On another forum, I posted about how I like to restore "old things", especially wood.
Here's a Japanese table I picked up for $150 at a flea market. Because of the slot head steel screws and the very ornate hand carving, I date it to pre-WW2.
Some damage, probably by a household pet.
(http://members.socket.net/~mcruzan/images/Table%20007a.jpg)
Repaired with about $150 worth of walnut and stain I mixed.
(http://members.socket.net/~mcruzan/images/Table%20016a.jpg)
And $400 for a new glass top with beveled edges, and it's in the living room.
.
(http://members.socket.net/~mcruzan/images/Table%20019a.jpg)
Here's an Ansonio kitchen clock ca. 1840s, all original except for one piece of wood trim I had to fabricate. Keeps excellent time and chimes on the hour and half-hour.
(http://members.socket.net/~mcruzan/images/Ansonio%20Clock.jpg)
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And an M1842 "Mississippi" .69 calibre musket (above) with a ca. 1860 Belgian "Zulu" 20ga shotgun (below).
(http://members.socket.net/~mcruzan/images/Muskets.jpg)
A M1868 .50/70 cavalry carbine. Only 342 were ever made by Springfield for troop trials, but were never adopted. Picked it up at a gun show for $20 because it had been used as a *gasp* 410ga shotgun!
(http://members.socket.net/~mcruzan/images/M1868.jpg)
Nothing ever gets "old"........