Antique Pipe Rack Restoration Project

[hobie1dog]

I bought this pipe rack/humidor off of Ebay last week. There was another one that had some documentation that it was built around 1890 or so and it was a 6 pipe rack. This one looks like the same manufacturer but who knows what vintage it is.

Has a divot and scratches on the top which will sand out.

Interior panels are all beveled and lift right out.

This is for size reference.

Bottom had a paper layer on it.

Joints are a little rough...gives it character

They didn't bother wiping excess glue off either

So I started sanding on it.

Divot was reduced to a small spot and the scratches came out easily

More sanding...about 4 hours worth

Bottom turned out nicely

These were a bear to sand out.

 

[hobie1dog]

I'm not a fan of walnut and so that it matches everything else, I'll first use some stain by Masters called Crimson Fire.

Then I'll spray a light coat of Lacquer to seal the stain color and then use some Briwax mahogany Grain Filler

I did the same process on this Empire 598 turntable that I'm still restoring, which was also walnut

 

[hobie1dog]

Got all the sanding done and started applying the stain. This pic is to show how red the stain is out of the can

This is the final stain job.

Yep, even did the bottom which will be covered with a new sheet of thin felt. So I elevated it to dry overnight.

 

[Nitschke066]

Very nice work, Hobie! Thanks for taking the time to post all the pics!

 

[Irene Adler]

Nice work. I like your taste in music (re: Nora Jones).

 

[hobie1dog]

Thanks, I was getting worried, I posted them up last night and there were no responses this morning...I guess I did post up rather late last night. I was beginning to think no one liked it. ale:

 

[Frost]

I REALLY like that stain & finish...very nice work.

 

[TallSmoke]

That's a great piece of work there! Well done!!! :cheers:

 

[brentona]

I'd love to see the finished product when you have it!!
Great job

-- Brent

 

[hobie1dog]

I sprayed the light coat of Clear Lacquer on it tonite to seal in the stain color, so tomorrow I should be able to apply the Grain Filler, which is a dark Mahogany color and hopefully match the color of the Empire Turntable pictured above.

 

[Midnight Blues]

Very nice so far, looking forward to seeing the finished piece. I'd also like to see the Empire, now thats a turntable you don't see to often.

 

[hobie1dog]

Well, no pics today, but I tried the grain filler on one section and it was so hot that the filler dried too fast and was impossible to wipe off quick enough, so I had to abort that idea and sand all of it off and re-stain that area. So now I'm just going to apply 4 coats of Lacquer this weekend. I'll post up pics naturally.

 

[hobie1dog]

I ended up putting 3 full coats of Lacquer on the pipe rack today, and being almost 100 degrees, each coat dried in 15 minutes. I even stirred up some of the flattening agent on the last coat, but it is still a high gloss finish.

I put the off white insert in the top to see what it would look like....not really digging it.

Flipped it over to the brass looking side

I'll make two plates out of stainless steel sheet tomorrow at work to see how they will look. I also have to re-install the inner liner panels in the humidor section, and put the thin sheet of felt on the bottom and likely will cut small strips and glue them in the top pipe circular cut-outs to cover up the roughness and protect the pipe stems from scratching. Overall......It matches my speakers pretty well and is good enough for the garage. :|

 

[brentona]

That looks too good to sit in a garage!

-- Brent

 

[mark]

,,,great work saving a piece of pipe furniture that could just as well have ended up in a landfill,,and it's a classic form,,,I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for keeping us updated,,,,

 

[hobie1dog]

I finished it up today. Got some thin sheet felt at the craft store with adhesive backing.
$1.00 per sheet. One sheet did the bottom and had enough left over for the pipe holes.

I used a new piece of stainless steel in the bottom but decided to re-use the brass looking original piece in the top.

 

[hobie1dog]

Now I need to buy some pipes to put in it.

 

[Anonymous]

A job Well Done Hobie!!! :cheers: :cheers:

 

[RonA3597]

Hobie, you really spiffed that pipe rack up good! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

[hobie1dog]

Thanks guys...it was rather fun to do...now on to buying some pipes to put into it.