Amazing RESTORATION of a RARE $10 ANTIQUE Dresser

Hi, my name is Arie and I restore antique furniture. Recently I visited my local thrift store and found these two craft projects at the toy section. I know they look horrible, but I recognize them as a matching set of two 19th century tea caddies. So let me introduce you to the stars of this video. I feel it's my duty to restore these tea caddies to their former glory. So let's start restoring. Now who would let their kids decorate these tea caddies like this is beyond me. I'm starting this restoration with stripping off the hideous paint and decorative stones. First I use a chisel to scrape off the paint. The paint came off nicely. But in the end applying paint stripper worked better to get rid of the last traces of paint. Now that's a nice discovery, a bone lock plate. To remove the last traces of paint I use paint stripper again. With a scalpel knife I take off the last traces of paint. Now one tea caddy is stripped, but there's another one. Fortunately paint stripper works on this paint as well. Since we've seen this procedure before, let me tell you something about drinking tea 18th century style. Did you realize drinking tea is a tradition that dates back 5000 years in China? It was introduced in Europe in the early 17th century by the Dutch East India Company, who shipped it to Holland as a thing of curiosity. It caught on and it became fashionable all over Europe and in fact the world. In the 18th century, late in the afternoon early in the evening, wealthy people would serve tea for their social circle. Drinking tea came with a lot of accessories. They would serve a small amount of strong tea in a teacup from a small teapot. Then they would dilute the tea with hot water from a big kettle or bullet teapot. Tea would be served on folding tea tables that could be put away afterwards. The tea itself would be stored in a tea caddy. They would be made from a variety of materials like silver or wood. They could be made in pairs for two kinds of tea, black tea in Ceylon for example, similar to the ones we are restoring in this video. Others would have two compartments and include a glass mixing bowl for mixing teas. Tea would be so expensive it would be kept under lock and key, hence the lock on the tea caddy to ward off servants that might be tempted to steal the precious content. There was such a craze for tea, wealthy people would even build special decorative tea houses for the sole purpose of having their tea in a fitting environment. Now we can finally see what's been hiding underneath that paint. And honestly, I'm not disappointed. Our tea caddies are made from Mahogany veneer. They have brass trimmings and knobs and ivory lock plates. They do look worn and missing parts, but let's fix this. If I don't throw anything useful away, I found a perfect replacement now. The same with the brass trimmings. I found a perfect replacement in my stash, just needs a little bit of work. I'm going to take off some length and make a 45 degree angle using my multi tool. They fit nicely. Let's glue them in place. And secure them with paper tape. Same goes for the second tea caddy. After the glue has set, I take off the tape. Time to fill in the missing veneers. I could go for a replacement with Mahogany veneer, but I decided on a wood filler. In my opinion, they tend to be less noticeable on small objects like these, that are closely scrutinized at eye level. While the filler is drying, I'm turning my attention to the metal lined interior of the tea caddies. The metal lining would help to keep the tea fresh. So I'm relining the caddies with thin metal sheet that looks like aluminum foil, but in fact is made of zinc. Which is important, since I want to make it look older later on. After the glue has dried, I'm coloring the metal with a metal patination chemical. It will become less shiny and a little bit darker I hope. On my turning leaf I'm going to produce some wooden bun feet for the missing feet of the tea caddies. After adjusting the machine, here we go. And voila, ten little bun feet for the tea caddies. I just need eight, but make ten to have spares. I'm using pieces of a wooden skewer to attach the bun feet to the underside of the caddies, and glue them on. Happy with the result so far. Time to give Bella some attention. Some fresh air and a walk in the sun by the river will do us both some good. After a morning of sleeping on the job, it does her a lot of good. Happy Bella. Back in the workshop, I'm starting to work on the wood filler. I'm sanding it smooth with sandpaper. The brass trimmings I polish with fine steel wool. Time to brush on a first coat of French polish, to evaluate the color so I can match the wood filler accordingly later on. Just look at that mahogany wood grain. So The new bun feet are colored in the mahogany shade of the caddies for a unified look. The light colored wood on the inside is also colored in the shade of the mahogany exterior. And finally, the wood filler is colored to blend in with the mahogany. Now everything is thoroughly dry. It's time for the first turns of the pad filled with French polish. It will give an unmatched gloss and shine. French polishing small objects has its own difficulties, compared to polishing big tables for example. Because of the smaller turns you make while polishing, you come across your own trail of French polish sooner than you would on a regular piece of furniture. So you need to have a smaller polishing pad, obviously, but you also have to work a little drier than usual. Less alcohol to go with the French polish and a little bit more oil. And another thing with polishing small objects is, how do you handle them and where do you hold them while polishing? It's so easy to leave thumbprints. I think we're nearly there, just finishing off for the official presentation of the tea caddies. Remember what they looked like before? Here are the tea caddies after restoration. Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I did restoring these tea caddies. Quite a transformation. Until next time. Bye.