In Which Franklin Gets Beat Up

I would like to begin by stating that I am a pacifist. I dislike physical violence to what some may find ridiculous levels.

Example: Today, there was an ant walking across a ledge right next to my desk.

While it did not frighten me (only spiders do that — other bugs are A-OK in my book), I could not kill it to get rid of it. I just felt bad — I mean, those guys have ant families, yes? Yes.

Who am I to cut its life short?

Naturally, I had another person in the office do the dirty deed because really who wants an ant hanging around no matter how bad you feel for the thing… I mean, they get in your hair and in your stuff and really are just creepy crawly things when it comes right down to it. Damn, now I feel terrible because I didn’t put it in a cup and put a piece of paper on the other end and let it escape outside… Maybe my coworker did that. Yes, she must have, most definitely. Right? …Right?

Anyway.

When we last left Franklin, he just got his first coat of stain. Since then, poor Franklin got beat up. Bad.

By these guys:

Poor Franklin.

Now, while the implements of destruction above did inflict the actual damage, it was at my willing hand — no, I’m not proud of it, but hey. Franklin looks so. Much. Cooler.

Even he agrees — large dips, lots of scratches and more make for a really nifty looking surface.

Thanks to several varying colors of stain — for the most part, Minwax’s Ebony — rubbed into the dents/cuts/scratches, they really show. And in addition to ‘really showing,’ they get that ‘Hey! I lived in a really cool library for years!’ look. You know, like this:

And this:

Oh, and lest we forget, this:

OK. So. Once all the beating up was finally done, Franklin was coated with a satin poly, and it got time to affix some hardware.

Thanks to the beyond nifty inventories at Signature Hardware and Van Dyke’s Restorers, it was, like, no problem to find lots of bling for Franklin.

And by bling, I mean really rusty, old-looking hardware.

Because I still have at least two more posts to make about my beloved Franklin, I will only share a partial list of hardware here. But, for starters: Drawer handles (rust finish), nail heads (rust finish) and a foot bar (antique brass finish) held in place by flanges (also in an antique brass finish).

All the hardware in a rust finish was sealed with a satin poly spray — you know, because who wants to get rust on themselves/their books/their laptops whilst sitting at Franklin?

So, to begin: The nailheads.

I bought many of these delightful beauties. Handy hint, when spraying with finish: Bang them into a cardboard box’s side with a rubber mallet. They’ll stay put — and accessible on all necessary surfaces — while being sprayed.

I used these to line the top edges of Franklin where appropriate, as well as the entire wooden-plank base.

Pretty, amiright?

I thought so.

On the side of Franklin where one would, logically, sit, I affixed a metal bar. In the future, I may replace it with something also in a rust finish, but for now I pretty much dig it. I mean, check that:

It’s like a slightly more modern addition that still blends well with the overall feel of Franklin.

One more, HDRd (link for the curious), just for good measure and on account of I think it’s a pretty neat way to make the scratches and dents perfectly clear:

So yeah, there’s that.

Now. Franklin has four drawers on the non-sitting side. Naturally, they will hold quill pens and parchment pens and paper and the like. So, naturally, they needed some really rad handles.

And, you know, mission accomplished:

The thing I like most about these guys? Each one is just a little bit different. Never thought I’d say this, but — thanks, rust!

Now that you have an idea of a little over half the hardware (like I would stop at nail heads, a bar and handles), I’ll leave you with a sneak peek of the rest of Franklin’s ‘outfit.’

More coming at some point in the near future.