The Makeover Begins

March 2017 I was ready to start the makeover of my trunk and this is how I went about it:

Lining the drawers

I won't be starting the trunks body until I retire, so, I started working on the lining of the three small drawers. Many of the drawers had weak joints on their fronts. These were re-glued and taped down tight until dried. 

Tapped joint

The metal plate pull connectors had to be removed. Using pliers, this took some effort to do because there was a lot of material crammed in behind them and not much room to get into remove it all. 

Metal connector on a leather worn drawer puller

Slowly but surely the material was removed and a hack saw could be used to try and cut the steel. This did not work because the steel was so hard to cut, plus the timber was getting scratched. I then tried pinches, but the width of the head was too wide to fit. 

Next I had a go at drilling the back of the nail out, but the steel was like the 'Titanic' and too hard for the drill bit. I remembered years ago that we had bought a special pair of (not sure of the correct name) but I guess 'cutters'. They have two pivots and once I could work the connector loose enough to get the head of the cutters in, with two squeezes ' snap' Got cha! 

These cutters are going to be my next best friend

The tape was removed from the joint repair and the drawers were given a light sand over in readiness for the cardboard lining. 

I lined the drawers both inside and out with cardboard using Matt's method from Antique trunks and Chests. (Find Matt on Youtube) I learned a lot from watching the three videos that Matt presented. Thanks Matt. 

Sanded drawer

I never got around to taking a photo of the small drawers
being lined with cardboard, but here is a larger one
that was taken later

I found Sage Reynolds YouTube video Lining a box with no joins. I liked Sage's technique, he was well informed and presented in a very nice manner. I did manage to complete a box using his method, although I had to alter one section to allow for the use of the different material on the front. 

Note: I spent some time stopping Sage's video to take screen shots to print out of each step. Notes were taken and written up in my folder alongside the screen shots. I did this because I knew it would be some time before I would get to cover all three drawers and I didn't want to replay and stop the video 100 times. 

I'm glad I did this process because the drawers weren't covered all in one hit and I re-visited my notes lots of times. Although the three smaller drawers are now covered I have decided to hold on completing the larger drawers. I want to move onto other areas of the trunks makeover. I know the drawer process worked for me and I will get to cover the remaining drawers later down the track with help from my trusty notes. 

Sage's notes 

One of the three drawers completed, except for the brass connector