1936

I was looking through marketplace and came across this canteen of cutlery? and thought it would be a good little restoration project and keeper to use as a valet box. Once i had it in my hands i realised it needed pulling apart and remaking, the base was loose and while the lid and box were solid the box was out of square and the quadrant hinges were bent and rusty. I carefully pulled it apart and shaved all the mitres to get neat fits and grooved the new base lower in the plinth frame to get a bit more depth, patched up the grooves and holes from the hinges and colour matched the patching to suit. The box is made from Oak and the lid veneer looks to be Walnut?. Final touches were to fit vintage style hinges and clasps.

The plaque on the front reads,
To Phil and Arch
From
Mother & Father
11 - 8 - 36

For the surface restoration i used Constantia Organic Finishes Cleaner Restorer applied with 0000 steel wool and then Constantia Wood Oil. The result is a beautiful satin finish.
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The lid looks like 3 ply plywood, which is quite badly chipped and lets the rest of the piece down, so unless you like the character the lid could be replaced or introduce some inlay around the perimeter to tidy it up. The lid could also be radial cut Oak, I see some ray cells in the pattern

Nicely cleaned up double.d .
That's whats called a sympathetic restoration :2tsup:. And means you go onto the next level meaning nicer things will come your way to be cared for . :)

Yes it looks to be for cutlery and its Walnut veneer on top. The rest is mostly Oak by the looks .
Its probably QLD Walnut Id say, Here's a picture of some from a quick search.

Queensland Walnut Veneer — The Fine Timber Company

Nicely done refurbished just enough to retain the character.

I had no interest in making it new again, just put it back together and clean it up so it may last another 90 years.
However it did inspire me to make a few of these,
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Nice are they Silky Oak?