As I build up this blog, I intend to cover my broad range of wood working interests. So for this first post I’m going to share with you the restoration side of my activities.
One of the places I like to visit are the various Local Council Recycle/Reuse Centres – I’m fortunate in that I have easy access to both Wollongong and Shellharbour Centres and if I’m heading west I also call in on the Moss Vale Centre. It can be amazing what people discard and sometimes I think in this disposable age with many people not having practical repair skills (or they are time short) they dispose rather than fix. I’m quite happy to benefit from this and have picked up a number of items which with just a bit of work have become useful again.
One particular item I picked up (at a cost of $20) was a rocking horse made from pine that in general appearance seemed structurally sound. I disassembled the major parts and gave them a good cleanup and sanded them. Painted the metal. Re-glued and reassembled it and stained the wood, using a milky finish on the body of the horse and a dark stain on the frame. I then shipped it off to my mother-in-law for her to do her artwork magic with it (hooves, eyes, mouth). To finish it off I added ears, mane & tail (cost more than the original rocking horse) and halter.
The end result is a rocking horse that my 1 & 3 year old grand-daughters love to ride and which may one day pass down to them for their children.
2025 update: My now 6 grandaughters (aged 3-8) have all made good use & continue to use the rocking horse.