Golden Era Things You've Revived Or Repaired For Use

[Shangas]

Dunhill Sports Lighter (Ca. 1926)...

Before:

AFTER:

Money Shot:

 

[scottyrocks]

Dunhill Sports Lighter (Ca. 1926)...

Before:

AFTER:

Money Shot:

Nice job. Just yesterday I was looking at a lighter on my desk that dates back to my Grandmother's house. She's been gone a long time, and she and my Grandfather had it a long time.

I think I will pull it part and see if all it needs is a bit of lighter fluid.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I like wood & canvas canoes, & I bought this one at a yard sale in either 2014 or 2015. By serial number it's a 1928 Old Town. One side of the gunwale was split but repairable, the thwart was missing & from the bottom it looked like at least 3 ribs were broken where the floorboards had been added.

I finally had the time to work on it this winter. When I peeled off the old canvas I found 2 of the cedar strips were soft & bad from the canvas leaking. I bought 3 new cedar strips planed to size (1 extra) but had to build a steamer to curve them to fit. I also bought new canvas, 3 ribs & a thwart from various sources online. My wife learned to cane chairs several yrs ago so she caned the seats when the frames were ready.

During the era this boat was built a light green & gold paint stripe was a $6.00 option on the dark green body. I've found a car painter who does pin-stripping who will come out & do the stripping for me but it will cost me ~12 X the original price.

Continued

 

[Hurricane Jack]

A while back I got a tip on the location of another Old Town of the same vintage, in original yellow canvas. More recently I made an offer & got it bought for a future project. Since finding the painter I'm thinking of doing this one in white canvas instead of yellow. He says he can paint the Indian border if I work out the scale.

 

[BobHufford]

^^^^^ That is so cool Jack! Kudos to you and the Missus.

 

[Bamaboots]

Great job, @Hurricane Jack.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

That is so cool Jack! Kudos...

Great job

Thanks guys! Still on the hunt for a nice restorable birchbark.

 

[greatestescaper]

I am currently, slowly restoring quite a few golden era wood working tools. Today my son and I are working on sharpening some chisels with the hand grinder and Arkansas stones.

 

[Shangas]

My latest restoration project: An Edwardian-era silver-faced pocketwatch stand.

The watch inside is my 16s Ball railroad chronometer.

The original interior:

All torn out..

 

[Shangas]

And here's the results...

 

[Jeffrey Westcott]

I love finding old rusty cast iron pans and cleaning them up. Super easy. I love cooking with cast iron because the more you use it, the better it gets. It only gets "bad" if you don't use it.

 

[Bugguy]

No way a big box store medicine cabinet would ever work in my house... I picked up this sad gem at Building Value - Cincinnati (Eastertseal Enterprises). Rusted out, ragged wires, tarnished chrome, bad silvering; in other words, "CHEAP".

Heavy wire brushing with my angle grinder, re-wire with new ballast, re-silvering the mirror, and a little paint resulted in a conversation piece in the powder room. This came out as one of my better projects.

 

[Mr Oldschool]

I love finding old rusty cast iron pans and cleaning them up. Super easy. I love cooking with cast iron because the more you use it, the better it gets. It only gets "bad" if you don't use it.

What methods do you find work best for rust removal? I've tended to use steel wool, but it's laborious and leaves me wondering how deep it reaches into the texture if the cast iron.

 

[1930artdeco]

I like evaporust, drop something in a bucket cover it and leave it be for a few days. presto.

Mike

 

[Mr Oldschool]

Thanks, I'll look for it.

 

[EngProf]

Thanks, I'll look for it.

It works well, but don't leave it in the bucket too long. It will turn into a dense brown goo.
Right now I have a rifle part embedded in a cup of semi-solid mud.

 

[Mr Oldschool]

It works well, but don't leave it in the bucket too long. It will turn into a dense brown goo.
Right now I have a rifle part embedded in a cup of semi-solid mud.

Good to know, thanks!