Buckboard Restoration Pictures

Here are some before and after pictures of the buckboard I restored. The owners said that it originally came from Wisconsin and they were pretty sure the advertisement was a local lumber company in that area.

"Oh, I denounce the buckboard bounce and the cactus hurts my toes..." remember that old western song? "And I'll be yours in buttons and bows!" That is a real oldie and the buckboard was too. I wonder how many years it sat in that shed before someone discovered and salvaged it. It was covered with dirt, faded and full of worm holes.

The first step in the restoration was to analyze the colors. They were very faded and faint so I had to use my own judgement for a lot of them. That's the fun and excitement of working on something like that, you are bringing something old back to life and also putting something of yourself into the experience. I determined what colors I would use, wrote them down and in some instances, when the painting began, changed my mind and used something else.

I traced the design and took pictures for a reference. Then I brushed, scraped, washed and dried thoroughly, sanded and sealed the piece. I base coated the entire buckboard in the dark green, giving it several coats, sanding between each coat and tacking. I let the piece cure for about a week before I started painting.

I applied the design by sliding a light colored graphite paper between the tracing paper and surface and drawing the design with a stylus, just the basic outlines. I tend to paint from back to front so backgrounds were painted in first. I worked on the girl and did the lettering last.

When the paint had dried and cured for a week I gave the piece several coats of Satin varnish and hand rubbed the last coat after it had cured.

The owners had the springs sand blasted, primed and painted. When they were reattached to the buckboard it was very nice. They used it as a bench in the entryway of their home.

It was an interesting project and took me about 30 hours to complete. It was an honor being able to bring such an old piece back to life again. I wondered as I worked, who had sat on it, where had they traveled and how did it end up in an old shed unused and long forgotten. I wonder just how old it was?

Hope you enjoy viewing the pictures as much as I enjoyed restoring the buckboard.