I found two heavily trashed Ainsworth antique balance scales at the flea market. $40 later, they followed me home. Between the two carcasses, I was able to get parts to assemble one complete unit.
I should probably also mention that the finished product is not “original”. A true collector would probably shudder at the fact that I took artistic license by removing (and not replacing) several parts simply because I thought they were ugly. You can see clues of that from the photo sequence.
The photos will not be much of a “how to”, but do show before and after. The steps it took to get from A to Z were:
- Complete dissassembly including all the glass panes.
- Sandblasting (at the Tech Shop) all the cabinet parts to remove old chipped paint
- Repainting (I build a paint booth from plastic sheeting to keep dust off the drying surfaces). All the painting was with rattle-cans. I don’t have a sprayer.
- Cleaning all the brass and glass, replacing some glass panes
- Fabricating some simple parts such as retaining clips for glass
- Reassembly
The whole process took about 3 months. The finished product really looks outstanding on display in our family room.
