A friend of mine received a little wooden box from her grandmothers estate. They asked if I could help restore it to its original glory
I’d usually just take a crack at this kind of thing and see if it works out. Considering the sentimental value, I figured I’d bother the kind folks here and ask for help
General finish:
The wood seems thick enough to take some light sanding on the top and sides. The bottom is much thinner so I’m not so sure about that.
I’m thinking just some basic sanding and finish with a neutral wood conditioner. Any product recommendations would be helpful.
And should I do a hard coat of some kind to keep it scratch free going forward? (Hard wax? Ceramic?)
And lastly, any recs on which grits I should use to bring this thing back to life?
Hinges:
The hinges are a little more complicated. I’m not sure if it’s worth taking them off to clean/brighten them up. Mostly because I don’t know how to reattach them considering they are sort of nailed in.
Is reattaching them as simple as filling the holes with wood glue and saw dust or would that be too obvious on this kind of hinge?
If necessary I can replace the hinges all together but I think it would be a bit sad to lose the original hardware.
The bottom:
The bottom isn’t anything special, I could probably just throw a new piece on so long as it’s roughly matched.
But feel free to let me know if it looks simple enough to save.
To be honest, I don’t know how the bottom is attached. It might just be wood glue from the brief time I’ve had to look at it.
Thanks in advance to anyone who’s read all these words and taken the time to comment, it’s much appreciated
Several ways to restore/cleanup. I would use the bottom to test out sanding down, I would start with 150 grit. Drop to 100 if needed, then work up to at least 220/320 for final finish. The hinge I would leave as is, you can reattach several ways as well. You can tighten up the existing holes with small cutoffs of toothpicks and hammer back in or use a small amount of epoxy and the slide the hinge back in and let dry. Final finish is up to you!
I would not do any sanding at first. I would use a cleaner made for furniture something like Murphy oil soap and see how clean it can get from that. Then use something like Weiman restorer and polisher. Any of the should be tested on the bottom of the box to see what it does before doing the full box. The hinge can be removed and cleaned then reinstalled using a two part epoxy that will fill the oversized holes just be sure to tape off anything you don’t want epoxy on.
Honestly my thoughts and a few experiences on sentimental value items I would do a good cleaning and a hinge repair. All the scratches and dents and especially the wear show age and character.
If this outcome does not meet the requirements then a good sanding by hand with a sanding block Will do the trick. I would not chase any scratches but maybe use one of the 3m sanding pads to spot sand if needed this will remove the scratch but will leave a depressed area that could be seen when finished.
Make a decision on sanding before you epoxy the hinges in place.
For a finish I would use a natural oil to try and keep the old age look.
