Thread: Restoring a red Cedar chest of drawers.

Hiya, where abouts in melbourne are you? I have an old cedar chest too, but it's too damaged to be worth restoring, so I'm just using bits and pieces of it for other stuff. If you need some spare backboards you can probably have some of mine if they will fit.. What are the dimensions of your chest? I'm in Belgrave (dandenong ranges).

Hi Zoe, I don't suppose by any remote chance you might have some spare handles with the old chest you mention. I only ask as my early cedar 6 drawer large chest is missing all of its original handles and has much later brass ones. Given the age of my chest it should have wooden (turned) ones, probably made from blackwood.

I am going to have a look tomorrow at a large 7 drawer cedar chest of drawers (full cedar), that is up for auction. It is missing its feet but has been already stripped and overall is in pretty good condition, ready for re-polishing. It does need some repairs but with a reserve of $300 I think it is pretty decent value. Will be interested to see how much interest there is in it- let alone what it might sell for. Not that I really need any more projects !!

Sorry Horsecroft, the handles on this thing have been bastardised. I will take a pic and show you

Hi Libertine, thanks so much for that. The backboard panels are 1050mm long 155mm wide and 12mm thick.
I'm in Blackburn so about 45min away which isn't to bad if the panels you have are suitable.

I've covered a few areas with masking tape and have been having a look out daily for any new holes or signs of sawdust and all looks clear so far. I'm starting to think that the damage is old, thank god.

Awesome news! Fingers crossed.

how many back boards do you need? I'll open out the shed and measure for you tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Libertine

Sorry Horsecroft, the handles on this thing have been bastardised. I will take a pic and show you

Hi Libertine, that is perfectly ok, it was worth a shot. I don't suppose the chest has legs (even if bastardised) ? I only ask as I am not sure of the style the large cedar chest needs. In looking through my books (Carters Antique guides) I see a number of different styles. The repro ones you can get from "restoration shops' are ok but I am not sure they are what I want for the chest.

So yes I did manage to acquire it and for the princely sum of $340 ! Pretty reasonable for a large 7 drawer full cedar chest, which is both structurally sound and especially no borer or rot (even the back boards are cedar), and it has already been stripped. I started working on the top last night, which is coming up just great.

Ok, enough thread hijacking, I will talk about my cedar chest restoration over in my thread and leave this one for Oscar.

Hey Oscar, I really do hope the critters in yours have carked it so that you can restore it as intended. It would be nice to bring it back to life.

Originally Posted by Libertine

Awesome news! Fingers crossed.

how many back boards do you need? I'll open out the shed and measure for you tomorrow.

Well I just went through all the pieces and it looks like only one is in great shape. I have about 3-4 which have borer damage ranging from extensive to little damage and the other pieces have been damaged by me. When removing the boards I wasn't very careful as I had intended on replacing all the pieces. I wont waste your time and will pass on your generous offer. I will more than likely just get new boards and not worry about older boards as I'm not fussy about trying to make it look old. The back is never seen and I plan on keeping the chest so not really bothered if the back has a new look to it.
Again thanks for your generous offer.

Originally Posted by Horsecroft88

So yes I did manage to acquire it and for the princely sum of $340 ! Pretty reasonable for a large 7 drawer full cedar chest, which is both structurally sound and especially no borer or rot (even the back boards are cedar), and it has already been stripped. I started working on the top last night, which is coming up just great.

Ok, enough thread hijacking, I will talk about my cedar chest restoration over in my thread and leave this one for Oscar.

Hey Oscar, I really do hope the critters in yours have carked it so that you can restore it as intended. It would be nice to bring it back to life.

Sound like you got a bargain well done.
Don't worry about hijacking the thread it's all good I enjoy reading your posts.
Now those little critters are either dormant or dead. It's been 2 weeks now and no new holes in the taped areas and no new dust on the plastic sheet I have placed under a heavy effected area. So far so good.