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.