Posted 10 years ago
Kydur
(103 items)
Yes indeed there is a place called Moosejaw! It's in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, and it looks as though that's where this steamer trunk started its journey.
At $50 it's the most I've paid for a steamer trunk (if you disregard the wardrobe trunk) but I thought it was so sturdy and clean that I would buy it. It also has the most complete set of leather straps out of all of them I have. Besides who wouldn't want a trunk that has "MooseJaw" painted on the side!
When I got it home I realized that somebody along the way had painted the metal parts silver, so that's something I'll eventually strip off back down to bare metal. It needs some new lining and the tray requires some fixing.
Wow!! You still got a really great bargain here. This trunk is in pretty nice condition even though the hardware was painted silver.
Just a tip: You can strip the hardware down to the bare metal and recolor it brass colored. I use a product called Rub-N-Buff (Gold Leaf color). Though it says "Gold Leaf" it is really a very true color of brass. I use it quite a bit and it works really well. You've got a really great looking trunk here!!
Just my personal opinion, but if this were mine, I would leave the interior alone. It's actually in premium condition, from what I can see. If it has that "Old" smell in it, I have a small can of Red Cedar Oil that I wipe a very small amount into the bottom of the trunk and close the lid. It will smell like red cedar for a very long time afterwards, if you like the smell of fresh cut red cedar, that is.
Thanks for the restoration tips Scott. What do you use to seal in the Rub-N-Buff to keep it from rubbing off? Several people on this site have offered numerous tips to mask the smell of these old trunks (and ALL of mine smell real funky!), but I like the idea of the cedar oil since that might actually remove the smell (rather than mask it) by replacing whatever is on the lining with something else.
I love the smell of cedar! I live in a forest of 2nd (or 3rd) growth cedars and fir on the west coast of Canada. Cedar has been used for construction in the house as well as the outside siding; most of it from the few milled trees that were cleared from the property.
After I complete the Rub-N-Buff application, I usually go back in the next day and put a single coat of satin polyurethane over the hardware. A single coat is sufficient and works quite well.
I bought a small can of cedar oil from Amazon and I've had it for several years. When I say it only takes a small amount, it really only takes a small amount.
You'll see what I'm talking about.
I also sealed my canvas with Daddy Van's Bees Wax. The bees wax tip came from Trunkman, I believe. It works really well.
Thanks for all the info Scott. I can see there's lots I'll need to learn here - some from people like yourself and other things that probably can only be learned from experience and trial & error! I think I'll tackle one of the small bentwood suitcases I have first and build up some technique and confidence.
You'll learn many tricks of your own as you go along. I think we all have our own little shortcuts and tricks that we've learned over the years. Although, I don't have near as many as some of the others on CW.
Good luck with your restorations my friend!!