The Idle Woodworker Blog was Featured on About.com

I would like to thank Ryan Kunkle from the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania for featuring my Christmas Platform blog post in his About.com Model Railroad Blog a few days back.  Ryan has some great articles regarding designing and setting up very aesthetic model railroad scenes.

A big reason any I began blogging at the end of last year was the limited information available for certain projects, such as a Christmas Train Platform.  By sharing information and things I have learned, I was hoping to inspire others in their own projects.  

Keep an eye out for upcoming posts as we finish up 2012 and head into 2013.  

I promise to finish the Depression-Era Vanity I introduced you to back in June, as well as test drive and review a hand saw the Great Neck Tools company will be sending my way.  A few other things in the works are farmhouse-inspired kitchen pieces I designed, removing tool rust with electrolysis, and some tools I originally thought were limited, but now cannot live without.

As for the Minwax Facebook contest, I did not win the big trip, but still receive a great consolation prize.  Congrats to Tom P. of Indiana, PA for his truly wonderful restoration of a family heirloom grandfather clock.  I really appreciate all of your votes, it is wonderful thing to know your work is truly appreciated.

Upcoming Projects

After some time off at the shop taking care of pressing issues, I am happy to say Memorial Day Weekend was a welcome return to my saws, chisels, hand planes, and hammers. A dire need for shop space has also brought me back to where my experience in woodworking began, refinishing. There are two particular pieces I have had sitting around for quite some time and I am looking forward to having them done and gone, giving me more floorspace in my shop and my guest bedroom.

The Lady's Vanity

The first is a piece is a lady's vanity from the 1930s. With no maker's mark in any of the drawers, one could only assume it was part of a larger set. It appears to be made of walnut, some veneered plywood, and oak, tinted with a dark red stain/dye, with a final coating of lacquer. The mirror is in pretty good condition, just a few scratches on the frame and mirror posts. The body of the vanity was in good usable condition, but there two glaring issues which are in need of repair.

• The veneer on the top is coming loose, and in a few places, was missing. It would be essential to re-glue the old veneer and patch the missing pieces.
• On the left hand side there is a massive burn, possibly being set next to a radiator or something even hotter.

The Classic Toolbox

The second piece once belonged to my to my neighbor's grandfather, and we estimate it at also being from the 1930s. It is a very larger toolbox, made of oak, and in a very "well loved" condition. Between the many scratches and crazing*, it also had a split piece of wood on it in need of replacement.

While this was a very wonderful piece, my need for a large, chest-styled toolbox was minimal, as was the room in my garage to use it as such. This tool chest would serve as a nice blanket chest, especially if it were lined with aromatic cedar. In additional, all eight brass chest corners appeared to be in great condition, just well aged. Buffed to a shine, or shown with a slight aged brass patina, these chest corners would offset nice against the dark wood.

I will reserve future blog posts for the restoration of these pieces, so be sure to check back in the coming weeks for updates.


* Crazing is when a furniture's finish shows tiny cracks, resulting from the shrinkage of the finish. This can be attributed to many, many moons spent in direct sunlight (by a window) or from issues regarding humidity.