furniture restoration

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I was honored to be able to bring this early chest of drawers back to a functional every day piece of furniture. When it had come in, the drawers were falling apart, and one of the front legs had been damaged and removed. A video of the restoration of this piece can be found on my You Tube channel HERE.

This table came through the shop as a pre-sale refurbishment.  Many times, before bringing a piece of furniture to market, it is best practice to have it inspected, repaired if necessary. Touch up and polish make all the difference so you can realize it's true value.

Intricate details often get muted as a piece of furniture ages. Our daily routines often render dusting to spraying ready made aerosol polishes and wiping with a cloth. Over the years, this adds up to hundreds of coats of wax, each coat, slowly filling in carvings and embellishments. This chair was first, cleaned and stripped of years of wax and polish. I then rehydrated the original finish using a special oil, and buffed to a shine. 

Antique materials were made to last. Many pieces that I see in my shop are a master class in joinery from 100 years ago. Often times, the adhesives used back then break down or dry out with age causing failure of joints. This table had seen many armature repair attempts when a mortise and tenon joint failed. I completely disassembled the base, scraped many kinds of adhesives from the joints, repaired a tenon, and reassembled the base, 

Missing parts were the reason this small rocking chair was brought into the shop. I was able to reproduce a turned piece on my lathe that was an exact match to the original. I have hundreds of stains and finishes in stock to be able to match color, tone and sheen so that, as in this case, a piece can be reassembled and brought back to its former glory. This rocker was brought in, in pieces, and left as a gift from a new Grandmother to her son when they had their first child. 

The sides of the case of this early chest of drawers were loose and falling apart when this entered the shop. This caused the drawers to become stressed and damaged as well. I was able to heat and take apart the intricate Knapp joints pictured, and get the case and the drawers neatly fit and assembled again before rejuvenating the finish. Early industrial age joinery is beautiful when restored.

Patent date of Oct. 11th, 1892. This music cabinet was in need of complete disassembly and regluing and refastening. It turned out beautifully! I documented this restoration in a series of reels on Instagram. Check them out HERE