Category Archives: Wood Working

I’ve Seen The Light

Posted on May 18, 2012 by

There are two camps, camp one believes that all thing new must be an improvement over the old, modern glues are superior to hide glue, etc.  Camp two believes that all thing old are better than the new, after all … Continue reading →

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Eastlake Sewing Rocker [ brocken cane rail ]

Posted on April 12, 2012 by

This Eastlake style sewing rocker, circa 1880, came in to the shop with a broken and missing cane rail. I was told that someone had knelt on the seat and that the piece was lost. Here we see where the … Continue reading →

Posted in Repairs, seating | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Gluing Chairs equals Rehairing Violin Bows

Posted on April 4, 2012 by

Thirty years ago I was doing all the musical instrument repairs for 7 music stores in the Chicago area. In the instrument repair business re-hairing violin bows is the bread and butter, I used to do several every week. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Repairs | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Leveling Chair or Table Legs

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

There are many occasions when it becomes necessary to trim the bottom of a leg to level or remove a wobble in a chair or table. In this case the chair had been used for a long time with lose … Continue reading →

Posted in Repairs | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Rushes [ Equisetum hyemale ]

Posted on March 20, 2012 by

Equisetum hyemale, horse tail rush, snake grass, or scouring rushes have long been used as an abrasive for both cleaning cooking pots and smoothing wood. ” History: Contains so much silica that bunches of the stem have been sold for … Continue reading →

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Barley Twist Chair

Posted on March 13, 2012 by

This is an oak chair with barley twist turnings that came in to be re-glued. While disassembling I found that one of the rear legs was cracked just below the seat mortise in the first twist. It wasn’t broken all … Continue reading →

Posted in Repairs | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Nailing [ things to consider ]

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

Ever since Adam Cherubini brought up nails, there have been lots of posts of projects built using nails. However there’s been little talk about the pitfalls or the things to consider when using nails, so here’s some random thoughts on … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Finishing 2 [ Rattle Can techniques ]

Posted on February 24, 2012 by

While writing this I realized that most of this applies to any spray equipment and that these are not techniques that I use on valuable antique pieces. When restoring antiques it’s best to restore the old finish using that same … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Thoughts on finishing and rattle cans

Posted on February 20, 2012 by

In my finish room right now I have 8 spray guns and 2 air brushes and I haven’t used any of them in at least 3 years and maybe five. I can’t remember the last time I used one. Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Finishing | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quick edge repair [ epoxy putty ]

Posted on February 10, 2012 by

For this type of repair I would normally trim the damaged area, fashion and glue in a wooden plug with hide glue, then inpaint and finish the damaged area. When time or budget constraints are a limiting factor this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Repairs | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments