Thread: Antique red cedar drawers

Hi,
I suggest you watch lots of Thomas Johnson’s YouTube videos. Every one of them contains a few gems about furniture restoration.

Good find!

I'll be working on a few of the drawer runners on my chest this weekend.
Most of the drawers are loose, so they will be knocked apart (with a bit of heat from a heat gun).
I'll add some pine runners with hide glue.

Looks like yours need a bit of work too.

If the drawers are solid, you can fit new runners using a bullnose plane and some chisel work.
It's a lot easier if you can get them apart (easier to clean too).

Are those bun feet mismatched?
How are your turning skills?

Originally Posted by Thumbthumper

Good find!

I'll be working on a few of the drawer runners on my chest this weekend.
Most of the drawers are loose, so they will be knocked apart (with a bit of heat from a heat gun).
I'll add some pine runners with hide glue.

Looks like yours need a bit of work too.

If the drawers are solid, you can fit new runners using a bullnose plane and some chisel work.
It's a lot easier if you can get them apart (easier to clean too).

Are those bun feet mismatched?
How are your turning skills?

I never thought of using hide glue or heat gun so thank you that info.
The 3rd bun foot has been removed and a different pair installed for now.

I actually have a few projects I can't complete because I need items turned and I have never done it. Wasn't aiming to invest into machinery just for those items. Fairly sure I have stock for turning so eventually have to cross that bridge.

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They're addictive

In answer to your question:

Originally Posted by Blackout

My question is, is there an easy way to get a key or more without paying a locksmith?
Red cedar drawers small drawer lock cover.jpg Red cedar drawers small drawer lock 02.jpg Red cedar drawers small drawer lock.jpg

Note that while I have never done this, around the year I was born, my father made a key for the backdoor of the house I then lived in.

While a lot bigger than the locks on those drawers, the lock on the back door to our house used the same basic mechanism.
Inside each lock is a "shutter" that the drawer key fits. The "shutter" will be slightly bigger than the lock's key. How much bigger can really only be determined by using a file to remove material from the key till it opens the lock.

Based on what I now know, dad probably used sheet lead, sheet copper, soft sheet brass, stiff card or similar to determine the shape of the shutter.
He would then have used a file to shape the new key to the lock.
The round hole in the escutcheon is bigger than the key's round spine, as is the socket at the back of the lock that accepts the key.

While making your own keys might be a worthwhile exercise, I suggest you try and buy the key blanks rather than braze a flag onto a suitable round rod.