Chair leg repair is tricky. Can you tell which leg was broken completely in half? Neither can I unless I get about an inch away.
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Tag: furniture refinishing
Cedar Chest Restoration
Here is the cedar chest restoration job we recently completed. We’re quite pleased with the results.
How we approached the Cedar Chest Restoration…
We started by stripping off all the old finish. This chest had been “loved” on for many years and what little of the original finish that was remaining was in rough shape – so we had no choice but to take it down to the bear wood. Since we’re a professional shop, we have an overflow system that allows stripper to be pumped through a fluid hose with a brush on the end. The piece sits in a shallow tub while we gently scrub and rinse it down with stripper. This “washing” off of the finish is very efficient and not harmful to the piece.
After we had all of the old finish stripped off we wiped it clean with lacquer thinner and left to dry for a day. Once dried there were a few areas of veneer that were damaged so we repaired these areas prior to staining. In this case we used one our own stain colors which is similar to the color Minwax’s English Chestnut. After staining with our own stain, we air brushed some black stain around some of the edges and crevices. This enhances the details and assist in bringing back some of the patina that was removed when stripping.
Notice in the picture below we saved the advertisement that was attached to the inside of the chest and reapplied once done with the restoration. Lane must have had a collaboration with an insurance company that offered insurance. How cool is that?? But given inflation you’d probably need a bit more than $100.00.
Finally we applied several coats of lacquer, rubbing out in between coats. The final result is a nice soft luster on a piece that will last another couple generations.
Simple Steps for Painting Doors
Achieving a high quality, painted finish when painting doors does not have to be complicated. Here are the simple steps for painting a front door. In fact depending on the condition of your door, it may not even be that much work. However, there is a process…… and if followed correctly you’ll have less trouble and will get great looking results.
This article will not be a chemistry class on the various types of paints, finishes and their compatibility which each other. There is tremendous amounts of information readily available on this subject and I will not repeat it here. Rather, I will describe a Process you can follow to get the desired result. Read more
Beautiful, late 1800’s wardrobe restoration
Why we restored it…
Generally speaking you don’t want to modify or refinish a piece this age as it can have a very negative effect on the value. However, the client had already begun to strip the piece before contacting me so that made us all in! We had to refinish it for this wardrobe restoration.
What we did in this restoration..
The client had attempted to sand on one side and had sanded through the paint to what was a yellow/golden color. Initially, we thought they had sanded through to a layer of milk paint. However, after working on the piece a bit, we discovered this wasn’t a light coat of milk paint. Rather it was the color that the underneath poplar had aged to. I have never seen poplar turn this beautiful golden hue… I guess it was the mixture of painted top coats, age of the wood and the environment that made this happen. As such the color was chosen…we were going to leave it natural. Read more
Give antique look to furniture in 5 easy steps
I like to give an antique look to furniture when it makes sense. I recently was asked to make a small bench for a client. Here’s how we did it. Because we wanted the resulting end look to be very rustic, distressed and aged, I followed specific procedures. So, when I picked out the lumber I chose pieces that had lots of dents, scratches, nicks and saw marks.
The Bench Project – Giving antique look to furniture
(Also, I picked Oak because the finishing steps described below work best on open grain woods like oak, pine, etc..) The rest of the antique look to furniture appearance I achieved during the finishing process.
Here is how I did it 5 easy steps for giving an antique look to furniture….
Staining different woods to match
When finishing furniture, one often finds that the piece may be made from several different types of wood, so staining different woods to match becomes a challenge. Because woods take stain differently, it is helpful to know a few techniques that allow you to color the wood (across different species) and achieve a uniform and pleasing color. Additionally, not all projects can be made from mahogany and walnut. However, just because you have a piece made from pine you are not prevented from creating a dark wood, fine finish similar to what you might find on a more formal piece. See the steps below which were adapted using techniques and materials readily available to the DIY person. Read more
Refinishing Queen Anne Furniture
A client called asking that I help in refinishing Queen Anne furniture, specifically a desk they attempted to strip. The piece was a fairly nice, well built Queen Anne desk that was in great shape except for the sanding that the owner attempted to do.
Before Refinishing Queen Anne Furniture
When refinishing a piece it is always preferable to remove the top coat (the clear protective layer) in the least intrusive way possible. Since we are a professional shop we use chemicals that flow out of a brush and the piece is in essence washed until the finish is softened and removed. This method removes all the hard protective finish but doesn’t remove all the color and patina.
If this is not possible, then a gel stripper would be my next choice. This is much more time consuming but is not abrasive. You brush on the stripper then scrape off with a puddy knife. Then you clean thoroughly with mineral spirits.
If this choice is not available, (the stripper won’t dissolve the finish or bad sections require sanding) then you have no choice but to sand it back entirely. When sanding, always use the highest grit possible that still allows proper sanding. (such as 220 grit) The lease amount of abrasive used is the best. In this case I had no choice but to sand the entire piece because the client had begun that way.
After I sanded entirely I cleaned with mineral spirits then applied the color stain I liked. Heres’s what it looked like after the first coat of coloring. I used a standard Burnt Umber – very light coat.
- After coloring…
Next, I sprayed a seal coat and then brushed on a very light coat of very diluted black glaze. I then “aged” the piece by brushing black glaze in all the crevices and corners.. notice the black highlights on the leg closeup.
- Glazed crevices
Then I sprayed several coats of the final finish….seems easy doesn’t it??
- Here’s the finalized piece.
