Trash Talk Thursday: Hearth Stand from a Chew Stick

Rescued from the roadside, this discarded old coat & hat rack had become a chew toy for a presumably large dog. With the help of some wood filler, I recycled another man’s trash into a sturdy hearth stand for displaying vintage fireplace tools.

 After scraping the loose paint, I used a putty knife to fill the deep chew holes with wood filler, scraping the excess & creating a smooth finish with the flat end of the tool. When the putty was fully dried, I sanded the surface with an electric finishing sander followed by one coat of red semi-gloss interior paint.

 

 

Trash Talk Thursday Tutorial: Mending Your Wings + Other Wooden Things

This past week I found a great pair of vintage wooden wings for only $2.00 @ a neighbor's yard sale ~ priced so cheaply because one of the wings had broken off. Not a problem ~ I simply pulled out my first aid kit for wood & reattached my wing! Here's how:

 

First, I reattached the wing with some wood glue, fitting it back together the best I could ~ it wasn't a clean break so some chunks of wood were missing. I let it dry overnight, then used a flat head screwdriver to apply wood filler in the gaps ~ building it up with a few applications until it matched the surrounding areas.

The next day, I sanded the repaired areas with fine grit sandpaper, then decided to go ahead and sand the entire piece to knock some of the polyurethane shine off.

Next, I applied Old English Scratch Cover over the repaired area with an old paintbrush, allowing it to soak in for about 1/2 hour, then wiped it off with a cotton rag.
Since I had sanded the entire surface on this piece, I added a final step of hand-rubbed stain, but normally I would stop here after the scratch cover application. I resealed the sanded wood surface by painting on & rubbing off an even coat of natural wood stain & sealer with a clean cotton cloth, and allowed a couple of days drying time.
Note: If you wanted to paint a repaired wooden piece, you'd just skip the scratch cover & stain, and paint right after sanding the repaired area.

I'm pretty happy with the way it came out! I think it'll look great hanging over our antique plane propeller on the fireplace ~ will post a photo once we've settled in @ our new place. 
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