# Do any of you work with antiques?



## jacks'thunder (Jul 13, 2013)

I need some advice. I have these 2 tool boxes. One was my great great grandfathers and the other was one my dad had. He is moving and was going to throw them out. I just fell in love with them and my mom said to grab the one that was her granddads forsure.

Now my question is how do I clean them with out ruining the cool age part of them? They stink! Bad!

I'd like to use them for sewing things. Needles, buttons, stuff like that. But with the way it smells and the grime..... yuck!

Any advice? Products, home remedies?

Thanks in advance!


----------



## jacks'thunder (Jul 13, 2013)

Here is a picture


----------



## Riverrose28 (Jul 13, 2013)

I'm assumoing they are are made of some sort of metal, mix in a spray bottle, one cup of water, one cup of hydrogen perozide, and half a cup of baking soda, remove all the drawers, and spry every thing, let sit over night, then rinse, if needed you could use a rag to wipe off.

If there is any doubt, spry the back first and see if it works.


----------



## jacks'thunder (Jul 13, 2013)

Nope they are both wood. One has leather wrapping around the outside of the box. Each drawer has green felt like stuff in them( you can see it in the one with the top open, both the dark and light green are felt) and the one box has the felt and some other brown material on top of that.

Do you think that will work on wood???


----------



## Marsha Cassada (Jul 13, 2013)

Try an air compressor and a paint brush to get the interior grime loose, especially with the felt. Watch the pressure until you see how the felt holds up.

You can scrub the wood with a soaped rag and brush. After cleaning, I use 0000 steel wool and an oil to clean the wood. Buff with a rag as you go. May have to go over it more than once.

My favorite combination for cleaning/polishing wood is Watco danish oil used with Skidmore's beeswax with a 0000 pad.

I recently got an old tool box that belonged to my grandpa. It is the large, trunk-style. 80+ years of shop grime! It came out really nice and I have it in my living room now.

I found his signature inside while cleaning--no one had known it was there.

Murphy's oil soap is another product to use on wood. I LOVE cleaning up old stuff; so satisfying. Good luck with your treasure!


----------



## shorthorsemom (Jul 13, 2013)

be careful how much you clean old stuff, sometimes the old patina is worth more than the cleaned restored product. I love murphys oil soap for some of my old wood stuff, smells good too. I love old boxes like that. Don't strip off any paper labels if you find any on them. I wouldn't use the soap on the felt. Gorgeous. if they came up at local auction I would probably bid on them. Love those old boxes with the little knobs on the drawers. I don't shine the knobs, love the original patina. Might even be brass.


----------



## jacks'thunder (Jul 14, 2013)

Thank you both! I'm pretty sure I have Murphys oil soap!




If not I'll pick some up.

Shorthorsemom, I'm with ya! I LOVE boxes! Expecially old boxes!! I know I would bid on them too and probably do exactly what I'm doing with them now! I think you and I would have a biding war!!! lol! I love all the little drawers and knobs, that's what made me think sewing! lol!

Marsha, *I'd love to see a picture of your box!!*! Thats what I'm not sure what to do about, all that shop grime. If I could see how yours turned out I could judge how far I'd like to take it down.


----------



## Jill (Jul 14, 2013)

I don't work with any, but could think of so many uses for what you are showing!!! H and I both love antiques, particularly "tiger wood" oak. Lots of that in our house, from what we got from my parents and what we have acquired on our on. For sure in love with vintage pieces!!! Character -- love it!!!


----------



## Debby - LB (Jul 14, 2013)

Wow lucky you! those are great pieces, collectors drool over those. Even though you refer to them as being used as tackle boxes these look like machinist tool boxes to me, these antique boxes are very valuable.

Like the others said be very careful cleaning them. When you get them cleaned up you will have a beautiful display for your sewing stuff that's for sure.


----------



## shorthorsemom (Jul 14, 2013)

There are several on ebay for sale. You can check out the old finishes there to see what they look like cleaned up. . Search machinist tool and antique or vintage as search phrases. You might call a local antique dealer for cleaning ideas different from Murphy's. I am a weenie chicken bidder..you would win. Haha. My husband does the important bidding in this family. Love auctions. We never buy anything new here.


----------



## jacks'thunder (Jul 14, 2013)

Wow! Thanks everyone! I really feel like I found a treasure! I just checked out Ebay and there are a few similar to mine! Cheese and rice! They want a small fortune for them! Lol! I'm goint to take the time this evening and really do some research. My mom said she thinks thay both came from her family. She thinks one was her uncle toms(who was like a brother to her) and one was her grandpas. How cool! I have a neat part of my history that my dad was going to trash. I'm glad I got them!


----------



## shorthorsemom (Jul 14, 2013)

Never throw anything out or sell it cheap without some research. I had a boss once that was cleaning out the attic of his parents house and came across tons of boxes of those old flash bulb things that go on those obsolete film projectors (I think I got the story right, might have to imagine a little) bottom line was that he put them on bulk on ebay and they were worth a TON of money, absolutely thousands and thousands of dollars. They were astonished. All they said was, holy cow, i almost threw that out. U just never know. There are folks out there like me that love to come across boxes like that. They do quite well at auction too. You have found a nice treasure and its great they have a personal story too. I treasure antiques.


----------



## Miniv (Jul 14, 2013)

Yes you DO have a couple of treasures.....And I agree to be very careful with the original paint or stain on them. That adds to their value....as does any labels. LUCKY YOU!


----------



## MindyLee (Jul 14, 2013)

On the antique roadshow... they say never clean them yourselves! Have a pro do it so not to do more harm then good!

Otherwise their neat!!!


----------



## Marsha Cassada (Jul 14, 2013)

I took a couple of pictures of my tool box. I've refinished several old pieces over the years. The 0000 steel wool with Watco and the Skidmores wax have always done a beautiful job for me. Once in a while I use a little paint thinner for things like grease. The air compressor with a paint brush should clean up your felt interior well. Just watch the pressure and do a little at a time. If any pieces come off, save them and you can reglue them. If you don't have an air compressor, you could use a hair dryer with no heat.

My tool box was filthy inside and out. Not only had it been a working tool box, but then it was shoved into the back of the shop for 50 years and neglected. The lock on it is very interesting. We had to take it to a lock smith to find out how it worked. He said he had seen railroad locks similar.

The top is scarred, but to me that adds to its charm. My mom and aunts all played on top of it as children. It has the original shelves inside and a custom fitted level on one compartment. There weren't many old tools left in it when I got it, but I cleaned them all up and left them inside. I copied out the stories my aunts and mom remembered about it and put them in it, along with my grandpa's graduation certificate from his training school. If you find out any history about your boxes, it's a good idea to write them down and put them with the box.

www.cassphoto.com/tooltrunk1.jpg

And here is a picture of it in the room. Please note my blooming orchids, if you please!! I received the orchid for mother's day in 2007 and it is blooming again. Pretty exciting. The birdhouse was made by my uncle.

www.cassphoto.com/toolbox2.jpg


----------



## Boss Mare (Jul 14, 2013)

Very cool! Love them.


----------



## REO (Jul 15, 2013)

They are fabulous! I *LOVE* them! You have to be careful with something that old & porous. Do research first. Then practice on the younger of the two to try it out. The Very old one is priceless!

WOW!!


----------



## jacks'thunder (Jul 15, 2013)

Marsha your room is beautiful! The tool box is pretty fabulous, you did such a nice job! And I LOVE your bird house!!!! (And your Orchid make me alittle green



I can't grow house plants for anything, I can do out side plants no problem.) I have a Hoosier Kitchen( I think that's what it's called??) that my mom refinished with steel wool and paint thinner. It's beautiful!

Well I think I'm just going to get the spiders and their eggs out of the locks, oil the bajabies out of them, blow out the insides with the air hose and a brush and just leave them alone. I did ask my mom to write down some info on her grandpa and uncle tom. I'll put it in the boxs somewhere so when my son gets these he'll have all the info I can find. She said she thinks she got the one (that my dad abused) when uncle Tom passed away, and the other that was her grandpas way before that. I also have *boxes* of old match books and match book covers that were uncle Toms. When my mom was moving out she had no Idea what to do with them. I told her I'd take them and put them in my attic. Any Ideas on what to do with those? lol!!!

Thank you all for your kind words and helpful comments


----------



## Debby - LB (Jul 15, 2013)

Wow Marsha your boxes turned out beautiful. Your orchid is beautiful too I wish I could grow those. Love your style! your home is gorgeous, really like the southwest look of your chair/sofa there accenting the leather, very pretty.


----------



## JustJuls (Jul 20, 2013)

I have tons of wooden antiques, never thought to use the 0000 steel wool and oil on them.I will have to give it a try. Where would one get the Watco Danish oil and the Skidmoor's beeswx?


----------



## Marsha Cassada (Jul 21, 2013)

JustJuls said:


> I have tons of wooden antiques, never thought to use the 0000 steel wool and oil on them.I will have to give it a try. Where would one get the Watco Danish oil and the Skidmoor's beeswx?


I know Home Depot/Lowes carry Watco. It comes in different colors but I usually use Danish Walnut or clear.

Skidmore's you can order from the company. It is in Montana. 800-785-2466. Sometimes it's called Woodfinish Cleaner, sometimes Leather Cleaner. Same product and used for both applications. I use it on my harness and my wooden cart. I've used it for 20+ years. It is beeswax and natural oils.


----------



## Marsha Cassada (Jun 8, 2014)

I went to an auction yesterday and bought a box with two figurines in it. I believe they are 18th century. One is a hunter with the 1883 Dresden mark and one is a lacey lady made by the Derby company. Her lace was probably perfect before they tossed her into the auction box lot. But even with a little lace damage she is beautiful. There were old German porcelain candle holders in the box also, but they had too much damage to interest me. Special care had been taken by the auction company with modern nicknacks. I guess they knew their buyers, as those brought a lot more than my figurines. I got my box for $15; probably could have got it for $12 but I'm rusty at auctions. It had rained the night before so all the box lots were soaking wet. Some other items in mine might have been good if they hadn't been rained upon. All the cookbooks, very old record albums, and other paper things were wet.

I wanted a couple of other items but they were part of large, junky lots and I didn't want to bother with the other stuff. Did manage to buy a nice spool of grungy waxed string out of someone's lot, which will be perfect to use with my crafts.

We are VERY glad of the rain, however, so no one complained.


----------



## chandab (Jun 8, 2014)

Auctions are way too much fun. Sometimes you get a good bargain, sometimes you get a box full of crap to get one good thing. We have a tendency to visit the closest dumpster after an auction.


----------



## jacks'thunder (Jun 9, 2014)

My hubby went to a farm auction last Saturday. Thank gosh he did not have more then a few bucks to spend or he would have came home with a 1950's truck and trailer! Not that I would have made a fuss but that _all_ we need is another vehicle that gets less then 10 miles to the gallon! LOL! He did pick up a 2 ton cherry picker for for 35 dollars and this awesome 1875 straw/feed chopper for 40 bucks! It's so cool! If I could figure out how to use it for decor in the house I would. LOL! But it works so last night he chopped up some her for my 29yr old girl. Hopefully she eats it, it would be great if we could actually use the cool antique! I mean how often do you come across things from the 1800's, i don't come across them often, so I think it's cool!


----------

