Mini-restoration

My project today is a small scale.  In fact, toy size.  I am going to repair a toy rocking chair that needs some loving care before it can find a new home.

The pencil shows you that I wasn’t kidding when I said it was a small project.  The chair was used for a cabbage patch doll so that will give you an idea of its size.  It was well used and loved but has been on a shelf in our workshop for a couple of years.  Time to clean it up, give it a shiny new finish, and pass it on to a child who will love it.

I haven’t decide yet if I will paint it or put a child-friendly finish on it.  I’ll have to see how it looks when I finish stripping and sanding. Before I reassemble and finish, I will make a template as I hope to make at least one more chair.  It will be perfect for our Atlantic Woodworkers’ Association Christmas wooden toy drive.   I plan to make a fabric cushion for the seat and maybe a doll blanket or something.

For today, I am just planning to strip the paint to see how it looks and check if there are any cracks that need to be filled.   I am using Cira 1850 for this.  I prefer to use a citrus-based stripper but sometimes it is hard to find and we have some of this left from an earlier project.  I don’t want to throw it out and this is a small piece that won’t take too long.  I’ll still wear a mask though.

Here is the chair in progress and after its initial stripping.

Phase 1 in progress

Phase one complete. Paint stripped.

This part took just over an hour, including the prep and clean-up.   It looks pretty good for a first go.  That was all the time I had to work on it today.

What experience have you had working on a small scale?  What do you see as the benefits, challenges and frustrations?  One thing that I like is that you can experiment with techniques or materials before committing to full large size project.