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The show me your Witco thread. |
Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 3394
From: HELL
|  Posted: 2011-08-15 08:32 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-08-15 07:29, John the Mainlander wrote:
Picked this up at the weekly flea market at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL for a whopping $20. It's 47" x 3"x 23". The green wrap is burlap. Signed "Wilrongo." Has anyone else seen one of these?
Good Hunting!
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you overpaid !!
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-08-15 08:43 am Permalink
Haha, very funny. That is a pretty cool mod Witco, I've not come across one like it in the wild. Good find.
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TikiRootsRocka
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 15, 2011
Posts: 161
From: Los Angeles, California
| Posted: 2011-08-15 11:59 am Permalink
Scored this yesterday!!! It needs some TLC but I'm a happy owner. The original zebra print is under the black, but, it looks pretty rough. I haven't done a search yet, but any restoration suggestions would be appreciated.
One of the stools is cracked pretty badly and the base of the bar needs some repair for a little more sturdiness.
Crack in stool
The masks after a quick clean and pledge
It was nice meeting a few of you at the Rose Bowl yesterday. I was selling the vintage Hawaiian shirts wearing the Kahanmoku's "Suck 'em Up!" shirt.
Happy hunting everyone! Keep it up. I never thought I'd have one of these sitting in my garage waiting to be fixed up and put in my tiki room.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10601
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2011-08-15 3:26 pm Permalink
Congrats, it looks like you are the proud owner of a "Watusi Bar Group", a very early Witco bar, pictured on page 238 in Tiki Modern. That's the first time I have seen one in natura.
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TikiRootsRocka
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 15, 2011
Posts: 161
From: Los Angeles, California
| Posted: 2011-08-15 4:34 pm Permalink
Thanks for the info Sven! I'm super stoked to have this! I've been looking for a nice Witco for about 6-8 months and haven't found anything that I've liked, that's also in my price range.
I have The Book of Tiki and this find will probably give me a little more motivation to pick-up Tiki Modern a little quicker.
Luck was on my side, yesterday. The guy selling it, was at the exit of the Rose Bowl swap meet. I was selling at the swap meet, so I was there early, and forgot to bring cash to go "picking." I was exiting the flea market at 7:38 am to go to the ATM and what do I see?
I asked the seller if he knew anything about it, and he said, roughly, "I bought it from a guy, who bought it from a guy," and said something else. I didn't hear the last part as I zoned out and stopped hearing, because I had already verbally committed, and couldn't believe this was mine.
Thanks again,
Roots Rocka
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gold zephyr
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jun 29, 2010
Posts: 87
From: Los Angaleeze
| Posted: 2011-08-16 2:37 pm Permalink
Hey Man, it looks alot better than it did on the phone pics you showed me that day. It is exactly like something I was hoping to pick up myself, though happy it has found a good home. It's funny how you spotted it at the exit too! Enjoy brotha
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TikiRootsRocka
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 15, 2011
Posts: 161
From: Los Angeles, California
| Posted: 2011-08-17 5:36 pm Permalink
Thanks, I'm definitely enjoying workin' on it so far! Here's some progress pics with some cleaning and resoration questions at the end of the post, if anybody has any suggestions. Mahalo!
Sorry in advance if this gets a little long, I just don't want to screw this up because it seems to be in pretty good original condition.
On the front of the bar, I've taken the cover off to reveal the original fabric, cleaned the wood, and given it 3 wipes with pledge orange oil.
The fabric is disintegrating. What do I do? One suggestion was to paint-in the disintegrated parts and put a lacquer or some kind of finish in hopes of preventing more disintegration. Does this sound right if I want to leave it as original as possible? Any other suggestions?
I'm leaning towards leaving the wood on the tikis and top running board the way they are. There's not many chips and the finish is still pretty nice.
The running boards on the floor have less of the finish and more chipping. How should I touch-up them up? Is it okay to wipe over them with a dark finish? Should I sacrifice a little bit of the originality, here, and sand/refinish them?
Here are some pictures of the back.
The top two shelves are super clean, so I'm just going to leave them. Should I try and keep the original floor board and do the best I can as far as stripping, sanding and refinishing it and just covering it with a piece that fits, or should I replace it to try and gain more stability for the bar?
The bar is pretty solid, but still rocks if you lean on it. Is there anyway to make it feel a little more sturdy without compromising the originality, or do I just have to face the fact that I'm never gonna get to have sex on this without it breaking? 
Thank you again for your suggestions.
Roots Rocka
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TIKI DAVID
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2004
Posts: 1909
From: North Coast
| Posted: 2011-08-17 5:40 pm Permalink
use contact shelf paper to line the shelves
it rocks because the feet are missing,either 4 pads or wheels.
flip it over you will see where they were.
make yourself 4 square blocks for each corner,glue/tack them in place
that should solve your rocking problem.
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"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD
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Bongo Bungalow
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2007
Posts: 1230
From: Indiana
| Posted: 2011-08-17 6:07 pm Permalink
I'm not expert, but I like the zebra stripe. Even worn, it has a good look. But then, in person, it might appear less inviting.
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TikiRootsRocka
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 15, 2011
Posts: 161
From: Los Angeles, California
| Posted: 2011-08-18 4:27 pm Permalink
Thanks for the replies so far!
I can live with the zebra print, I actually kind of like it, so I think I'm going to put that on the back of the priority list.
Stripping and sanding the bottom shelf, then adding some feet, like TD suggested, will probably be my next steps.
Until next time
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gabbahey
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 10, 2011
Posts: 160
From: Pueblo, CO
| Posted: 2011-08-18 6:35 pm Permalink
I'm so glad you are keeping the zebra print original - for now. I think it makes it look so cool. If it were mine I would maybe recover it with more zebra fabric - with the old still under the new fabric. In fact, my wife and I were so inspired by your bar that we are wanting to recover our rattan bar stools with zebra.
gabbahey
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SilverLine
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 02, 2004
Posts: 612
From: Kansas City
| Posted: 2011-08-19 06:56 am Permalink
I do a lot of work in historic preservation (buildings mostly) and although this is a bar and not a building some of the same principles apply. First, I wouldn't do anything that can't be un-done, like sanding and refinishing. If you put new fabric on it, save the original. Don't try to "fix" anything you can't reverse. The chips and scratches are part of it's history. If you need to do something drastic to save/stabilize it, that's different. But for the cosmetics . . I'd just clean it. Don't be that guy the Antiques Roadshow appraisers curse 50 years from now.
When people say to me "I can do (whatever modification they're considering), it's not historic." I say, "You do that, and it never will be."
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Classic Silver Line Boats
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TIKI DAVID
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2004
Posts: 1909
From: North Coast
| Posted: 2011-08-23 4:34 pm Permalink
from today;
and a wall hanging bar
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"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD
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TIKI DAVID
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2004
Posts: 1909
From: North Coast
| Posted: 2011-08-23 4:35 pm Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: TIKI DAVID 2011-08-23 16:37 ]
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TIKI DAVID
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 07, 2004
Posts: 1909
From: North Coast
| Posted: 2011-08-23 4:37 pm Permalink
_________________
"Pets are welcome,Children 'MUST' be on leash" TD
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