I never posted this on LJ as I didn’t think I had enough pictures to back it up. But then I thought if I could wrap some sort of a story behind it, it may cut the mustard… SO...!
Back in ’72 when I first got married, we moved into an unfurnished, 1 bedroom, 2nd. Floor flat in St. Kilda, the sin city of Melbourne,
(map for the benefit of Aussie members),
(there is a reason behinnd this picture).
The FIL was a nice guy to all, though didn’t approve of me. As a wedding present, he gave us an old WWII “ex-army foot locker”, at least that’s what he called it waving a .303 in front of my nose, that was hinted at as an ideal coffin for me if I put a foot wrong with his daughter.... lucky I was metric.
Back then, I was still head over heels with SWIDO (She Who I Didn’t Obey),
and just started working out on my beer gut,
and I was still cute enough to slowly win the affection of her family… (sorry had to sneak in those photos).
After fixing up a broken stud on this now 50+ year old belt
I considered myself a master upholsterer, I undertook the task of re-doing this old ragged cloth covered couch,
that our vicious cat
near destroyed with a new vinyl cover,
In comparison, the old footlocker stood out like gonads so I decided to also give it a facelift,
in my then workshop,
the 2nd. floor open balcony.
That chest has followed me around for the next 40+ years and it wasn’t till I saw some old build here that I looked for some old pictures and took some new ones to post.
Not being a woodworker let alone a handyman, I never expected to be writing about it so I didn’t take many past photos and it randomly appeared in a few old photos just by chance.
I’ve just taken a few close ups and was surprised how well it fared. No idea where I got these wooden carvings back in ’74, but they seemed to add a nice touch,
Talking about touch, I used two brass door knockers as a handle,
Somewhere I acquired a doctor’s brass name plate that I somehow hacked up (few tools borrowed from the FIL as all I had was a B&D drill with a sanding disc attachment), polished and added as corner brackets,
I also got some goldie plated looking plated screws that I countersunk around the top perimeter of the lid,
(I freaked out when I looked at the photos... slotted screws).
Added a keyed lock,
locked it and hid that key so the FIL couldn’t use it as my coffin. It’s still attached and hidden with my handcuffs,
(Turned out that was unnecessary as after the first few initial years, he must have mellowed as he thought the sun shun out of my chocolate starfish.)
A pair of brass hinges were also added,
the inside was painted black,
and I could still see the screw holes,
used for the old foot blocks.
It seems to have held up reasonably well with little obvious damage,
… might have imitated a sawhorse sometime… and when I run my hand across the faces, it’s obvious it was sanded using a drill and a flexible rubber disc pad.
And to think… no Fe$tool was used in the process… thanks for getting this far.
PS. The blue nightie still doesn’t compete with my tattered kimono,
worn in the B&W photos above.
Hell, if the ex ever read this there’d be more bounty than just that boat in the background!
Old photos are good, but the actual remembering is priceless.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
damn duckie kimonos huh ! i always thought you had a little geisha in you. lets see you were about 35 in 74 so, hell your doin pretty good for an 85 year old man ? i gotta say that was a beer gut to be proud of ! 😲🤣😁
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Nice story Alex. My first build was a soccer game. I worked weeks on it, and when I wanted to play with it, it broke within five minutes. So yours is better!
Thanks all... The main thing I do remember is that I was proud of how it got transformed... I won't overplay the results, however, considering what I started with, it was one helluva achievement bearing in mind the location (workshop), tools and my inexperience (in everything)... and a new siren for a bride ever ready to lure me to that other room with the big bed, (with my "love" of reading... guess which side of the bed was mine?).
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Well done and recanted. I made a believe it or not a pine chest of drawers over 25 years ago for our family home in Ashfield Sydney. It still exists today in my son daniels underground Bunker and hold electical equipment, I will have to see if I have any pictures of it and do a retro build presentation project post. I nresting enough it was also just pine but has stood the test of time.
