Sunday, March 4, 2012

Pegboard and fresh cabinets

Over the past few months I have been slowly working in the garage.  Most noteworthy has been the installation of the main pegboard panel and the stripping and repainting of the Youngstown vintage metal cabinets from the 50's. 

Pegboard panel
  The pegboard was left over from the previous owner.  All I did was cut to size and install using 1x2 furring strips.  I may paint it a different color once everything else is finished, but for now it's nice to see what I need, when I need it.










Vintage Youngstown metal cabinets
I brought these Youngstown steel cabinets from our old house. They were ripped out when we remodeled the kitchen. They were covered in 4 layers of paint.  I used a chemical stripper to remove the paint down to the bare metal.  I then sanded, primed and repainted using flat black rustoleum.  The top three handles on the right cabinet are original boomerang pulls. The other 5 are replacements.  2 3/4" center to center spacing is rare.  Luckly I found these online and were a similar look. 




The top cabinets have steel bodies and shelves, but the doors are wooden.  I chose to strip them down to bare wood and repaint only the outside of the door. The inside will remain the original wood.  The doors appear to have a different veneer and finish on each side.  This probably allowed the company to offer more colors to consumers without producing a lot of extra pieces. For instance, one side of the doors has a nice birch veneer.  The other is a lighter oak color.  Then again, it could just be me? 
The stripping process for these was the same. I used strip-x gel stripper. It is full power Methylene chloride stripper.  I used heavy gloves, and had plenty of circulation before applying. It works quick and lifts the paint off very well.  However, it is messy.  The stripping process removes 99% of the old gunk .  After wiping down with mineral spirits and allowing to dry, I sanded with 60 grit to remove and stubborn finish.  Probably a lot of work for a garage cabinet, but I have plans to strip some of our old oak and pine doors in the house so this was good practice.

 Door after the initial chemical stripping.


Doors after sanding. Notice the different in wood tone?  This is the inside of each door.  Notice the circular steel piece at the bottom for the magnets to keep the door closed?  I had never seen these due to all the paint!