255 Restoring a Camel Back Trunk
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- Опубликовано: 27 окт 2024
- Today we restore the outside of a Camel Back Trunk. We are lucky and find a representative picture of this 100 plus year old antique on the internet, thus we are able to restore it to its original look. These trunks are traditionally made with medal on the outside and wood on the inside, all held together with clinched nails. Perhaps we will cover these nails later, as they are amazing. Surprisingly these trunks are often made with some kind of stainless metal, perhaps galvanized, with wood and painted metal trim.
I have a trunk that is a wooden slat (zebra) trunk that is a different style but exactly the same hardware (corner pieces, lock, latches, etc.). The lithograph on the lid is similar in style, but has a different pattern. I can tell you, with 99% certainty, that this trunk was made by Martin Meier and the company that made the lock was Star Locks from Philadelphia. Meier's trunks were considered a more top-end trunk in their day. The key, if you have it, has a star cutout at the top. Anyhow, just fyi.
Incredible job restoring that Camel Back Trunk! If anyone is looking for a beautiful, high-quality camel back trunk for sale, I highly recommend checking out Chucks Woodbarn LLC. Their craftsmanship and attention to detail are top-notch!
Beautiful work, sir!
What a nice video. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I appreciate your clarity and honest trial & error approach at times. Very interesting and helpful.
I just bought an old chest. I am trying to preserve and bring our the besuty and save pateena. Thanks for inspirational ideas.
I have an old trunk just like this I want to clean up and do some rosemaling on (Scandinavian folk art). This was really helpful. Thank you!
That sounds pretty!
So excited for my project!
What did you use to make the steel area so shiny? Some kind of clear protectant? Thank you
Very nice video. Very helpful.
Glad you liked it
Nice work. Thanks for sharing. -- Suggestion: Get a nice camera mount with a smooth direction pivot. The fast moving closeups were hard to focus on and became distracting.
My old trunk has many damaged sharp edges on the corners top and bottom. How do I repair those?
You guys did a marvelous job
You look like red green.
What grit sandpaper do you think he used for the tin on top?
I have a steamer trunk similar to this in the Northwest Florida, Flomaton Alabama area.
Wow. I haven’t seen an old European trunk like this in North America before. This would have been considered a very, very high end trunk in its day. The high end trunks always had wall paper on the inside and metal cladding on the outside. (The lower quality trunks had wallpaper inside and outside.) This trunk though also has the paintings on the interior lid compartments which only very wealthy or titled people could afford. Not to mention the highly decorative metal corners and end pieces of the wooden bands would have increased the value of the trunk. An intact and in good condition trunk such as this can be worth anywhere between $4000 and $10,000 depending on the lithograph in the interior of the trunk. Trunks like these are very few and far between. Whomever owns it has quite a treasure on their hands.
Thank you ,great video. I have a old trunk I just want to clean it ,keep it original as possible.
I have a trunk almost identical and love the way yours turned out. The way you explain how you restored it was so helpful.
I have a camel back trunk very similar to yours that my dad restored.
This is how's it done. A++. A true master of the craft of restoration. "I don't want it to look gawdy", if only more restorers worried about this too!
Great work.
I bought a similar one to restore. Thank you for sharing very informative
Loved the conversational tone of this video. Made it easy to follow your thought process which is helpful to me as I decide how restore my own trunk. Thanks.
Remember, it's a Marathon, not a sprint. Think about it. Check the history; check the internet; check RUclips. Get smart about your project, and I must say, that is way easier these days.
And I thank you for this and all answers you give me.
I wish I knew what those questions were. But I know what you mean. Look around at several references, but then try to figure it out for yourself. What happens? Well, if your answer is close to some so-called expert, then that is probably the right answer.
Memphis Applegate I thin you are the expert and wish I had seen your video first. My steamer trunk turned out great because of your advice and answers.
@@francesmcintyre5810 Remember Frances, if what your're saying is true, then is is likely because you followed my advice. And my advice: check multiple experts, deleting any so-called expert that thinks they have the final answer.
Memphis Applegate ❤️
Wish I could share my picture.. was it easy, no, but it was well worth it after following your advice.
It's beautiful. Do you have a vid of restoring the inside.
Could vinegar work for your brown on the metal?
Starting research on mine. Mine is camel back with an alligator looking metal. The inside is fairly good. Cant seen to find one on line like mine to see what it's supposed to look like. Wasn't going to keep the lithographs though they are in good shape. Would leave them if this trunk was of value but trunks don't seem to be worth much from what I've seen. I'm wanting to leave mine open for decorative purposes, that is why I thought about removing lithographs and putting fabric or wall paper.
We used muriatic acid and the smell is horrible. But just need to know what you put on after removing to keep from rusting again? Thank you.
So much.
Mild steel probably needs to be painted. I covered my mild steel with paint, and covered the galvanized steel with spar varnish, or spar urethane. If you have steel that is rusting, then that means it is "mild" and must be covered with something to keep the oxygen and water out. If it is not appropriate to paint it, then use the urethane.
Memphis Applegate thank you so much. I think I want to keep the steel tin look so that is exactly what I needed to know. I appreciate your help so much. Stay safe and thank you again. When we get it finished I will send you a picture of before and after. Thank you,
@@francesmcintyre5810 Still waiting on that picture.
Trying to figure out how to send from pictures.
Nice camera work!
That chest / trunk came out beautiful - thank you for sharing
Did you make a part two? How did get you the leather handles on? Can you show us that?
LOVe i
Looks beautiful! What finish did you put on to cover the metal and everything? I just found a trunk that is metal and very similar to yours, but smaller. Lots of rust...looks like I've got my work cut out! Ha! ha! Love all your tips. Very helpful!
If you use rust remover (aka Muriatic acid solution) you should always use a Base solution as a wash to neutralize the acid, then a water rinse. Mix a cup of baking soda into 2 cups of water and spray that around like you did with rust remover. Where it foams up is where it's neutralizing the M acid. Rinse/wash with clean water. Great job btw.
Thanks. I think I just used water, but adding a base would have been better, as the M will continue to eat into any metal for a long time/
Thanks for watching and commenting.
I’m trying to restore a camel backed trunk that’s similar to yours but it has embossed tin in the panels. I’m having trouble getting all the rust out of the detailed embossed tin and getting the corners clean. Any suggestions Is there a way to send you pics ?
Send pics to henri_chase@sccoast.com Henri Chase is my real name, which is no secret. I would love to see your pics and do a Memphis Answers video.
Amazing, I bought a 1870 camel back steamer trunk I’m getting ready to restore. My question is what did u use to make it shiny.
It's been over a year, so I can't swear to it, but I believe I used either Polyurethane or Spar Urethane. Spar Urethane would have been the better choice.
You do need some kind of finish, or it will begin to rust again. If you are doing a back to original restoration, then I don't know what to use. Perhaps boiled linseed oil on the mild steel parts.
But the trunk was designed to require no finish at all. All the parts are painted, plated (no chrome in those days), or galvanized, and in a 150 year old trunk all three have failed by now.
Thanks for watching, and try to watch the follow-up video where I do the inside.
Please tell me what to put on the tin to prevent from rusting again after cleaning? We have removed Moses of the rust but it keeps rusting again and I need to know what to put on? I have read beeswax and thin clear coat of paint. I am clueless. Thank you
Spar Varnish or boiled linseed oil.
Please tell me what to put or spray on trunk to keep rust from returning? Some of the rust returned and I wipes some off again and we have sprayed with clear enamel. Thank you.
I think I used Spar Varnish.
Did you receive pictures?
Really nice old chest! Looking forward to doing the inside. Liked the grease tip.
I think the grease tip works better for spot painting cars. The problem here is getting the grease off, since grease is not a good mix with stains and other finishes. I suspected as much, which is why I only used grease on a couple of fittings and used tape everywhere else.
It did turn out nice, and the primary reason was that it wasn't too broken. A good clean-up and the quality of this old-school construction shows through. Words to live by: Do as little as possible in any restoration. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to work with in next week's effort and I had to start over.
Thanks for commenting and I hope to see you next week.
Oh we were covered in rust after sanding but it looks good except I think we need to spray wth something really good to keep from rusting. Do not use muriatic acid. We threw it away as it made it rust more.
Yep, I don't recommend muriatic acid, as it eats into the metal and can make things worse.
Beautiful work! What grit sand paper did you use?
Mostly 220, wet.
@@MemphisApplegate Thank you, I appreciate your response.
Do you know how the dimples occurred?
Really enjoyed your knowledge and video.
It is part of the embossing of the metal. To stiffen the metal outer skin for the top, it is first bent into a compound curve, and then embossed with the dimples. This must be a cheaper trunk, as the fancy models have patterned embossing, with some of it quite intricate and decorative. Thanks for watching and commenting.
You missed your calling Memphis. You could have done restoration work in a museum. Great job.
I do like restorations. I like doing them so much that I often milk them for as long as possible. And I always put them first on the to-do list. Thanks for the kind words, and hope to see you next week where we tackle the inside.
Would you recommend a brush or cloth when cleaning these old trunks for the first time?
You do an amazing job! Beautiful trunk!
Start with soft cloth with mild soap and water. Move up from there with great caution and reflection. It is better to do too little than do too much. You will totally understand that cliched statement if you check out some trunk restorations pictures on the internet. Good luck on your project.
Wow! These last two episodes have been a bit of a different route from a lot of your usual videos. This Chest is beautiful. Did it give you pause when you saw that a very similar chest was worth $5000? I was going to ask about the dents in the top but saw that you answered it in another comment. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the restoration.
Wow, I'm now weirded-out that I missed your comment here. Tell you the truth, my views and comments are way up and it's getting harder to keep up. A nice problem to have, but sometimes I miss comments in the feed and must check comments of individual videos (like here).
This chest would have been worth much more, if I could have saved the lithographs on the inside. But the inside was a total loss, as moisture had gotten in and destroyed everything. Thanks for commenting, and I'll try harder to keep up.
WOW! This turned out great. The before and after is just stunning. Ive got a trunk like that myself. The only difference is the tin on mine is alligator. Great work.
What grit sandpaper did you use?
220, wet.
Please tell me how long it took. I have one my Dad bought for $5.00 many many years ago and I want to use in my house.
Took about a week, working off and on. Half of that time was debating with myself; arguing with myself concerning the extent of restorations. My advice is to do as little as possible, as your trunk is only old once, and everything you do will be killing some of the history. If it is practical, just clean it with soap and water.
Thank you so much. It is in perfect shape except no handles. Wire was used for handles so it has those parts.
Oh and it may have rust but I think I will do as you suggest- thank you, again.
I am finishing a trunk that looks almost exactly like yours. How do I know after I sand it, if it's still rust that's I am seeing or a rust colored seal of some sort? Also, when do I use the refinisher?
It is rust. All elements react with oxygen, even gold to a small degree. Acid will drive away the rust (corrosion caused by oxygen), then you need to seal the surface from oxygen.
Great video! im in the process now and this is really helpful, i have a question on what did you use as sealer for the metal?
I don't remember, but I think I used Spar Varnish. I suspect boiled linseed oil would have been another choice.