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Restored Wardrobe Trunks

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    Posted 9 years ago

    randallbar…
    (38 items)

    We've been told that most restoration services won't attempt restoring those old big black fiber case wardrobe trunks and, while they certainly present unique challenges, we've taken on quite a few lately and with great results. Usually the large surface areas are pretty banged up, dented and torn so re-creating that original finish poses some problems. Putty, plastics and paint have been our answer to these flaws and, in most cases (no pun, sorry) you can't tell just how horrible it looked when entering our shop. We've also been converting quite a few of these old beasts into bar trunks and those have been fun to get creative with. Those projects we generally wait until after 5 to start working on!

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    Comments

    1. trunkman trunkman, 9 years ago
      Glad to see someone is brave enough to tackle these behemoths.. with excellent results!
    2. Drill Drill, 9 years ago
      Wonderful as usual Randall,the work on the edge binding really makes you take notice to these often forgotten about gems.Very functional trunk for it's time.
    3. trunkowner, 9 years ago
      Hi Randall
      Your trunk is beautiful. I would love to know more about how you did it. I have an old wardrobe trunk. Its in pretty bad condition. The outside has places were the black material (not sure what it is called) is cracked or completely missing. You said you used putty. Just normal painter's putty? What kind of paint do you use? What did you use on the inside of the trunk that's pictured here? Mine is missing a leather strap at the top. What website do you recommend for replace parts such as the leather strap. Any tips you can give me would be appreciated. Thank you
    4. randallbarbera randallbarbera, 9 years ago
      Hi trunkowner!
      Thanks for the compliments! Each of these (that we've worked on, at least) are so very different that it would take volumes to explain the different techniques we've used. As far as recommending a great site for parts? Brettuns Village is the absolute best out there, bar none.

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