Puzzle Library Follow Up

Hello there! Last year, I wrote about building (more like mildly altering and refinishing an old wood file cabinet to become) a Hobbit- and Lord-of-the-Rings-themed neighborhood puzzle library. I built a window into the front, woodburned J.R.R. Tolkien quotes around the library, and waterproofed it (I thought). 

Macrocosm by Pomegranate 

Well, my crack finishing work lasted about 8 months in the Land of the Ice and Snow before suffering a bit from said precipitation. 

As you can see from this damage collage, the outside wood had cracked and was deteriorating. The trim around the lid had warped and although I had caulked the edges, the pieces were warping away from each other, which likely was allowing water in. That water was causing unsightly mold on the inside of the lid. The gorgeous dragon knobs must have been printed artwork placed under glass cabochons, and they had faded in the sunlight so that they could barely be seen. Additionally (and unpictured, since I forgot to snap one), the hinges for the lid had rusted and were dripping rust down the back of the library. These were the “Must Fixes.” There would also be some “Like to Fixes.” 

But never fear! There’s not a crafty task I think I can’t conquer. And while I imagine Mr. Ambassador is generally appalled that that is the area where my unearned confidence happens to lie, he is resigned to it. So I pulled the library indoors immediately and hatched a plan (slow and ponderously) to revive it and soup it up a bit. I’ll share what I learned just in case you, Gentle Reader, can benefit from some of the things I learned along the way.

First off, I consulted with a carpenter who happened to already be in my home installing something, and he was kind enough to offer some advice. If you don’t happen to have a carpenter installing something in your home right now, let me pass along his advice. Two magical words: marine varnish. This is also called spar varnish.

I don’t know why I had not thought of that before, but it serves me right for not being nautical. But those boats weather all sorts of, well, weather. And your local hardware store sells the magic stuff.

My carpenter suggested using the varnish first to allow it to seep into the cracks and crevices, then following up after with clear caulk around the gaps to help seal.

I set about sanding the outside of the library – especially the weather-stricken top – but I to avoid removing the woodburning. Then I attempted to clean the mold inside the lid with vinegar. Then bleach water. Then I set it in the sunlight. When my mold-busting tools were all used up, I tried sanding it out, which helped minimally at best. Resigned to the unsightly mold, I figured I’d better just seal it in with the spar varnish so it can’t hurt anyone any more.

But before I varnished anything, I wanted to correct something that had bothered me previously: I originally burned the lettering first then stained afterward, which allowed me to burn without inhaling the burning chemicals of the stain, but the tradeoff was that the stain settled into the woodburning relief, rendering the design less visible. Over time, this bothered me. So I took the time to update the woodburning on the window frame.

I was careful to wear a respirator for this since I was now burning through layers of varnish and stain, which I don’t want to inhale. 

After I finished reburning the words “Neighborhood Puzzle Library,” suddenly the rest of the quotes that surrounded the library looked a bit dull. So I went back and reburned all of the quotes around the edge of the library. It’s the same thing that happens any time I commit a small fix-it project at home and then look around and realize everything else needs to be spruced up too.

At this point, winter hit, and while the weather was mild, it was still too cool to varnish outdoors. I didn’t want to jeopardize the waterproofing by varnishing in the cold weather, and I couldn’t very well varnish indoors with no ventilation. So I had to find things to work on that didn’t require warm weather. 

I researched what kind of metal hinge will not rust and settled on a stainless steel piano hinge that would run the length of the lid. It would easily hold the weight of the lid, wouldn’t rust, and (hopefully) would be easy to waterproof with a piece of foldable weatherstripping.

Removing those ancient hinges with the tiny screw heads that I had previously varnished over wasn’t going to be easy. But the folks at the tool shop directed me to a drill bit that drills into the screw head, then you turn the bit around and use the other end to drill the screw out. And while I can’t completely envision the mechanics of how it worked, it sure did! (That weekend, I was fortunate enough to have my dad there to do it for me, and I assure you he was equally dazzled.)

Then, still in the dead of winter, I embarked on the most time-consuming improvement of the library: burning a map of Middle Earth inside the top of the library. This was an absolute chore. I found a map on Etsy. Then I measured the inside dimensions of the library and used Photoshop to make the map a size that would fill the library. Then I printed it on paper, in a tile format, and taped those together to form a large map. I cut the corners out and folded it into the box. Then, using carbon paper (which I’ve always thought is a girl’s best friend), I drew over the lines of the map to transfer them to the wood of the library. That took a couple of hours. Then I spent about 8 hours woodburning in chunks over the winter and into the spring (while wearing my respirator, of course).

Finally it was warm enough to varnish. The product recommended 3 coats for the outside, so that’s what I did. I also threw two coats on the inside of the top portion. 

I added the piano hinge, then used clear outdoor window and door caulking to seal over the hinge and around it. I re-sealed around the trim of the lid and filled the holes left over from removing the old hinges with caulking to prevent rot.

Now it was time for the final fun upgrades. I struggled to find knobs to replace what I had thought were the faded dragon knobs. I searched for dragons, rustic wood, twig-like metal, and anything else I could come up with. They just needed to fit the theme and be rustic enough to look like they could have come from Middle Earth, but I also needed to be sure they would not rust or fade. 

I finally found some aluminum and glass pulls from a seller on Etsy. All of her glass is her own recipe, and all of her knobs were gorgeous. I settled on two different pulls: one turquoise and one copper of two different sizes meant to appear mismatched as though they were found objects – nevermind that I spent literally hours hunting for them.

Then, I re-weatherstripped the thing. I used foldable weatherstripping in the piano hinge and in the two doors below and puffy weatherstripping around the top edge of the container above.

I was almost ready to put it on the curb, but not until I added my last upgrade: (drum roll…) lighting! I found weatherproof/outdoor solar strip lights. I drilled down into the lower level of the library and then out the bottom and threaded the lights through to their solar panel which goes in the ground, then I sealed the hole at the bottom with the clear caulking.

 And THEN it was finally ready to go back outside!

Just for fun, I added this Lord of the Rings Gollum puzzle and this Cobble Hill Dragonforge puzzle to help with the overall Hobbity vibe. And to Mr. Ambassador’s delight, I got two huge stacks of puzzles off the floor of my office and stuffed back into the library where they belong. (He is easily delighted.) Now the neighborhood puzzle library is back out on the curb, living its best life. 

Day or night, it’s ready for the throngs of neighborhood puzzlers who will flock to it to find magic within its walls.* And I, on the other hand, am going to take a break and relax by doing a puzzle.

Happy Puzzling!

~Robin 

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*So far, it’s been a week and one puzzle has been picked up, and a few others rearranged. But surely there will be throngs, right?