Doing up junk shop furniture?

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Doing up junk shop furniture?
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Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 6:43 pm Post subject: Doing up junk shop furniture?
Would anyone be interested in an a simple article on simple techniques (I am not a carpenter)? Trouble is I haven't got anything on the go at the moment but could do some photos of finished things. Not paint techniques but just bringing the life back to dusty wood.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 6:46 pm Post subject:
ive done a fair bit if you want to run it past me wood is nice

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 6:50 pm Post subject:
It is - I have a penchant for oak - which is lucky living here as all the "country" furniture was oak. thank you dpack - that would be good - don't hold your breath - but it is brewing slowly

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 7:09 pm Post subject:
i know a bit about re jointing , dewarping making draws work etc a bit about upholstery and allied trades and some about finishes mahogony(and posh woods ) is my fave but im happy sorting rustic or country as well any help i can give ask

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 7:13 pm Post subject:
I'd love to read that. I'm a fan of picking up beaten up pieces and working on them till they're lovely again. Always looking out for the elusive sixth kitchen chair (and the time to finish restoring the fifth too )

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 7:18 pm Post subject:
Oooh - chairs - I just avoid them - too much like hard work - I was tought that they need to be completely dismantled and rebuilt to ever be rock solid again. Dpack - I could do the poor mans version you do the French polish finish - I do the button polish and I was taught to dewarp by strategically placing furniture in the sun - honest - works a treat with smallish problems.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46247
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 8:12 pm Post subject:
dismantling chairs is ok . i dont french polish unless the thing has been painted and stripped or has had to be replaned or a non matching chunk has had to be used as a repair . i try to stick to cleaning, light waxing and rubbing for hard woods and either waxing or catalysed resin for soft wood depending on its purpose patina is nice if it can be preserved oiling can be useful as well ,

CP

Joined: 06 Dec 2006
Posts: 139
Location: S Glos

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 8:22 pm Post subject:
yes please, have an abundance of old furniture that a) will be restored b) i shall give up on and and have a thundering great bonfire. c. prefer a), am just out of time, energy, space and motivation

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 8:25 pm Post subject:
I'd be interested, as my poor battered old pine table is going to be the centrepiece of my lovely new kitchen (ha ha) it could do with a bit of TLC.

hedgewitch

Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Posts: 5834
Location: Daft wench GHQ

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 8:37 pm Post subject:

I'd be interested. Have done some simple stripping/polishing of hard wood and some soft pine and dismantling and re-building a long time ago but they were all fireplaces

I have got a mahogany table top made from an old lab bench top that I stripped and finished. It's a lovely piece of wood. I want to re-do it as I originally did it for my mum who wanted it "shiny"

She then decided she didn't like it at all, so I rescued it and gave it a home. But I'd like it gently waxed (not high shine). I'm planning on re-doing it - just can't find the time right now.

I'd like to know about simple repairs to other furniture

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 8:59 pm Post subject:

ruby wrote:

Oooh - chairs - I just avoid them - too much like hard work - I was tought that they need to be completely dismantled and rebuilt to ever be rock solid again.

Depends on whats wrong with them. One of mine had some bits on the back loose, largely because somewhere in its hundred and thirty-ish year life it had been badly woodwormed. So I drilled out some wood and put in some strogn dowels, sanded the end down, waxed it to look like the rest, sorted. Then someoene leaned back on it and broke another, earlier restoration doen by a previous owner

The ones we've go are called 'knife back' or 'chisel back' you sometimes see them in a bad state. We're up to 5 now, three of them were in an average state and two were in a desperate state when we got them. Sooner or later I'll drop on another, I'll get lucky and find another one cheap.

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 06 11:03 pm Post subject:
OK - I give in - what makes you all think that you can't already do it? I have to say that any article I do will begin with words along the lines of "go for it, wood is a very forgiving material..." (And I also get the impression that you can all do far more than me anyway... so maybe a thread with tips might be a better plan?)

Bovey Belle

Joined: 18 Apr 2006
Posts: 77

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 06 8:18 am Post subject:

All our furniture has come from auction and usually had to be restored in some way or another. Chairs are our speciality, but on the principle of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" they only come apart to be reglued where necessary - never taken apart as a matter of course. My OH has just made a stunning Medieval style refectory table from a huge single plank we bought with us from Dorset. Just need to gee him up for the matching bench. I think it would be great to pool ideas - everyone has their own tips and experiences.

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 06 9:00 am Post subject:

I've got two pieces waiting to be worked on, one is an old beech rocking chair that spent about 50 years covered in an annual layer of sticky brown varnish, them my mum bravely stripped it and painted it gloss white when I was little, then I tried to strip it back to the wood a few years ago, got half way through and ground to a halt. Need to get up the courage to attack it again, but it has lots of twiddly bits and I don't think I'm approaching it right.

My other one is my grans fireside chair (1930s I think), fairly utilitarian but needs taking apart and refitting (every joint is loose) and then re-upholstering, has one of those cushions that is horsehair over springs, very comfy but extremely dilapidated at the moment, I fancy it would make a nice bedroom chair if it was given a complete makeover.

As for finishes, I like a linseed and wax finish rather than varnish wherever possible, its getting the wood to a place to start doing the oiling and waxing that I could do with some tips on. I always seem to get the balance wrong between when to strip and when to sand/wirewool/scrape

Cathryn

Joined: 16 Jul 2005
Posts: 19856
Location: Ceredigion

Posted: Fri Dec 08, 06 9:06 am Post subject:

OK I am going to do a basic article - and then start a thread for us to add all our tips to as I would also find it very useful. I was taught by an antiques restorer living locally hwo used to wrok for the national trust but as I only worked with him for a year I didn't leanr anywhere near enough to satisfy me

Won't be finished for a few weeks yet though but I want to pass on someof the tips that I learnt before I forget them all.

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