Old wooden seamans trunk

[Kevlardini]

Old wooden seaman's trunk

Found this at an estate sale today, chock full of horse shoes. After getting it home and cleaning it up, there is still this spot on top where another box had sat, and all the finish and paint is worn away. Does anyone have any advice for what I should do with the top? Does it look ugly or what?

 

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[pepperj]

There's two ways of going about this, strip it and have a new version of the old, or leave it as is and maybe just hand rub bees wax or linseed oil into the wood to give it some moisture and to bring out the patina in the wood. If anybody asks about the square just tell them that's where the treasure map sat. Seriously I wouldn't change the look too much, heck if you don't like the hand rub look you can still strip it-sand it and make it shiny and new looking, but you can't buy what you have already for a look.

 

[BosnMate]

Honest question, I'm not being smart. How do you know it's a seaman's trunk?

 

[Kevlardini]

Well... I'm not totally sure. The guy helping me at the sale said it might be a seaman's trunk, but I guess it could also be a carpenters tool box. The handles are just different than what I always see on tool boxes.

 

[Erik in NJ]

I agree with pepperj's comments--it's got tons of character the way it is...just lightly restore it a bit. Try the Wood Central forum for some good advice of restoring it properly:

WoodCentral

 

[sutphin]

OH 15 MEN ON A DEAD MANS CHEST YO HO HO AND ITS A REALLY NICE FIND.

 

[Westfront]

Great looking treasure chest! I would also lightly sand the grime away and wax it. Keeps character and protects it.

 

[Rydog]

In the Age of Sail, I'd always heard that a seaman's chest was supposed to be watertight. More modern ones, not so much.

 

[Kevlardini]

Hi everyone and thanks for all the great advice! I'll try to post more pictures later once I fix the chest up.

 

[M_d_in_guy]

nice score, I've one similar to that even has the light area in the center, mine has a sliding drawer on the top inside and it's removable, the one I have is a shoe shine box, and I'm thinking yours is too and the light area is where the foot rest was for shining. IMO.

 

[46Wheat]

I think it has character like it is . Nice piece

 

[therit]

Sand and apply Tung Oil

 

[OWK]

Pretty sure this is a Carpenter's chest.

 

[Kevlardini]

Maybe I can help you on I.d. of this...
That is... if you want me to...

Can you take some close-up detailed pics of the hardware...
Both the handles...
And the corner caps...
And the hasp... both the old area parts and the new added one.

That would be great if you could ID the box! Here are some close ups:

 

[OWK]

You have a late 19th century carpenter's chest. Machine turned screws.

If it was full of horseshoes, it may have been used by a farrier.

Too heavy for a sea chest.

Anyone claiming to be able to "i.d" it, is probably blowing smoke.

 

[Gridwalker306]

The wood might need to be conditioned, and there are ways to even out the finish without refinishing. You'd still see all the wear and discolouration, just not so obviously. I'd say a box like that shouldn't be stripped and refinished unless it's falling apart and missing important parts of structure. Check videos on YouTube, search "antique furniture repair Thomas Johnson". This guy is really good, I learned from his videos.

Watching some of his vids (as well as others) I learned much, check out one of my works in progress. This thing was nasty, full of dead mice and droppings, stained, rotted, and the hide-a-bed mechanism was severely mangled. A few people told me it might be beyond repair. Sadly I wasn't able to keep the finish, and I think it may have been refinished or clear coated back in the 60's anyway. It's coming along...next winter I will stain/finish and do the upholstery.

 

[ivan salis]

uh there were sea going carpenters (shipwrights) on the old sailing ships for the simple reason that the ships were made of wood and often needed repairs --so it could be both --a carpenter's chest * and a a seaman's chest as well...

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

If it was full of horseshoes I would think it was a farrier's tool box and myself I would keep as is, but rub with tung oil or linseed oil.Once you remove the character you can't get it back. less is more. IMO.

 

[ARC]

Boxes like these have nothing to d with contents...
Boxes like this have been "re-purposed" throughout time.

 

[OWK]

The box in the original post is traditionally called a carpenter's chest. That is what it is referred to by dealers in antiques. It is heavily constructed, has metal fittings, and typically includes internal sliding trays for planes, augers, saws, etc.

It differs from a sea chest, in that a sea chest is typically of lighter construction, slightly lesser size, and generally does not include steel or iron hardware or fittings. The handles on a traditional sea chest are generally rope.

All of this is essentially a semantic argument, inasmuch as someone could obviously carry a carpenter's chest onto a boat. And a carpenter could put his tools into a sea chest.

But there are differences between the two, and I thought the original poster might like to know what he had. I have noticed from time to time, that sometimes people like to "help" in identifying items by making declarations about things, when they really don't know what they're talking about. If they simply said "I'm not sure... but I think..." that would be one thing. But when they make declarations pretending to have expertise that they don't have, and provide wrongful information while doing so.. it does a disservice to those seeking information.

End of editorial.