They called this "restored"?!?
Jun. 28th, 2006 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
isabelladangeloFor those that don't remember the entire incident with the wooden cot I bought off of ebay, let me recap (although I think a lot of it is back in my livejournal somewheres around jan or feb). I saw this gorgeous FOLDABLE WOODEN antique cot. My first thought was "OHHHH! Pennsic!" and I bid a lotta money for it based on the pictures and the fact the seller said it was a great occasional bed. She also said it had been restored 20 years ago. Well, I got the lovely cot to find out that umm...their idea of restoration and mine were two very different things...
My idea was that the thing was now useable right out of the box with maybe a couple of scratches and nicks. Their idea was sewing a piece of canvas over the old canvas, hiding the gaping holes in the fabric beneath.
So today I finally managed to get the old canvas off of the wood. It took FOREVER! I don't think these screws/nails had EVER been taken out. (Again, my idea of restoration and their idea of restoration are two very different things. In my idea of restoration, you take out the old screws and nails to replace the canvas and make sure all the fibers are okay)
I ended up cutting myself at one point with the screwdriver because there was one screw that just would NOT come out! Two hours later and a bandaid, it finally came out. I quickly cut the metal connectors from the old jute strips and canvas so I can use them to resecure the new canvas and jute strips to the wooden frame. I threw out the old canvas very quickly.
I then proceded to clean, polish, and oil the wood. I don't think anyone has EVER cleaned or oiled this thing from the day it was made! I ended up using half a can of old english polish and a ton of oil. The wood work went from a dullish medium wood to a nice deep black cherry color. I LOVE the way it looks now. The wood was so dry that I dropped some oil on to one of the nails just to see what would happen and the wood around the nail absorbed hte oil in less than a second. I went over it twice just to make sure that it would no longer be a super dry wood...which I think is what caused one of the nails to come out when I first got it. That, and the fact the jute had never been replaced and was sagging.
Pictures:
This is the cot after I took off the 20 year old green canvas that the original owner had called "restoration". The green canvas had only been sewn on top of the old canvas.
Close up shot of one of the holes in the old canvas
Another hole in the canvas
The headboard with the new straps I put on but before I had polished it
The back of the old canvas after I finally got it off the wooden cot
And this doesn't look like a problem to the original owner?!?
Another example of her version of restoration
All pretty and polished. Now just to sew in the jute strips and some new canvas....
My idea was that the thing was now useable right out of the box with maybe a couple of scratches and nicks. Their idea was sewing a piece of canvas over the old canvas, hiding the gaping holes in the fabric beneath.
So today I finally managed to get the old canvas off of the wood. It took FOREVER! I don't think these screws/nails had EVER been taken out. (Again, my idea of restoration and their idea of restoration are two very different things. In my idea of restoration, you take out the old screws and nails to replace the canvas and make sure all the fibers are okay)
I ended up cutting myself at one point with the screwdriver because there was one screw that just would NOT come out! Two hours later and a bandaid, it finally came out. I quickly cut the metal connectors from the old jute strips and canvas so I can use them to resecure the new canvas and jute strips to the wooden frame. I threw out the old canvas very quickly.
I then proceded to clean, polish, and oil the wood. I don't think anyone has EVER cleaned or oiled this thing from the day it was made! I ended up using half a can of old english polish and a ton of oil. The wood work went from a dullish medium wood to a nice deep black cherry color. I LOVE the way it looks now. The wood was so dry that I dropped some oil on to one of the nails just to see what would happen and the wood around the nail absorbed hte oil in less than a second. I went over it twice just to make sure that it would no longer be a super dry wood...which I think is what caused one of the nails to come out when I first got it. That, and the fact the jute had never been replaced and was sagging.
Pictures:
This is the cot after I took off the 20 year old green canvas that the original owner had called "restoration". The green canvas had only been sewn on top of the old canvas.
Close up shot of one of the holes in the old canvas
Another hole in the canvas
The headboard with the new straps I put on but before I had polished it
The back of the old canvas after I finally got it off the wooden cot
And this doesn't look like a problem to the original owner?!?
Another example of her version of restoration
All pretty and polished. Now just to sew in the jute strips and some new canvas....
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 09:58 am (UTC)It looks lovely - now. It's just a shame that you were mislead like you were.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 03:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-29 08:50 pm (UTC)May you have many comfy nights on it!