I enjoy finding old pieces and either restoring them or salvaging them. A friend of mine had an old treadle sewing machine that she had taken of the machine and put it in her sewing room as decoration. The cabinet without the base had been in her garden shed for years and was probably found in someones barn so was pretty much falling apart. It was basically just a pile of scraps (of course I forgot to take a picture before I started) but she asked me if I wanted to see if I could use any of the pieces. The machine is a Bruce Automatic from The Free Sewing Machine company and dates to around 1900 give or take. It had a unique rounded ends and drawers which I had never seen before so I decided it would be fun to try to see if I could make anything out of it. I disassembled the pieces and then started playing with ideas. The easiest was to simply join the drawers together, add a handle and make some decorative baskets After repairing the drawer section of the the cabinet, another idea was to use the drawer sections and make a tall cabinet that could sit against or hang on a wall.
I finally settled on a table top cabinet you see in the project photos.
One of the drawers had been crushed and warped somewhere along the way so I had to glue it back together. I wet the thin side wall to make it pliable enough to conform to the shape of the bottom. Large rubber bands helped get a smooth curve andI had to support the joints with pegs to help keep them aligned. It turned out pretty solid but I should have paid a little more attention to the how the broken veneer lined up on the outside during the glue up. I was a little difficult to get clamped so that it was back in its original shape. This was glued up with hide glue so I may try to fix this spot on the veneer at some point and make a new grip for the pull. I saved part of the apron in case I want to use the veneer on it for the repair but this was difficult enough that for now at least, I don't want to risk making it worse.
Here is what the pull used to look like. I made the top by cutting off the wings from the top of the cabinet and then glued them together using biscuits and bow cauls to help with clamping and alignment. I used a crest that was on the front apron of the cabinet to help hide the joint.
I decided to simply clean the grime off and leave its hard earned patina in place. Considering the condition it was in, the finish was actually in pretty good shape. I did glue down a few areas where the veneer was chipped or loose but opted not to try to replace any of it. Thanks for looking.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
In case anyone is interested and since I forgot to take a before picture, I found a picture online of a similar machine cabinet. On mine, the front apron was lower and pivoted up when the the lid was opened and the machine was raised into operating position so that it was not in the way of the legs The one I started with did not have the metal stand and frame for the drawers on one end was mostly detached and broken. The lid had been replaced with a piece of plywood at some point in its life. The one below has obviously been restored at some point and is still in working condition.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
Man, that's gorgeous! Nice rescue. I was considering making a table from pine to set my carving tool chest on to clear out room on the bench. I have three pieces of furniture made out of oak, so I'm going to keep that going. Gonna cost a lot more money. 🤷♂️ Unless I can find another antique piece like the entry table I scored...
Nice save Nathan, it's amazing to me how intricate old furniture is. All made by hand tools and exceptionally detailed compared to what is available today. You turned that junk into an attractive looking piece. 👍🏻
When taking it apart I was actually a little surprised about much it looked like stuff that is mass produced today, just without particle board, MDF and vinyl veneer. They just used different "cheap" materials than what is available today. The top was made from pine with surprisingly thin (for the day) veneer for example. The wood that divided the drawers from the inner cabinet was sort of like a thick veneer. Today they would use something like Masonite for that. I think that this was definitely made in batches with different steps that were obviously made using machines. I could definitely believe that different people made different parts and then that different people might have done different parts of the assembly.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
