Wine racks

Green dyed Poplar wine rack, with copper bronze powder coated steel frame

Birch wood wine rack with copper bronze powder coated
steel frame
The dimensions on these wine racks are.
36" high  x 19" wide x 17" deep
These racks will add a spark to any room.
The copper in the durable powder coat finish adds a deep shimmer to the metal work.
The wood has been left distressed from the marks of a scrub plane that was used to work the wood and has been coated with a durable water based urethane finish, which adds depth to the wood.
The drawers are made with hand cut dove tail joints that makes these pieces a touch of craftsmanship that you should expect from original work of furniture.

UPDATE: dog damaged chair

Hickory Chair Co. well built furniture is always a good investment.
This chair was built by the Hickory Chair Co. Hickory, N.C.  I don't know the date but it is owned by the original purchaser, and was sold at Frautschi Furniture Co. in Madison Wisconsin.  At a minimum, the chair has to be forty years old and is in great condition.  The damage was repaired for a $100.00 and looks like new.  Hopefully the dog has out grown his chewing ways.
The one saving grace to this chair was that it was well built, using good materials and that made the replacement of the leg easier. 

Mahogany must taste like MilkBones

Chair or Chew toy?

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE"!

Are the first words out of your mouth, the minute you walk into the living room. Cowering in the corner is your 8 month old Golden Retriever. " I'm sorry, but my teeth hurt and your furniture tastes good", is what he seems to be saying as he looks up at you.

Old leg removed and new one made and ready to install

It would seem that the damage was far too severe and would cost too much, to be repairable but looks can be deceiving. Anything made out of wood can be repaired, especially furniture. Mass produced furniture is built to be assembled easily, because time is money. Most of the joinery is very simple and strong and comes apart quite easily. The picture above shows the old chair leg next to the new one I built.(I will adjust the length of the leg once I position it back on the chair for accuracy.)  From start to finish that process only took a little over an hour. You can figure that it's going to take another hour and some to finish the leg and install it and it's ready for many more years of service.    Providing that dog has acquired a more discriminating taste in chew treats.

Antique tool chest repair and restoration

Early 1900's carpenters tool chest

This is a pretty good example of a carpenters tool chest, that would have been used by a journeyman carpenter around the turn of the twentieth century.  Carpenters back then built there own tool chests and would add there own style to them as a kind of status symbol.  The person who built this box was a better than average builder, from the fancy lid, brass cast handles and glass drawer pulls. The main box is joined with dove tail corners, which show a high level of skill and also the well mitered corners on the trim work and top.

Dove tail joints

Interior of tool chest
How do you determine The age of a piece of furniture . Sometimes you get lucky and there is  a stamp or mark left by the builder, but not in this case. I tried to find any kind of mark on this chest and found nothing.  So I thought that the nails used to build it, would offer a clue.

Exposed nails on back of lid give a good idea of the age of this tool chest

Wire nails were invented and came into use around 1870. They didn't become common until the early 1900's. This chest was built using wire nails and a lot of them, meaning they were common and inexpensive. That leads me to believe that  the tool chest was built sometime in the early part of the 1900's.

I will start work on this piece in the next week or so, repairing and replacing damaged wood and repairing loose joints.
Keep checking this blog for updates, I think this piece is going to be a lot of fun.