Another Rescue/Project

I was very lucky to come across a very large antique (Victorian?) cabinet yesterday. It's kind of a long story about how I found out about it, but I'll try to keep it really short:

I know a guy down the street who knows I fix clocks and love antiques. He helped a family 2 blocks away clear out a house full (and garage full) of stuff. He had a table he wants to repair and asked me to help him (it's a cherry veneered dining room table, and he wanted advice on stripping it, etc). He showed me this old cabinet that was still in the dilapidated garage which was half way to being torn down. He said that this old work table was going to be going to the dump and he thought I might want to save it.

So. I posted a quick request for help on Facebook, and I was able to get the help of my former employer's husband and girlfriend, and we took it here tonight around 5pm.

This thing is *H*E*A*V*Y*. Like... 200Lbs or more. We were 2 strong guys lifting it and we had a hard time and it's EMPTY.

Sorry about the blurry photos, I was taking these in poor lighting, and I didn't have my tripod with me (too lazy to go get it). I'll take better photos once I clean it up a bit.





To give you a sense of scale, it's over 8 feet long (roughly 98") and 3 feet wide, roughly 32 tall. The top is solid wood 1 1/8" thick, and all of the back and sides are solid 3/4" t-g.

The cove moulding under the top might look small in the photos, but it's nearly 2" square.

The back (front?) is grain painted to look like oak, and the front used to have 15 long narrow drawers, each with 2 cup handles. Sadly, these were all emptied, and thrown into a dumpster about a week ago. My friend said if he had known about this nice old cabinet, he would have got them to save the drawers. I have half of one (jammed in place and missing the bottom), and one complete drawer, so I'll be able to make new ones out of scrap wood.



The best part about the whole thing: the patina on the top is to die for. GORGEOUS old wood, and a well-worn surface. It also helps that it was completely FREE.