OT: Completed Restoration of 120 y.o. Heirloom China Hutch
 

My grandma moved out of her house in 2018. She gave the family heirloom china hutch to my father (her son). My parents told me if I wanted to restore it than I could have it. It was a wedding present to my great great grandparents in 1900 (pictured - standing back row left). It was given to my great grandfather, who kept it on his deck in Portland. After his passing, it went to his daughter, my grandma.

Through 120 years a cabinet door fell off (but it was retained). A leg cracked and was glued. And a joint came out of its trench. It was stained a darker color over the original stain and finish. And the interior display was painted beige.

I stripped, sanded, repaired in 2019 (three weeks of intermittent work). This summer I was able to apply new stain and new finish - completed hutch also pictured below (two weeks of intermittent work). I'm a school teacher, so the summer months worked out well for me to work on the project.

There will be quite a few pictures of the process.

Looks great!

The china hutch in pieces (sorry - I didn't get a before picture with all pieces put together).

In these pictures you can see the display with the beige paint inside (pic 1). You can see the leg of the base that cracked and was repaired with glue (pic 2). You can see the new stain versus the original stain (pic 3). You can see the stain is worn away in places on the front of the cabinet (pic 4). You can see the wood has separated out of the trench (pic 5). You can see with the orange square where the cabinet door hinge broke out the wood, making it impossible for the hinge to be repaired (pic 6). There is also a picture of the display shelf brackets that broke (I cracked these out and made replacements with the help of my uncle) (pic 7). There is a picture of a bottom of a shelf; this shelf has no support under it - the shelf just floats and thus nothing can be put on it (pic 8....sorry, this pic has flipped upside down).

Nice job Tim! Well worth the effort.

Nice work, ready to be handed down to future generations

I appreciate the compliments. When I took on the project it was under the mantra - "Any job worth doing is worth doing right." I'm hoping it survives another 120 years.

The following picture show some of the repairs made to the hutch. Using clamps I was able to put the joints back together. Tightening the clamps the wood squeaked, and I thought the dry wood would explode under pressure (pic 1). After getting the joints together, I used a Dremel tool and cut out the section of wood broken by the hinge. I replaced it with new wood and glued it in place with Hyde Glue, and then I supported it with a second piece of wood that is screwed into place (pic 2). The third pic of the vice is showing how I weighted down replacement pieces being glued. Inside the base cabinet, much of the original wood working as supports had come loose - creating floating shelves with little real support. So I used Hyde Glue and weighted them down (pic 3). Finally, after I cracked out the top display shelf supports, I had to fabricate them with the help of my uncle and his workshop. They were glued in using a variety of household weights, and eventually screwed in for added measure (pic 4).

The following pictures are showing the stripping and sanding process. The first pic shows the color of the altered exterior stain versus the wood original stain underneath (pic 1). The product I used pulled up both layers of stain and the finish too. The other photos show that every inch of the cabinet needed to have work done - exterior, interior, shelves, doors. There was so much square footage, it doubled the amount of time I thought I would need. Further, the interior of the top display was lead paint. I had never dealt with lead paint before, but I sure was impressed how well it adhered to wood! I was sanding by hand on the exterior, but to get the paint up I had to go out and buy an electric sander - I bought a Black and Decker Mouse sander, and I liked how it handled (pic 2). You will also notice a dings and dents picture. My dad didn't want me to sand so deep that the dings and dents went away. He said if I wanted to retain its character I needed to retain its scars. So I sanded lightly on the top of the base, and it turned out very nice with the new stain and finish. Professionals would call it a stressed look, but I didn't have to do fake any of the dings - it's from 120 years of love and abuse (pic 7).

The next series of pictures is applying new stain. It was almost a smooth step of the process until I started putting the base back together. Some pieces of wood on the cabinet did not take the stain so well. This is noticeable in the last picture. I got ahead of myself and applied finish to the doors. I had to buy finish remover and rub the finish off, apply another layer of stain, let it completely dry, and then reapply finish. I eventually got the colors to match.

Nice job, Tim. That had to be a long, tedious job, but you pulled it off wonderfully.

I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I enjoy woodworking quite a bit although I'm not a pro by any means. I made our dining table(my first) and matching bench about 3-4 years ago and so far so good. Nothing fancy, but we like it.

https://photos.imageevent.com/mhgt/w...31B16FF04.jpeg

Hey that's awesome! I'm no pro by any means either, but there sure is a lot one can learn on youtube! I really like the lines and character the top of the table and bench have - some real nice grain and absorption of the stain.

Sorry the pictures aren't loading properly. I don't usually have this problem, but I'm using someone else's computer and it's a little foreign to me. Usually I upload through my phone.

Next set of pictures is starting to crawl toward the end of the project. Putting on finish, hardward, hinges, etc. You can see the picture with white pieces of wood (dowels). That white/beige is the color of the paint I scraped off versus the new stain and finish. The other odd picture is the one with the vice. The handles were not tight enough to remain within the screw eye. So I took a vice and crunched them a little and now the problem is solved!

That's a Talent that I dont have...one of many, but I appreciate the work you put into this!
My father-in'law can make/build/fix just about anything. I wish I could spend time learning from him...but I'll do YouTube.

Great job Tim! Way to keep that history alive!

YouTube is the way to go! You can learn a lot from watching a video.