Restoration of an old set of Architects Drawers.

The restored unit in it's new home. 

Restoration often requires a little bit more than a quick light sand and a new coat of varnish. This was the case with this set of drawers. The previous owner looked like that they had been an artist that had used this set both as a butchers block as well as a palate.

The unit in its original state.

You can't quite see how badly it had been abused.

As is often the case with a restoration job, it is only when you start to work on the job that you then discover what it exactly entails. I found that I had to strip back the unit right back to it's frame. At least this was in good condition.

The chest stripped back to it's frame. 

New paneling for the sides and backs

 I then re machined the planks from the top. Due to the damage to the sides and back I had to make new panels.

The planks from the top re machined, fitted back together before a new trim is added and then sanded. 

From a pair of old pair of garage doors to a kist.

A kist made from recycled  Douglas Fir garage doors.

This is a project that I worked on a good while ago. That is before I started to get orders mainly for Plan Chests. The client had a couple of old garage doors. they suspected that they were Douglas Fir (Oregan Pine) but were not too sure. They were hoping that I would be able to salvage enough timber to be able to make a kist for them. As you can see from the image below image, they were in quite a state.

The garage doors showing the reverse side of one and the front of the other.

The emphasis was to try and retain as much of the character of the wood as possible. The design was to be a simple rustic affair with not to many embellishments.

First job was to strip them down and see what was usable and what was not. Unfortunately the planks were so damaged that the tongue and grooves had be re channeled.

A panel after timber has been re machined and partially sanded.

I am guessing that at some stage, after years of exposure and the grain had started to really open up the doors had been repainted. This made removing the paint really difficult. Rather than having me try to work it all out, the client decided that I should just sand them timber down as best I could and then leave the touches of green.

Fortunately there was enough of the thicker timbers to build a frame.

The idea to put trays in only came after I found out that there were enough off cuts to make them.

The completed kist with one of the trays in situe. Kist yet to be varnished.

The kist was finally finished a Satin finish from the Woodoc series of varnishes.

All the boxes in place.

The final product.

A Plan Chest for Trent Gallery, Pretoria

A finished set of Architects drawers (plan chest) in the workshop waiting for delivery.

This is a plan chest that I built around 2010. The client, Stuart Trent from the Trent Gallery in Pretoria wanted a set of draws to put into his gallery. He had metal sets but he wanted something more sympathetic to his gallery space. Owing to the size of the entrance the set had to be split into two sections of three drawers each. The bottom three were to have locks on. He decided that he wanted them to made from Douglas Fir (Oregon Pine).

Some of the timber just arrived from the mill.

One of the side panels.

Side panel and back panel.

Front view of the drawer fronts.

The drawer.

The top of the plan chest.

The front of the drawers showing handles.