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To hell with showroom floor furniture

HT413

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The I’m done with the garbage import Raymore Flannigan furniture and ikea junk that has filled my house for 15 years. Bought a table and chairs and in 6 months, the chairs are falling apart and the table has chipped so badly that I finally noticed what it was ... the woodgrain wasn’t even cheap venier; it was PRINTED ON! Nothing but pine beneath.

I’m tossing it all in the fire pit.

Making my own solid oak dining room table, gonna outlast me. Its pretty big - 44” wide and about 9’ long. Just got done hand planing and hit it with some 150/220/320 grit. Should be stained this weekend.

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Should turn out like this, except all stained oak, no paint. Still undecided about the matching bench...

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Picked up these old ice cream parlor sweetheart chairs. Gonna blast / prime / paint and viola ! Dining room set that will outlast me (heck it’s already 30 years older than me.) Gonna slit some fuel line and use that as protective feet.

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We were looking for bedroom furniture a few years ago, found nothing but over priced junk. We even checked out a few high end stores, same stuff. Ended up stopping in at a local cabinet shop, we told the sales girl what we were looking for, she drew up a couple of sketches. We had them build the furniture for us, quite a bit cheaper, much better quality, mostly solid hickory. We ended up with some very nice custom built furniture.
 
You guys who are lucky enough to live in Amish country have a great resource for quality custom stuff. Places that can do that kind of work have all but disappeared out here. Hell, you can't even find anyone under 60 who even has a clue how to build a piece of furniture!
 
We were looking for bedroom furniture a few years ago, found nothing but over priced junk. We even checked out a few high end stores, same stuff. Ended up stopping in at a local cabinet shop, we told the sales girl what we were looking for, she drew up a couple of sketches. We had them build the furniture for us, quite a bit cheaper, much better quality, mostly solid hickory. We ended up with some very nice custom built furniture.

A lot of people dont realize that you can get custom furniture at pretty reasonable cost. Heck look at edsy - plenty of people making custom stuff at reasonable prices.

In fact, I just picked up hand made iron table legs on edsy pretty cheap. Going to make a coffee table and some end tables out of some downed cedar from the yard.
 
When buying living-room, den, etc....type furniture, I always look at commercial office furniture. Lots of designs, and very sturdy. It isn't cheap...but great for strength.
 
Got some architectural salvage joints in New Orleans that can build anything you can imagine. It's not cheap, but worth every penny!
 
Here’s the desk I picked up to replace the ikea junk. Hand made in the good ol US of A about 40-50 years ago. Not a real valuable antique, just a cool old desk. Sanded it down a bit and added a little stain...

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Here’s a desk I picked up on the side of the road. redid the rear supports to square it back up and good as new...

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Almost a perfect match to the dresser, here’s a little wash stand I picked up on CL. Soon to be the new home for my kids Xbox...

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Originally planned to disassemble this old girl and use the base as a sideboard to house my stereo. Just can’t bring myself to decommission the old girl. So instead I cleaned her up and rubbed some Rustoleum satin black oil into the iron.

works like the day it was made (back in 1909) plus someone added the electric motor and adapted the peddle to engage the belt... homemade clutch.

The wife intends to use it in her arts and crafts with the kids...

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Could not agree more. Most of our furniture is over 30-40 years old, we only bought top-shelf (pun intended) quality American made stuff, and its as good as ever. It's comical what they're peddling now.
 
Luckily we've got a few places here that deal in high-quality stuff, but like anything else you pay big...most people don't care enough they just want it cheap. The 'walmart' mentality...we are very lucky to have some pieces that have been in my family for over 100 years..try that with particle board!
 
Get away from the big city and hit some small town auctions. You can get some amazing deals if your patient! Its been a LONG time since we have bought anything from a furniture store.
 
I have moms dining room set from the 1950s. Chairs recycled from Wendy's 20 years ago. Have not bought new furniture in 30 years.
 
Originally planned to disassemble this old girl and use the base as a sideboard to house my stereo. Just can’t bring myself to decommission the old girl. So instead I cleaned her up and rubbed some Rustoleum satin black oil into the iron.

works like the day it was made (back in 1909) plus someone added the electric motor and adapted the peddle to engage the belt... homemade clutch.

The wife intends to use it in her arts and crafts with the kids...

View attachment 547833 View attachment 547834 View attachment 547835
That machine almost looks like a Minnesota but the markings are not right. The D&D cabinet is a mystery.
 
You guys who are lucky enough to live in Amish country have a great resource for quality custom stuff. Places that can do that kind of work have all but disappeared out here. Hell, you can't even find anyone under 60 who even has a clue how to build a piece of furniture!
Amish aren't cheap though, you get what you paid for
 
You can still get quality furniture but its high end expensive. There was a outfit that took old dinning room and bed room sets and refinished them. They were absolutely beautiful. We bought a Ikea dresser for my work clothes which is in basement. Its a piece of junk, there is a second hand consignment store in another state that we go to and often they have older better made furniture. I will be looking for a dresser from there.
 
Originally planned to disassemble this old girl and use the base as a sideboard to house my stereo. Just can’t bring myself to decommission the old girl. So instead I cleaned her up and rubbed some Rustoleum satin black oil into the iron.

works like the day it was made (back in 1909) plus someone added the electric motor and adapted the peddle to engage the belt... homemade clutch.

The wife intends to use it in her arts and crafts with the kids...

View attachment 547833 View attachment 547834 View attachment 547835


I like the look of your machine. It is an inspiration for me to clean up my old Singer.

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Here is an old balance that I found for $5. Did a cleanup and paint. IMG_0411 (Large).JPG
 
We're in Amish country and have picked up several oak hardwood pieces over the years. Price is relative but I will tell you if you buy from the stores that are on the main highway you'll pay up. Hit the back roads and find the farms where it's actually made.

The items we picked up were less than the name brand furniture store and all of it will last generations.
 
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