While we are quite used to creating small components for our own projects and products, it was a rather intriguing and quite a different experience when it came to creating just part of a project for someone else. When a local furniture restorer approached us, that is exactly what we found ourselves facing. They had an old chest of drawers that they were looking to bring back to life. But they had a small bump in the road – some of its handles were missing!
This chest of drawers was large and old, and we could certainly see that it had been well used by its many previous owners. There were quite a few recesses in the drawer fronts where small handles should have been, and so our mission was quite simple. Create a series of replacements handles that they can use to complete their restoration.
After some careful inspection of the existing piece, we selected beech as our material of choice, for its hardness and durability will be sure to keep these in great shape for some time. Are some very careful measurements, we got to work creating our first piece.
It took a little bit of practise to get comfortable making quite so many of these handles – we were quite new to the woodturning world at the time. But, with a few pieces consigned to the scrap bin, we quickly overcame this difficulty and had completed a set of 8 spare handles.
As requested, these were left with a simple sanded finish, so they could receive further treatment to make them look right at home with their counterparts. As for how that might work, we were confidently told that it was a “trade secret”, with a grin and a wink.
This was an eye-opening experience into the world of antique furniture restoration and one that we never anticipated when we set out with our product mission. We were thrilled to see the result of this hard work that has now breathed new life into an old piece of furniture.