My newest flat file - can it be restored?

[opportunitylol]

excited to see developments. definitely something to make good

[wottagunn]

Put in some time this weekend and managed to get this finished. Happy with the result, considering how it once was. The dint at the top/middle is annoying but that's the best I could get it. oh well.
Time to get some foam-core cut to size and deck it out!

[DonPiano]

Damn that looks nice. I'm hoping to pick up a flat file this week so will be turning it into something like this hopefully.

[mcgraw23]

Looks great! Another great trash-to-treasure story!

[grizzlyadams]

Awesome job. That turned out really well!

[barrettrhoades]

Trim the entire bottom in wood to make it look like it has a small base - this would cover the missing drawer.

To tie it all together put a matching piece of wood as a top, this would also hide your fix to the top right hand corner. Then you can always add your glass top on top.

Just my 0.02!

Cheers Paul

This is the way to go. I would lightly sand, and then prime, then paint the whole thing. You might be able to get a body shop to spray it for cheap if you look around. Or you could sand the entire thing to bare metal, and have a raw metal look..

[natepachl]

Great JB, turned out nice!

[shredkeenan]

I'm impressed! I never would have thought you'd be able to get it looking that good based on how it started. Great job!

[turne289]

that's a huge improvement, great job

[DonPiano]

Just out of curiosity, did you paint the insides of the drawers as well?

[wottagunn]

Just out of curiosity, did you paint the insides of the drawers as well?

My original intention was to, but after realising just how much effort that would take I thought drymount it. Just gave them a good touch up.
I line the bottom of each drawer with foam core anyway, so the old brown colour is barely seen.

[comical_imbalance]

Good call. I'm not going to worry about the inside of the drawers of mine. I am going to wrap the drawers in paper and shoot the front panel, and the top of the flap with new paint.

This looks pretty great man, good job.

[wottagunn]

Wasn't too sure where to ask this question.
Anyway, once I flatten a print using weights etc, I transfer it to a different drawer to be stored with other flattened prints. Currently, I layer glassine between each layer of prints.
The glassine is really starting to piss me off because it just gets in the way if I want to look at prints I have stored.

So my question is, once a print is flattened, is it OK to store it on top of other flattened prints without something in between them? No weight is placed on top of them at all.

[comical_imbalance]

...
So my question is, once a print is flattened, is it OK to store it on top of other flattened prints without something in between them? No weight is placed on top of them at all.

I am far from an expert here, but that's what I do.
I tend to keep similar sized prints together in stacks so there is minimal drooping and curling at the edges.

[DonPiano]

I tend to put kraft > print > glassine > repeat. As far as I understand it's best to have something separating the prints. Even if it's just glassine > print > glassine at least it'll be enough. That said, if you spring the money and buy some mylar sleeves you'll be set and not need them. It is bloody expensive in Australia though.

Also, as far as I understand it's best to keep the same sized prints together. So no thin prints on top of your 24x36's.

The problem I've got at the moment is deciding whether I keep these things in the drawers or not:



If I take them out, then the screws for the handles are too long and the handles stick out. I keep them in and they become tedious when looking through my prints.

As you can see, I didn't paint the inside of the drawers and decided against painting that flap thing because I didn't want any red paint accidentally finding its way onto my prints.