Steady Eddie's Chest

Mr. Ed Cox was one of my favorite people.  He passed away last year.  He lived a long and happy life and was in generally good health and spirit right up until the time that he went home to be with his Lord.  I wrote a little piece about Mr. Ed that you can read here.  I am good friends with Mr. Ed's Grandson, Kyle.  Kyle and his family have been taking on the task of cleaning out Mr. Ed's house and gathering up things that are dear to them.  Kyle told me that they found this old chest of drawers out in Mr. Ed's storage barn, and that if I wanted to try and refinish it I could.  I took the opportunity on a rainy Sunday afternoon to get started on what I think is going to be a beautiful piece.  Check out Steady Eddie's Chest!

Doesn't look like much does it?

Rear view.  The top piece and mirror are no where to be found.



You can tell that someone starting to work on the piece by the two drawers that are already stripped.  I hope it was Mr. Ed.  I kind of like knowing I am finishing what he started.

So this is what I was given.  It is in really nice shape and all of the wood looks to be in good order.  I removed the drawers and all of the hardware.  I had to do a little repair on the floor of one of the drawers, but luckily Mr. Ed left me some finishing nails that I needed in the very same drawer that needed repairing.  I was disappointed to find that someone had removed all of the locks from the drawers and filled in the keyholes with wood filler.  I am going to try and find a small brass plate or badge to cover up these places, or I may even try and find new locks.  I think it will dress the piece up a little and finish the drawers off nice.

So is this piece going to be worth the effort??  Take a look at the next two shots and you tell me!!

First two drawers with just a bit of cleaner.  These were the two that were already stripped.

All four drawers stripped, sanded, and ready for hardware and finish!

I am having fun with this piece so far.  It has been fairly easy to clean up as the old varnish is taking it easy on me and coming off nicely.  I have pictures of the finished top, but I am going to save those for the next blog post so keep watching for updates as I bring "Steady Eddie's" chest back to life!