The bear gets splinters in his fur!!

Oh Yeah!! 

This bear likes his timber - and especially to work with it!! As a youth I wanted to be a furniture maker (with a 3 year apprenticeship) by trade, and promptly failed in spatial mathematics!! Who knew you needed to add up 2 inches squared by 3 corners and flatten that out into a board?!?!?!  Not me - so promptly changed tack with my second passion and trained as a pastry chef!!

Years later - the passion for timber and stuff still burns brightly - so when our youngest son got seriously ill - I made myself a rock-solid 2 tonne heavy-do-not-move-an-inch work-bench/table!!! So yeah - no more kneeling on the ground and cutting with a loose hand!! 

All that means that several wood working projects later - I still get splinters in my hand and I still hate sanding - with a passion!!!!

I do however buy older slightly damaged goods / furniture (mostly coffee tables)  and then restore them with a view of on-selling them for a small profit - with a bit of luck!! 

Anyhow

Bought this beauty of Trade-me - for a princely sum of NZ $23!! 

Clearly it needs a some loving restoration!  There are traces of white paint and also the front and ONE side only, is covered in some form of Lacquer!! Hmmm  -- do I strip that back or leave it?????

Love the dove-tails - always a good sign

Yeah - nah - 

that is (or better WERE) the bottom legs!! They came off, first thing!! uuuuh - I better had made some for it later - or - hmmmm yeah I could just get some felt/glider legs stuck on

Obviously it was a custom fit-out in its previous home

The naked back - this will need a small covering

I removed the 60's style handles - so that required research on which replacements to make!! These looked nice - and require a bit of router-ring

Fancy stuff - in the end I went with some 15degree cuts along the long edges and sides

OK - my major bug-bear - folks always only oil/varnish ONE side - and leave the rest blank (untreated timber) - so the timber moves with the seasons - UN-evenly - which results - wait of for it - --- in splits.

Here is one being fixed - carefully so as not to change the inner dimensions and make the drawers stuck . . . .

Of course - Purple heart had to be used somewhere in the project;   Hoping that mamabear is  happier with her new bedside table!!

Finished them - oiled and all

Fitting them to the drawers - Would you belief it - even with pre-drilled holes - ONE screw decided to open up a pre-existing fault line in the Purple heart!! Nothing a bit of PVA will not fix - it's just, I could have done without that hassle . . . .

Oh yeah - the beginning of a table-top!! This will need a trim etc - but the sizes would work out just perfect!! Especially if I add in a 3cm wide Purple heart strip . . . . .

WATCH this space . . . . . 

Have fun