RED IS ALWAYS A FUN COLOR

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Little Jack Horner's

Sometimes we get a project that seems routine, but turns into something special. That’s true with this set of four barstools. You’ve seen barstools like these before. The style is hugely popular and has been for a while now. This set was purchased by our client at an estate sale. They are not antique, nor even old enough to be vintage. I’m not sure how old they are, just that they are old enough to not be the cheapies currently being imported. The quality of materials and fabrication tell me that.

The original finish was what you would expect, rather ordinary brown and shiny. Well they are ordinary no longer. We transformed these stools into something that will make an impact in our client’s kitchen. The color was custom mixed to match the knobs on her top of the line range and the custom area rug already in the kitchen. Take a look, do these look hot, or what?

We are doing more and more furniture with color. This is no ordinary paint job either. When color is called for, we use the same professional products we use on other fine furniture pieces. The obvious difference is the color. Our furniture lacquer can be mixed to match any color. This time it is Heritage Red, a Benjamin Moore color.

The refinishing process begins with a primer to seal the wood followed by several coats of the custom tinted lacquer. Once the color is right, a few coats of clear topcoat are applied in the desired sheen. In this case the client wanted a matte sheen. The clear topcoat not only protects the color from damage, but gives the final finish additional depth and a great feel. You just can’t get that from a coat of paint.

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WELL THAT’S A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Little Jack Horner's

The idiom “a horse of a different color” is often used to describe something unexpected. In this case our project involved what might be more aptly described as a horse of many colors.
We were contacted by Victoria from Dallas to help with her Carousel Horse. You might think a carousel horse would be an unexpected item for a furniture restorer. But, we have had carousel horses in the shop for restoration in the past. Most are similar in that they are made of wood. Built in sections, with the limbs attached, they are carved by hand and painted in various detail to fit the theme of the carousel they will inhabit. The most recent example was different.
Victoria’s horse was made for her as a graduation gift from her mother. Although full size, this horse is not wood. It is resin cast with a urethane foam interior. Made in the 1990′s, it is hand painted and signed by the artist. Victoria has moved with her horse several times and always provided it with a good home. However, accidents happen and it is due to a simple accident that this horse came to us. Children playing nearby somehow turned over this family heirloom. The result was a broken neck.
Here you can see the horse on its’ base, and from a distance the damage isn’t extremely noticeable.

Looking a little closer, you can see the crack running all the way around the neck.

 

 

Our goal is to repair the neck, recolor the damaged areas, and send it home with no visible evidence of the accident. To do this, the break had to be realigned perfectly. As it was, the upper part of the neck and head was shifted to one side. Anytime expandable foam is used inside an object there is a fine line between enough and too much. As the foam expands it puts pressure on the container. Too much pressure and it breaks, just right pressure and it forms a solid mass. In our case the resin shell and foam interior were a solid mass. When the accident happened the shell cracked and the foam, under pressure, shifted to one side. This made realignment impossible. This fact determined our first step — we had to remove the head. Here you see the head and body separated. You can see the thickness of the resin shell and the foam inside.

  

Following separation the lower body portion is masked to protect the finish as we prepare to attach the head. We carefully carved away a small amount of the foam interior so the two pieces could be realigned. This also provided a cavity for the resin mixture that would hold the head in place.

To reattach the head we mixed an epoxy resin and “painted” it on all the surfaces that would be bonded. An additive is then mixed into the resin to thicken it. The thickened resin mixture is then poured into the cavity and the joint of the head and body. All parts are then aligned and secured in place. The resin was allowed to cure for three days to reach its maximum strength. Here you can see the head, body, and a few loose pieces are fastened in place.

   

   

After the curing process, all the clamps are removed. We are now left with an irregular line around the horse’s neck. Next small voids and paint chips are filled and sanded smooth in preperation for color matching and finish. Here you see the areas ready for color.

           

Vivian did a superb job of matching the colors using acrylics from Golden Artist Colors. Our friend Starr, an accomplished artist, calls these the “Maserati of acrylics” and she is right. Five different colors were needed to match the ivory body, the brown mane, the blue – gold – and red of the saddle. Glazes were then used to blend with the original glazed surfaces. Finally, a clear finish is used to protect the colors. Take a look at the final results.

   

    

We love restoration projects like this that challenge us. Your comments are always welcome.

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MAKING DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Little Jack Horner's

Over the years we have had many a family heirloom come to the shop with untold types of home repairs. Some really well done, some really, really bad. Lots of people feature themselves as “handymen” (or women) and I am no different. As I have said in the past,  my family has a history of doing things, rather than paying to have things done. So, I guess it is in my nature to fix things. I make many repairs at home to things unrelated to woodworking. I do have other skills!

It has always been interesting to see how people have repaired their furniture, and we get to see it up close and personal. One of the first tasks for us when repairing or restoring a piece, is to undo most of these homemade repairs. This sometimes adds hours to the restoration or repair process. It’s common to spend more time undoing a bad repair than it takes to make the repair correctly.

Here are a few things we regularly see;

Tin can lids were commonly used to repair mouse holes in drawers. This most likely was done in rural areas where rodents were a constant irritant. Forty or fifty years ago, cans were made with metal that rusted, that’s another clue to the age of the repair. Since most people don’t cook anymore, we don’t see too many modern repairs made with food containers.
Another common attempt to keep mice out of clothing was screen wire. You know, the stuff that used to be on the outside of your windows to keep bugs out. Hundreds of dressers and chests have passed through the shop requiring removal of the rusted window screen from the bottom.
Cardboard boxes have been used extensively to cover the backs of mirrors.
Metal plumbing strap, or hose clamps, make a great tool to hold a broken leg together.
A piece of plywood will replace the springs in a chair or sofa seat and keep you from falling through. I once removed 67 screws from such a seat in a sofa before we could repair the broken frame.
Nylon stockings (before pantyhose) were woven into the backs of a couple of cane back chairs when the cane began to break. You can see the rockers on the front page of our website. In this case, the lady that owned them was really making do with what she had. Her son had us restore them, and he remembers going to high school without shoes.
The backs and undersides of things have had an assortment of scrap pieces of wood nailed or screwed on to patch things together.
I won’t even get started on the variety of glues we see. That is for another post.

It is the scrap wood repair that brings me to the point of this whole ramble. A few months ago we restored a turn of the (20th) century oak bedroom set that was passed down through several generations. One drawer in particular caught my eye. Like many others it was patched together with a piece of wood. When we removed it, we could see it was imprinted with something. Years of dirt obscured the detail, but I decided to clean it up and see what it was.

Pictured below you can see that the piece of scrap was originally the side of a shipping container dated 1881. I don’t know what it held, but the manufacturer was proud enough of it to label it “First Premium”.

If you are a woodworker, you will recognize that the shipping carton was assembled with mortised and pegged corners. We cleaned it up and sealed the wood to preserve it as a curiosity. Interestingly enough, that shipping carton was made with higher quality material and workmanship than most furniture is today.

And they were just making do with what they had.

 

 

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2011 ENDED ON A HIGH NOTE

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Little Jack Horner's

Our last project for 2011 may have been one of the most interesting for me. Late in the year we were approached by our new client Pat to restore a family heirloom music box. He really wanted it completed before Christmas since it was a gift. The story was compelling so we agreed to have it complete in time to be presented at Christmas.
I may have the story slightly out of sequence, but this is how I understand it. The music box has been in his family for several generations. We were not able to determine the exact age as there are no manufacturing marks anywhere. After several generations, the music box was in Pat’s mothers possession. She decided to give it to Pat. After being told he was receiving it, he came to us for the restoration. He restored it for his mother as a Christmas gift, and in turn, she is giving it to Pat.

Once I saw the piece, I was hooked. Music boxes are something of a fascination to me. The mechanism of a good music box is truly a mechanical marvel. I couldn’t wait to start taking it apart and restoring it. These photos show what it looked like upon arrival.

    

    

When it came to us one of Pat’s requests was for us to make it play. It appeared that it had been wound to tightly and was stuck. The problem turned out to be twofold. The first problem was the dirt. Years and years of dust had been attracted to the moving parts and the lubricant used on them. After a careful cleaning of the mechanism and frame, it worked perfectly. The second problem was the start lever. The visible lever actually moves another lever on the mechanism itself. The end had broken off and the two didn’t meet. A new piece was fabricated so that is functions correctly now.

When we disassembled it I was drawn to the labels on the two levers. Each lever has two positions with an indication of the function. You can see in the photo that the rear lever is marked “Wechselt” and “Wiederholt”. The front lever is marked “Still” and “Spiel”. Curiosity got the best of me and I went to Google for a translation. The front lever was sort of obvious – “Still” translated to “Quiet” and “Spiel” translated to “Play”. The rear lever proved more interesting, I found that “Wechselt” translates to “alternates” and “Wiederholt” translates to “Repeats”. Discovering this created another mystery – alternates or repeats what?

Inside the lid was a handwritten label with song titles that was a big clue to that mystery.

After everything was cleaned and reassembled we were able to find the answer. The cylinder has barbs for six songs. What was really fascinating to me is how it plays all six songs. The music box starts to play when you move the lever from Still to Spiel. As the cylinder rotates, the barbs pluck the end of the teeth on the combs. If you move it back to Still, the cylinder will turn one revolution, playing one song, and stop. If you leave the lever in the Spiel position, it will continue to rotate. With the rear lever in the Wiederholt position, it will repeat the same song. With the lever in the Wechselt position, it will alternate songs with each revolution of the cylinder.

After learning the meaning of the labels, I wanted to know how one cylinder could play six songs. As I watched the cylinder revolve, I could see that moving the rear lever moved a pin into, or out of, the path of a gear on the end of the cylinder. In simple terms, here’s what happens. With the lever in the Wechselt, or alternates, position a pin is put in the path of the gear on the cylinder. When the cylinder revolves and this gear touches the pin, the gear rotates 1/6th of a revolution causing the entire cylinder to move slightly to the side. After six revolutions, the cylinder returns to the first position.

I may have bored you to death with that explanation, but it was fascinating for me to watch. I can only imagine the mind of the maker while designing that mechanism.

The box itself is a beautiful rosewood veneer with the interior finished in black. We removed the old finish and years of dirt. Once that was complete, we discovered that the interior of the lid was veneered in a lovely crotch veneer with an inlaid stringing border. There were some repairs needed including reattaching the feet, gluing the interior dividers, replacing the glass, and some minor work on the veneer.

We decided to leave the crotch veneer and stringing visible on the interior. The remaining interior surfaces (and the feet) were finished in a black lacquer. The entire box received several coats of clear lacquer which really made the rosewood figure pop. Here it is, ready to make music for many generations to come.

    

    

Thanks for reading, check back soon – 2012 has some interesting projects scheduled.

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FROM JUNKYARD TO THANKSGIVING DINNER

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Little Jack Horner's

One of our holiday deadlines in 2011 was a very nice dining suite that got to its current home through a bit of luck and a handful of determination. This story was related to us by our client Ingrid after she recovered the furniture. The furniture took some detours on the way to her house, and I will probably get some of the details wrong. Nevertheless, it is still a good story with a happy ending.

The table, ten chairs, and a tall china cabinet originally belonged to Ingrid’s grandmother in Oklahoma. At some point she decided she didn’t want it any longer. As sometimes happens, she got rid of it. Unknown to her, Ingrid wanted it and went on a mission to recover what, to her, was a family heirloom.

Saving this furniture was a good call. It is an extremely well made suite of furniture from the Kittinger Furniture Company of Buffalo. Made sometime in the early part of the 20th century using top of the line materials. If you have seen as many dining rooms as we have, you can immediately tell the difference. The most noticeable to me is that there are no secondary woods used in the construction. The tabletop veneers are beautiful mahogany, with mahogany as the backing veneer. The chairs are constructed of solid mahogany, as are the table pedestals. This is normally an area where you see secondary woods with only the most prominent areas being mahogany.

Even in the condition in which it arrived, I could tell it would be a showpiece when restored. Here you can see what it looked like on arrival.

The tabletop was in pretty good shape with only a degraded finish.

The pedestals and legs.

And here is a sample of the chairs.

Well back to the rescue story. Every city or town has somebody that is a junk collector. There are lots of other names for them, but you know what I am talking about. That is where this furniture wound up. Ingrid’s grandmother gave, or sold, it to “Dumpster Dan” in a city I don’t remember.

Sometime later, Ingrid found out where the furniture was and took off on a rescue mission. She found it and bought it back, in the condition you see above. The chairs had been stored outside in a lean to. You can see the effects of the weather, water, and small visitors. At least the table and china cabinet were indoors, although not being treated with any respect!

Had Kittinger not manufactured a quality product, this furniture would not have survived. They have been around since 1866, and while I don’t know anything about the quality of their current goods, the antique pieces we have had in the shop have all been first rate.

Interestingly, two of the chairs were added to the set at a later date and don’t match the originals. Although 100% identical on the outside, the construction under the seat is different. Here is a delivery tag from the furniture store where they were purchased in 1950.

The table was the easiest piece to restore. The refinishing was straight forward and there were not a lot of repairs needed to the top. The pedestals were completely rebuilt, as were all ten chairs. Even with the abuse they received in the junk yard, the only major repairs were to glue joints. The china cabinet is still usable and was reserved for a future project.

This was a great project for us. It is really a pleasure to restore such high quality furniture. By the way, Kittinger is still in business. I contacted them thinking they would have a company historian. I was hoping to get a date of manufacture, but sadly no reply. You can see the final results in the photos here. We delivered and set up the table with both leaves in time for Thanksgiving dinner.

                                   If you stayed with me this far, thanks for your interest.

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