11 pictures below.
The finish on the left side of the chest had been damaged by water and sunlight. The central meeting edges of the veneer were loose in places and were reglued.
A view of the interior of the chest showing the drawer runners which work in grooves in the drawer sides. All the runners were badly worn and were replaced to enable the drawers to work freely.
The grooves in the drawer sides had been made good on at least one previous occasion by inserting lining strips. All these strips were replaced to enable the drawers to work freely again.
The brass handles were removed for cleaning and any badly damaged wood on the drawer fronts repaired by fitting new patches of veneer. Smaller cavities were filled using hard wax.
The underside of the chest and the back legs had been repaired many years ago in a crude fashion using nails (in common with much of the original construction), but the repairs were still holding firmly so they were left in place.
Both rear corners of the top surface of the chest had been repaired on a previous occasion but were badly chaffed. A single rectangular piece of veneer with a diagonal score mark had been used to replace the ends of the original two sections of cross-banding. This picture shows the previous repair partially removed.
The rear left-hand corner after repair.
Many sections of cross-banding had been loosened by shrinkage stress and needed to be reglued using scotch glue. A large shrinkage crack across the centre of the top surface had been filled with strips of a fine-grained blonde hard wood, but the effect was acceptable so the repair was left in place.
The front of one of the two small drawers being refinished.
At this point the owners agreed to have all the drawer runners replaced and the grooves in the drawer sides repaired so that the drawers would run smoothly and the drawer spacing in the carcase would be improved.
The final result.