Writing Slope Dilema

[my63]

thank you for your good wishes I am much better this morning.

You have a good eye for detail it is not quite as flush as I would like but it is not finished yet.

I cut a piece of veneer and glued it into the hole and then glued the cartouche on top of that.

These are the pictures that I promised yesterday showing the edge veneering process.

I spread the glue with a paint pallet knife right up to the wooden pieces I glued in place the other day.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8305/8008364135_ba203e09e1_z.jpg

IMG_2044 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The cling film (thats what we call it in the uk) stops the glue sticking to the carpet tile and the wood backer

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8037/8008371398_2e03aae935_z.jpg

IMG_2050 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Clamp applied

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/8008365869_d44e707c76_z.jpg

IMG_2051 by my0771, on Flickr

 

And another

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8297/8008372038_c5a78f4f1b_z.jpg

IMG_2052 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking

Michael

[fuchsiaprincess]

Hi Michael,

 

Glad to hear that you are feeling much better! We call it cling film

 

I didn't know that the cartouche was only glued on. Was it difficult to remove? What sort of glue did you have to use for brass?

 

Hope you don't mind my questions!

 

Take care and have a lovely weekend!

[my63]

Hi Michael,

 

Glad to hear that you are feeling much better! We call it cling film

 

I didn't know that the cartouche was only glued on. Was it difficult to remove? What sort of glue did you have to use for brass?

 

Hope you don't mind my questions!

 

Take care and have a lovely weekend!

When the box came to me it was held in place with masking tape :roflmho:

Seriously though they are usually held in place with the same hide glue as the veneer so I stick them down with the same pva glue as I use for the veneer.

I use a steam iron to dissolve the hide glue used on veneer I am pretty sure the same method would work for the catouche.

I honestly dont mind answering your questions if you have a box you want to restore I am pretty sure I could talk you through the process.

Michael

[Shangas]

Hi Michael.

 

My thing ain't finished yet, but sure, I'll show some photos. I do have more, I just don't remember where they are. Here's a couple...

 

This is an old cutlery chest that my father bought at the local flea-market.

 

He was going to clean it and sand it and do all kinds of cool things to it!...and it never happened.

 

And for YEARS, it sat in our house taking up space and being used for NOTHING AT ALL. It was a dust-collector, that was it.

 

In the end, I decided that it would be fun if I used it to store pens. So we started sanding, varnishing, stripping and so-forth.

 

We're currently in the process of lining the box-interior, and fitting in the pen-trays and dividers.

 

Here are a couple of photographs of the two vintage keys I purchased. They fit and operate the lock perfectly, and they cost me less than $10 for the set.

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Market%20Pix/box-keys1.jpg

 

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/Fruffles/Market%20Pix/box-keys4.jpg

 

When I remember where I put my other photos, I'll post those, too.

[pelman]

Amazing work Michael. Many congratulations on your impressive work. I look forward to following this thread.

[my63]

beautiful work. Thanks for deconstructing the lock and showing us how it worked.

Sorry I missed your post yesterday I glad you found it useful.

Michael.

[fuchsiaprincess]

Hi Michael,

 

Glad to hear that you are feeling much better! We call it cling film

 

I didn't know that the cartouche was only glued on. Was it difficult to remove? What sort of glue did you have to use for brass?

 

Hope you don't mind my questions!

 

Take care and have a lovely weekend!

When the box came to me it was held in place with masking tape :roflmho:

Seriously though they are usually held in place with the same hide glue as the veneer so I stick them down with the same pva glue as I use for the veneer.

I use a steam iron to dissolve the hide glue used on veneer I am pretty sure the same method would work for the catouche.

I honestly dont mind answering your questions if you have a box you want to restore I am pretty sure I could talk you through the process.

Michael

 

Thank you very much for your kind offer, Michael! Luckily, I am the proud owner of a functional writing box, in fairly good condition. I could easily add writing slopes to the list of things I collect, but they are a tad bulkier compared to pens and ink bottles

[my63]

The cutlery box is nearing completion all of the veneer is now in place.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/8019593719_516846b424_z.jpg

IMG_2069_1 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/8019599634_3d3fdf7769_z.jpg

IMG_2070 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Both trays are now complete they are waiting for the inserts to be made and fitted.

I have learned from experience boxes and inserts will be complete and finish applied before I get the material out.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8318/8019604696_aab924bf8c_z.jpg

IMG_2076 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8443/8019603966_01deb4d454_z.jpg

IMG_2075 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I have removed the lock stripped and cleaned it and made a new key from a selection of desk keys I recently acquired at a local market (35 of them)from a former RAF base.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8302/8019957221_899ab285d5_z.jpg

IMG_2078 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking

Michael

[Shangas]

I told you those old keys were easy to find

[my63]

To be honest shangas these were the first I have seen locally so I snapped them up.

 

I have started finishing the cutlery box I hope you all understand that I will not post any further images until it has been returned to its owner.

Once he has seen it then its picture fest time

 

Thanks

Michael

[my63]

I have not yet returned the cutlery box so no more pictures of that yet.

However I have started the second of his boxes earlier this week but I did take pictures to share with you all. (if you are still there)

 

It looks like this.

These pictures were taken after the base was removed the owner wants to keep the original base which I will explain later

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8460/8057014370_ba80cae000_z.jpg

IMG_2273 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8038/8057013465_067c5b3ebc_z.jpg

IMG_2269 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The inside story.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8175/8057015720_a032f76376_z.jpg

IMG_2280 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The lid has a couple of major cracks in it

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/8057016203_b1bb4526b2_z.jpg

IMG_2281 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/8057016203_b1bb4526b2_z.jpg

IMG_2281 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Cartouche missing

I think it would be fair to say that the finish on the lid has seen better days.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8174/8057014855_8c1f75053b_z.jpg

IMG_2279 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking

Michael

[fuchsiaprincess]

That is going to be one major overhaul, Michael Wishing you all the best and thank you for continuing to share your photos and skills with us!

[OakIris]

Like others I have been following this thread since you began it. All I can say, is WOW!

 

Your dedication to and skill in restoring - and improving - the writing slope and cutlery box are amazing, Michael. I look forward to seeing more pictures of the finished cutlery box as well as seeing the posts showing your progress in fixing up the second writing slope.

 

 

Holly

[my63]

this is where I am at the moment I glued the cracks and applied pressure with clamps to push the cracks together and also to keep them as level as possible.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8310/8057019830_8e1cf1d70e_z.jpg

IMG_2307 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Sanding hours and hours of sanding using finer and finer sand paper finally 0000 steel wool

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8042/8057143224_d86a71d0ac_z.jpg

IMG_2289 by my0771, on Flickr

 

The owner does not want this box to look like new he wants to retain the character as much as possible so I have left some smaller crack visable.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/8057144009_7bdaa85c6b_z.jpg

IMG_2318 by my0771, on Flickr

 

This is not the finished top it has had two coats of dark wax I will leave the top now and focus on the inside.

As you can see from the previous pictures there was not much of the interior intact.

The leaves of the writing surface were both warped and cracked a previous repair had been attempted with some type of rubber cement which is very difficult to remove.

The origional base was made from soft wood the inside had been covered with newsprint which appears to be from 1850s I have removed this at the owners request to preserve it and allow the box to be used daily.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8179/8059205955_e8e6c70aeb_z.jpg

IMG_2330 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8462/8059204360_7d49cf4a3a_z.jpg

IMG_2331 by my0771, on Flickr

The owner is looking into conservation techniques to recover more of the text.

Thanks for the comments and for sharing the journey

Michael

[my63]

Into everyones life a little rain must fall well I had a small shower yesterday.

I am still restoring this writing slope.

The veneer on the top is not the same as that on the front back and sides.

I had repaired three splits in the upper surface when the box first arrived with me.

I have focused on the inside and will update that later.

Anyway here is the problem I had only repaired the crack in the veneer as the iside of the lid is also veneered I was unable to see if it had gone all the way through.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8092975734_1b6ab5806c_z.jpg

IMG_2380 by my0771, on Flickr

The wood under the veneer has moved and caused the split to open up I removed a piece of veneer from the back of the box and cut out the shape of the piece on the lid.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8467/8092971151_fe42b8bfab_z.jpg

IMG_2371 by my0771, on Flickr

This is a deep crack and has some evidence of glue so it may have been repaired before the veneer is also a lot thinner than that on the sides and back so it may not be origonal.

After talking to the owner I will be removing the veneer and stabalising the lid I have ordered a replacement rosewood veneer.

I hope the only rain to fall today will be outside.

Thanks for looking

Michael

[Shangas]

Reading the newspaper (or what I could of it, given its condition), is it possible that it's from a more recent date? Perhaps the 1870s? It mentions "Prussia" and I'm thinking it might be about the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871).

[my63]

I did try to repair the original veneer from the top of this box I fitted a piece and spent quite a bit of time matching the colour slowly.

It became clear that the amount of time needed to restore and the risk of other cracks opening up further meant it was not viable.

After speaking to the owner we decided to replace the old rosewood with a new rosewood veneer and it looks like this

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8195/8113705452_41daae7063_z.jpg

IMG_2494 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8113710778_1660c3d820_z.jpg

IMG_2501 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8055/8122651037_4413ea7435_z.jpg

IMG_2508 by my0771, on Flickr

 

Cartouche time I filled the hole with tape trimmed around the edges removed the tape stuck it to a piece of card to make a template.

Transferred the shape from the template to the brass and got this

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8324/8122671270_2560e3f6fb_z.jpg

IMG_2515 by my0771, on Flickr

 

More to follow thanks for looking

Michael

[my63]

The next stage is to trial fit the cartouche into the lid

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8122700457_281dfe7266_z.jpg

IMG_2522 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I must admit I used my new proxxon multi tool to shape the brass and the detail of the hole in total it took me about 1 hour instead of about 10 hours by hand.

 

Tis is the inside of the box the isides are made from spruce which has been stained and then waxed with a dark brown wax to try and match the colour it is not quite right yet but it is getting there.

 

I am still patching the veneer on the front and sides I have taken veneer from the back of the box to do this and will use the best match I can to replace that veneer.

 

The owner wants to keep this box as original as possible and I have tried whereever possible to accomodate this.

Thanks for looking

Michael

[fuchsiaprincess]

Wow!! You created your own cartouche

[my63]

For some reason my pictures of the inside of the box have not appeared so i will try again

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8053/8122706659_a7429ff5a9_z.jpg

IMG_2524 by my0771, on Flickr

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8122707429_7acf90170b_z.jpg

IMG_2525 by my0771, on Flickr

 

I am trying to leave as much original as possible and to replace things that are missing as sympathetically as possible.

Thanks

Michael