Monthly Archives: October 2016

Summertone Bedside – Part 2

Restoration Projects, , , , , , ,

At the end of my last update I had removed the base/legs and was continuing to prepare the bedside for it’s new finish.

1950's bedside restoration
Sorry about the shadows!

With the bedside now in pieces I could get stuck into some fine veneer repairs along with the final preparation of the timber surfaces before reassembly.  As mentioned previously due to the thin nature of the veneer, patience is a must when sanding,  240 grit to start, 320 grit to finish.

Prepped and ready to go
Getting there

Reassembly was pretty straight forward, fresh wood glue, and with the existing screws and holes all lining up it went back together like a jigsaw puzzle, just lucky I numbered each piece!

Mid Century Bedside
Sanded, assembled and ready for a new finish

Once the glue had dried, a very light final sand with some 400 grit wet and dry was carried out in preparation for the Danish Oil to be applied.

Next up – the finished product!

Summertone Bedside

Restoration Projects, , , , ,

I’ve been sitting on this Summertone bedside for a little while in the hope of finding its matching partner. Unfortunately I haven’t been so lucky as of yet, however in preparation for a larger restoration job I’ve decided to trial a few different techniques and finishes on it.

1950's Australian Bedside
Excuse the grass!

Wanting to get away from that orange tinge I’ll be removing the original shellac finish and tint and going with a neutral finish to show off that wonderful golden QLD maple veneer. Seeing as though I’ve only got 1mm or less in thickness to work with I’ll be using a cabinet scraper and metho/steel wool to keep the sanding to a minimum.

Mid Century Bedside
Night and Day?

Already you can see the huge difference between the natural colour of the stripped back drawer front and the original finish to the body of the bedside. To make things easier, I’ve removed the legs and base supports and as these are solid timber the electric sander should make light work of them.

Hoping to get through the restoration within a week or two so be sure to check back and see how things progress!