Age of a Pie Safe?

[talesofthesevenseas]

I took a few cell phone pics as I was dashing out the door this morning. The view screen on my camera quit working so I'm limited as to how clear I can get these photos, but I'll give it a shot. More pics to come.

The front and sides of the pie safe are in really good shape. No rust or tears anywhere on the screens and everything looks to be original. The top and inner shelf have some dark marks where something hot may have been set down, and you can see on the top there are some light spots that look like water damage. I think I'm going to try a little mineral oil to see if that might hydrate the light spots and help blend them in with the rest of it. You can see the light marks in front of the iron and the dark marks in front of the bowl.



The back is in really bad shape. It looks like cheaper materials were used on the back and there appear to be multiple layers of thin veneer. I didn't want to alter the pie safe in any way, but this is in such bad shape, I think it warrants replacement. I'd like to hear if you guys agree.





Inside the back of the pie safe is a thin layer of Styrofoam! Now that has got to go! I think my course of action will be to very carefully remove the Styrofoam and see what it looks like underneath. I expect it will look pretty bad, judging by the condition of the back of the pie safe. There are holes going all the way through and the veneers are badly warped. I think the thing to do is to remove them very carefully and cut a piece of wood to fit the back, ideally a piece of old barn wood, or maybe upgrade to something as nice as the wood on the front. I could also try to find a piece of wood similar to whatever the inner layer of veneer was like. I could use some ideas and suggestions. Maybe several pieces about 3" wide would look nice too? Here's the Styrofoam:

[talesofthesevenseas]

Another thought- Should I consider replacing the back with a similar sheet of thin wood veneer? This would allow me to use very small thin finishing nails to attach it. Maybe I could even reuse some of the nails that are already back there if I can get a hold of them. I'm thinking going with something thin like they had originally might be better than barn wood or higher quality wood, because I could be less invasive in attaching it due to it being thin and light weight. It would also take just a couple of nails.

[waywardangler]

Nice looking pie safe, Tales.  I see you have a little bit of work.  I would glue and clamp that split by the latch making sure to wipe off all excess glue that oozes out while it is still wet.  I would also replace the back.  Not sure how thick it is but I would guess 1/4".  I think the only panels that thin and wide would be plywood.  Finding plywood with a clear pine face may prove to be a challenge.  I am not sure what else would work.  You might want to browse your lumberyard and see what they carry. The one piece back DOES add stability to the whole case and keep the corners square.  I would be very hestitant to use pieces (such as 3 narrower vertical boards) as I do not think they will give you the strength.  It depends on how that shelf is attached inside.  It looks like it is nailed from the back into the edge. Maybe someone else can chime in here and suggest a more appropriate back.  The one that is on there needs to go.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Good point on stability Wayward. I hadn't thought about that. The rest of the box is very solid, but no sense in doing anything that would destabilize it as it ages over time. One piece would mean less nailing too. Is there something like the fake wood paneling used in mobile homes, but made of real wood? Thin stuff made to look like multiple boards, but in a sheet? The pieces that are on there now probably add up to 1/4" but are maybe 1/16" to 1/8" each. I'm going to Home Depot on my lunch hour to pick up a couple of things and I'll do some looking to see if I can find a suitable replacement. I'll try some local lumber places too.

I would have liked to use antique materials, but I don't know if it is going to be possible on this. But I think that I will keep it as non-invasive as possible, with the idea that I might be able to find a sheet of something period correct that could be put in at a later date.

I agree, the backing should go, as much as I hate to remove something original, there is a point when original condition ceases to be a plus and becomes a minus. Looks like it's also torn up from the bottom edge, like critters were going in after crumbs, since they didn't have a key to open the front! 

On the split, I could use a C-clamp and some wood glue quite easily to mend that crack and keep it from getting worse.

I think the only way to date this is going to be by the screens, hinges, swing latch and lock. I'll try to get some better photos of these tonight.

[waywardangler]

I thought about suggesting paneling but then...it looks like paneling.  There used to be luan (mahoghany?) paneling, and maybe still is, and then you could use the back of the paneling rather than the grooved face.  That would give you a solid looking wood face in the inside back of your pie safe.  The back was unfinished so that could be stained in your case.  It is a darker wood like unfinished mahoghany rather than light like pine.  There are also wainscoat panels in light, med, dark shades but I think they are wood paper face over masonite.  If you could find real wood veneer wainscoat paneling in a thin thickness, that would give a period look to your inside pie safe.

[talesofthesevenseas]

OH! I hadn't thought of Wainscoat! That has some possibilities and I could even potentially find some antique stuff that could be repurposed.

[Oceans64]

You can try to pull (unscrew) a screw from the latch...carefully   Those are datable (I think) and the screws look original to the latch...

[talesofthesevenseas]

I can look at the slots in the screw heads to see if they are manually slotted without having to remove one. I need to look at it under some magnification to say for sure (My eyes aint what they used to be) but I think they are manually slotted.

I took a look at Home Depot and didn't like anything I saw, except for the wainscot. Although it is in smaller widths, since it is tongue and groove I think it could be firm if I nail it correctly. I'm going to see what I can find in the way of salvaged wainscot from old houses. That would allow me to do a period repair at least. I also picked up some wood glue so that I can address that crack.

[Omega Entity]

Huh, luan is available at the Home Depot near me - comes in huge sheets (4' by 8' or so), but it's fairly inexpensive. I usually find it with the plywood that has a fairly nice surface finish (1/2" and 3/4").

[talesofthesevenseas]

I saw some large sheets of kind of pressed composit stuff, but I would really like to use materials that were available at the time the pie safe was made. They do have new wainscot at Home Depot and I could do that for about $12 no problem. But  I'm thinking if I can find some salvaged antique wainscot that came out of a Victorian it would be ideal. I think I'm going to hold off and go antique.

[talesofthesevenseas]

I just heard from a friend who had asked if I wanted some salvaged stuff from her Victorian remodel. I asked about wainscoting and she is pretty sure she has some. So I think I'll hold off on doing anything for a bit to see if this pans out when she is back in town in a week or two. 

[marcylove]

those look great together!

[talesofthesevenseas]

@Marcylove: You mean the bowl of old kitchen gadgets? I thought so too! I hadn't planned to move them from the Hoosier, but for some reason the ol' bowl really seemed to want to sit with the pie safe. They seem to make a good couple. 

[marcylove]

the hoosier and the safe!  Everything looks good!  My FIL has a hoosier that I'm trying to price out now.  I'm gonna have to move it to see any marks.  I'll post it...

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks! That Hoosier is one of my all time favorite things, thanks to all the help I got from this forum on doing the restoration. I'd love to see a photo of the one from your FIL's place. They are all so different from each other I find them kind of endlessly interesting to see. They are always full of surprises from a design perspective.