful if you specify exactly what you are looking for.

Failing any or all of that assistance all is not lost. If you are good with a plane you can plane the lower edge drawer sides down to a straight line - mark the level/line carefully and clamp on a sacrificial straight piece of timber so that you get it as accurate as possible. If your planing is not super accurate you will need a gap filling adhesive to glue the new drawer sides on. Something like Boatcraft Pacific E-poxy has good gap filling ability (order on-line). I wouldn't normally recommend that adhesive for an old piece of furniture but I am trying to cover a few bases here. If the new drawer side is left a bit thicker than the original drawer side you can plane it down to be a perfectly flat side surface to match the original and plane the bottom to create a lower edge to the side that is parallel with the upper edge. once again, a good line and a clamped on, straight sacrificial piece of wood as a guide can come in handy.

It looks like you have a lot of fun ahead of you!

Nice score. This could well have been a food/vegetable cabinet as there are indications of a mesh grille having been attached over the back panel hole.
(Click onto the image. Click again.You should see a '+' if you mouse over. Now click again & it will enlarge image.)

Absolutely they went to town on it with the paint. I'll work on getting it all cleaned up first (and disassembling).

There is a men's shed just down the road from me so I might poke my head in and see what's around there, I never knew what they were before! Thanks for the tip.

I'd like to keep it as original as possible so will steer clear of any epoxies etc

OldGrain - maybe, my father in law has an old cupboard that has a metal inner and a mesh, he said it was for meat, so maybe this type of thing was used for veggies as you say.

Hi fellas, Have been following along on this thread as I have a similar resto happening though not as nice as Niflheim's. The perforated mesh sides on mine have been long replaced with a woven wicker which actually looked good but needs to be replaced now as well. Was wondering if anybody knows if that metal mesh is available?20151104_193203.jpg

Originally Posted by markinoz

The perforated mesh sides on mine have been long replaced with a woven wicker which actually looked good but needs to be replaced now as well. Was wondering if anybody knows if that metal mesh is available?

You can get it from a few restoration places.

Here's one ...

http://www.waggarestorationcentre.com.au/products/Meat-Safe-Mesh.html