Posted 9 years ago
KathyKay
(53 items)
Purchased this stamped metal covered "common sense" trunk today at a flea market. I was hesitant to purchase it because of the damage on the top, I've never tackled a problem like this. It was cheap so I couldn't pass it up, figured if nothing else I could take it apart for spare pieces. As you can see from the picture the stamped metal on the top is damaged so looking for ideas on how to refinish this trunk. I was thinking I could take the metal off of the top, refinish the wood that is under it. Or I have some sheets of stamped metal from another trunk, I could use that to replace the damaged sections. The pattern is different but if I replace all of the pieces on the top those would be the same. That idea seems like a lot of work that I'm not sure I'm prepared or knowledgeable enough to tackle. I'm assuming I would have to remove the clamps and slats to get the old metal off and the replacements on. I'm looking for suggestions on what others have done in a case like this. I love the ornate lock and large latches (#4) on this trunk, figured they are worth the ten bucks I paid for the trunk.
Suggestions on how to bring this back to life are welcomed - or if you think it isn't worth fixing I'm open to hearing that too.
KK from what I have soon you will have this fantastic in no time!
A real dilema Kathy,It is a lot of work to replace that amount of embossed tin(Although it can be done). I don't think that I would go to the trouble of replacing the embossed tin unless I had a real good match or something close. It just might not look right. Wondering if this trunk has the older metal trunk label or just the paper one. I might consider the repair if it had the metal emblem(to me there is more value there) as opposed to just the interior paper one. Here is a picture of it.
It is currently listed on Craigslist for $70 in Portland Oregon under antiques. If you are missing parts this could possibly help as there are not many out there.Good luck.
http://images.craigslist.org/00p0p_9Ic8ddpdvSv_600x450.jpg
Drill I like the one with the metal emblem that you sent me the link for. This one has the paper label on the inside manufactured by Cutter and Cutter Boston with inventors name - looks like L J Palica. That name appears on the emblem you sent a link to. I'm going to hang onto this one for awhile and figure out what to do with it. I need to down size my collection but all I do is buy more because I run across ones at a great price, can't pass those up. I purchased an alligator stamped metal Clinton Wall trunk at Brimfield Antique show this past week. It is very large so I may just resell it as is because I have no room. I already have a medium size Clinton Wall in my collection so one of them has to go.
KathyKay
I picked up my second wall trunk, a Clinton, and it has two different types of metal embossing. As that makes it look rather strange, I am facing the same dilemma. Let me know what you come up with for I am looking for ideas. Would love to see a post of your entire collection in one shot.
JonB - I haven't done anything with this one yet. I has moved to the back of the garage to be worked on in the future. Before I stored it I started to take off the rusted metal on the top, I'm toying with the idea of refinishing the wood on the top and leaving the sides embossed metal. This one has become a future project.
At some point I will pile up all of the toy trunks and post a picture.