In part one of this set, I discussed how I acquired my Gerstner tool chest and the how I started the restoration process. I carefully taped over the hardware I couldn’t remove and cleaned the chest with Murphy’s Oil Soap and with a rag. I scrubbed it fairly hard to get all the dirt off. A bit of linseed oil to brought the shine back up on the chest.
Polishing and replacing the hardware
Each piece of hardware needed to be cleaned and polished. For the pieces that I didn’t remove, I carefully taped around them so that I wouldn’t damage the wood surface.
In the above picture, you can see the difference between the left hinge, which I hadn’t polished, and the right hinge, which was complete.
Adding the new felt
I chose to use wool felt for the chest. There are a lot of different opinions on whether you should use wool felt, acrylic felt, or some blend of the two. Gerstner now uses acrylic felt. I suspect that it matters more if the tool chest is in an environment where there are more temperature and humidity changes. Both the felt and the adhesive I used were acid free.
I carefully cut each piece and placed it in the drawers, top section, and lid. I chose to stay with the green since that is what the case had when I purchased it. The fresh felt looked very nice and bright.
The completed tool chest
When I got it all back together, I was really pleased with the results. The Gerstner tool chest looked really good and made a great cabinet for storing small tools.
I keep drafting tools, jewelry tools, pins, needles and other assorted tools I am into frequently. It sits where I can easily reach it and I enjoy the look of it in my studio. You can see more of my studio here.
Sherrey
You did such a beautiful job!