Coconut Grater

Coconut grater or Kukur(grate) Kelapa (Coconut).....
Another intresting collection of mine. Found this is Marang, Trengganu. Long long way from home. Most Asian's know this kukur kelapa thingy since coconut is part of our life. I grow up playing around coconut tree.

The 1 that I've found is made of wood of course but I'm not certain what type of wood it made off. Looks nice to me. To me, it resemble a dog but I could be wrong. There are people who claim that it looks like a cat too. Hmmmmm.... doesn't matter as long as I have something look authentic.

The coconut grater wasn't in a good condition when I got it. It was terrible. Guess must have been left abandoned for few years. It could easily aged more than 50 years coz during my childhood in early 70s, the coconut grater used then wasn't like the 1 I've found. It's more modern I must admit since it has lost it design. More mechanical & practical and the 1 my mum used is a fold able!!! innovative eh???

I hope I could find 1 from Thailand since theirs is more artistic. Seen 1 before and it looks nice but the price is just too big for me... sigh...

LPs & EPs

As I’ve shared in my earlier post. I do collect LPs for my own pleasure. It brings back memories of my younger days. Reminds me of my friends, pre school, Primary School

Wow, what a sweet memories it was.


In my collections I categorize those into few segments, English, Malays, Indonesians and Hindi
As many people know, LPs come in two sizes. 33 & 48s… what it meant is the speed of the LPs.
33 meant for large normal LPs and 48 is meant for EPs or singles.

Here are some shots of my collections. I will share with you guys on each categories later on or perhaps a little bit more details of the productions and artist.

Rattan Suitcase

Rattan traveling suitcase in one of the last that my parent still kept in their store. This was bought somewhere in the 60s. Was meant for my late brother whom passed away when he was fifteen years due to heart disfunction which I don’t’ really what it was.
My parent kept it until today. As usual the whole family get to use it. so, After my late brother it was me & my younger sister turn then.
It’s a nice rattan suitcase. Carefully woven. Nice craft work I must admit it is.
My father bought it from one the unfortunately senior who lives at ‘HOME’. A welfare home that provides shelter to the unfortunates who were deserted by their children or an orphan who didn't have any families.
The size of the rattan suitcase is 1.5 x 1. Big enough to put our nappies & some clothing's.
I’m surprised as it still in good condition after 46 years.

I’m proud for being able to keep it as part of my life history. I must restore it for my future generation to inherit it. The suitcase reminds me of the olden days when those unfortunate unwanted parents trying to survive from poverty. Sigh...still remember that 'HOME'...It's still there hopefully. My last visit to 'HOME' was in 1996...

Record Player

Here's my 1 and only record player. Herit it from my father. Belt driven turntable.Pioneer. Actually he gave me the complete set of it. Been busy looking for good records in town but I found that it is bit expensive. for example 1 The Beatles album will cost you around RM60 above. Too expensive right?
I did get Bad Company album, Deep Purple (Burn) for RM10 each. Cheap isn't it?
Well, I found it in Malacca... the place where we thought it's gonna be expensive.
Got a few more recently but a compilation album. Much cheaper.

back to my record player (Turntable).. there's a lot of things to do to it. It is not in a good condition but still.. It's in working condition.I might need to change the line in jack... things that I'm not familiar with.... ahaks..

CHINESE MEDICINE CHEST

Chinese medicine box... a bit strange to me but somehow I found it !! It has big compartment & 2 small drawer at the bottom. Known to most collectors...believed could have aged more than 50 years. I was told by the trader that during older days... Chinese will travel to a a new sttlement & bring this medicine box along.
One thing I like about this medicine chest is it uses no nails...

Known to Malay as 'tanggam' maybe. I'm not a handy man so I could be wrong. The wood work are so precise you'll not be able to see any gap in between.
Refurbish??? no..not yet. I didn't enough time to scrap the whole chest and start all over. I might opt for a short cut. Just take some shoe polish & wax it over. hahaha... easy job right?
It's standing at a corner of my house...Price???hmmmmm I got it at RM200.00... checked in KL... it range from RM800-RM2500.00.

The process of refurbishing

Talking about refurbishing, Man I must tell you guys it's not an easy job. Initially I thought it gonna take less than 1 week to complete my bed.
Luckily I do my home work in the web.
Here's the step by step on how to refurbiching your antique furniture.

1. Dismantle all of the parts and mark those curcial parts if it requires an exact joint
2.Depending on the type of furniture which may vary from each production. The lacquer/shellac layer might be different from each region. eg; If it's from the europe, it has 7 layers of varnish/shellacs which make it tought to clean.
2. You may use sand paper to scrap off the old varnish/shellacs following the wood grain. Do not reverse your sanding method from the grain or you might hurt the wood grain permenantly.
3. Once done. You've got to clean up the remaining dust from the wood by using spirits/alcohol to assure no left overs on the surface.
4. There's a few type of sand papers according to it grade need to be used during the whole process. I used grade 260 for the first layer then grade 150 & lastly 120 to ensure smooth finishing
5. Apply the first layer of stain onto the wood & sand off the first layer using grade 120 sand paper onto it.
6. Apply your second layer of wood stain onto your furniture or you may add up the numbers of layers onto your furniture to your desire. The more layers it has the darker it's gonna be and for each layer you've gotta sand it until you get a smooth surface.
7. Please ensure the place you're workin on is an isolated area for the dust might flew off else where. During the staining process it is best done during sunny day. It'll get dry faster.
8. Applying the stain may sounds easy too but again...not an easy job. You've gotta choose the right brush. If you are to use the normal painting brush, then you have to extra carefull applying it onto your furniture. You've gotta do it slow and steady to avoid air bubbles.
9. reassmeble all parts based on the marking you've marked earlier & then... it's all done.

Rosewood Poster Bed

Since my last update I've been busy working on one of my beds.
Estimated it gonna take more than a month for me to complete the refurbishing job. This is my very first 'BIG' job. Never done such a big project before. Did my research on how to restore wooden furnitures, the appropriate way to clean the old varnish and shellacks or lacquer. Man, there are so many ways of doing it. From the most sophisticated to the cheapest way doing it.Now I know you can even create your own chemical by using things in your kitchen to clear off those finishing such as vinegar & lime etc.

It only took me 2 weeks to complete the bed. Started from sanding to stain.
It wasn't easy initially. It may sounds easy doing it but not as how it sounds. Sanding is the most crucial/important part of the whole process. If you didn't follow the grain grooves you will end up damaging the wood permenantly. It's just like scracthes on your wrist watch glass.

this job took me to anew level of satisfaction. It is a lot more compared to just collecting. I have done refurbishing before but not as detailed as this project.
Those are more into waxing and cleaning. But this time around, an absolute refurbishing.

I will place the photos soon. on my next update I'll share with everyone on how to refurb your antiques furniture step by step.

All we need is just time.Need not to rush since we have no intention to sell it.