Been thinking about getting a decent wood cabinet/chest of drawers for capes and saddles. Would possibly like to get something cedar lined. Anyone have pics/info of theirs? I found a couple online but nothing that really sparked my interest.
I currently have stackable plastic drawers but they’re not really the right size nor do I feel that they offer any sort of protection. I also have sealed plastic boxes but wanted to get something a bit nicer.
The joy of a wooden cabinet vs. the practicality of plastic bins !!!
Our club had a presentation a few years ago by a curator from the Royal Ontario Museum, and one of the major points is that plastic is good for deterring bug infiltration. They can’t get into sealed packages or containers. If they do, they are usually restricted to the one (sealed) they are in. And since they can’t get a grip on the sides of plastic tubs or drawers, they usually can’t migrate from one to another, or creep from the carpet into the drawers. And of course moths can’t break in either.
A wooden cabinet may look good from across the room, but I advise keeping plastic tubs behind those decorative doors.
I think that wood looks beautiful, but plastic provides the protection that you want at a reasonable price. I use individual pastic boxes inside of the stackable plastic bins. In each I put cedar. In 40+ years I have never had a bug problem.
If you want the beauty of wood, you could do that and then stack plastic boxes inside 
You can have both wood and plastic. I picked up an antique dresser that some crazy person with a paintbrush had attacked. I paid about $85 for it then stripped the paint and rubbed in a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and turpentine. You can store plastic boxes and ziplock bags. if you want cedar lining you can pick up kits at the hardware store and do it yourself. I love wood but appreciate plastic. By the way, cedar is not a great deterrant, there are better products out there, but a well sealed plastic container is imprgnable.
Here’s a nice budget solution for a feather cabinet.:shock:
I use plastic bread boxes called lock n lock http://www.amazon.com/LOCK-N-LOCK-BREAD-CONTAINER/dp/B001H39E2Y
These are long enough for whole capes.
I think I’ll order two as I am getting a lot of “stuff” in.:rolleyes:
If you’ve got the time and patience, you might consider looking for a suitable used piece of furniture and refinishing it. I’ve done that with a number of pieces of furniture as winter projects the past few years and ended up with some very nice pieces of furniture that cost no more than a nominal amount to buy, and a bit of time to refinish them. I think you can end up with nicer than new pieces of furniture that way, and you’ll appreciate it more when you’ve finished it.
You mentioned a chest of drawers – 3-4 years ago I refinished a complete bedroom set of Cushman furniture (probably made pre-1950) for my youngest son and daughter-in-law, which included a chest of drawers. I think they paid around $200.00 for the entire set. The wood was Canadian white birch. Here’s a picture of one of the pieces in the set that I refinished. There was another taller chest of drawers that would have made an even better storage places for feathers, and fly tying items:
You could easily add cedar linings to the inside of drawers to furnitures such as that, but I’m not sure it is necessary. It does smell nice though.
I’ve kept a lot of my furs and feathers in a cherry slant top desk for the past 40+ years. I just put the feathers, etc. in the drawers, and add a few moth balls from time to time and have never had any problems with moths or other insects. I also keep other materials in plastic containers of differing types, a large tackle box, and in other places with moth balls.
That john is the solution I’m currently looking at. My plan is to find an old wardrobe and put a bench and storage inside it. I’m looking at this for storage.
Cheers,
A.
You might be able to fashion something like this.
Very nice, but way too small.
Cheers,
A.