Furniture & Art Repair and Restoration Log

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:27 pm

Techniques, tool, tips.... post your furniture repair and refinishing projects here.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:29 pm

A middle aged woman pulled into the swap meet at 5am in a U-Haul full of her grandmother's possessions. It was dark and she could barely see the things she was dragging from the bed and dropping on the ground. The way she was treating the items told me she wasn't happy to be stuck with the chore. There were only a few people selling that early so I decided to help her unload while illuminating the area with my headlamp. I noticed a table behind a few large boxes and asked the price. She said $5. Without really seeing it I told her I would take it. She made the sign of the cross with the $5 bill.

When I got it home I did a little research. It was made in Sorrento, Italy in the 1880s and the technique is known as Sorrento Inlaid marquetry.

I sanded it by hand with 110 grit sandpaper to remove the old faded finish then went up to 400 grit to finish it smooth. I followed Jacob's advice from my other table project and put a few light coats of tung oil. Nothing more. Came out nice.

I listed it for sale for $1200 and found a spot for it in our home.

Post by **jacob** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:34 pm

Eh, this could be between $500 and $5000 or more... stop touching it!

chenda · Post by **chenda** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:55 pm

Nice! I love that pouffe too, goes well with the table.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:06 pm

@jacob, I couldn't help myself. I started the thread because I wasn't sure whether to leave it as is or give it just a little TLC. Maybe I should have waited for advice before proceeding. I figured it was 50/50 chance the person who buys it will be an antique stickler who will be disappointed with my work vs the person buying for their home who would not have bought had it not been "nice". We shall see. There is a lotta stimmy money floating around right now so I hope someone who views the listing decides they've got to have it now.

@chenda, Mrs. Ego has wanted one for years and found it deflated at a thrift store. I believe it is camel leather. It gets filled with winter/summer clothing as the seasons change.

Alphaville · Post by **Alphaville** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:24 pm

a beauty

chenda · Post by **chenda** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 7:25 pm

@ego ah nice, good idea using it for seasonal storage. Looks like a nice place you have there.

mathiverse · Post by **mathiverse** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 8:05 pm

Wow! That table is gorgeous after you cleaned it up. I would have never thought it could look so nice had I seen only the first picture.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Tue Apr 06, 2021 11:35 am

I've been talking with two potential buyers for the table. One has offered $500. I countered with $750.

I have a few new projects in the development stages. One will require a good power stapler and a good sewing machine so I have been watching for them at the swap meet. I told my friends to watch for them. One guy buys video games, another buys antique knives and a third buys RC cars. I started texted them when I see things I know they'd be interested in and they are now returning the favor.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sat Apr 24, 2021 11:39 am

My chair is in need of reupholster. It is from the fifties and came with industrial strength plastic material that lasted sixty-some years. It is starting to crack.

Today one of my friends showed up with a truckload of leather scraps and some full size pieces. He sold me this large piece of black leather for $30. It should be enough to cover the chair. I have not yet decided on whether to use the simply pull, tuck and staple technique or to do a more detailed refinish that requires sewing.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sat Apr 24, 2021 12:43 pm

Scratch that. Mrs. Ego got home and vetoed the black leather. I will have to sell it online. Oh well.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:29 pm

Bought a new project this morning for $10. I intend to do a very light sanding and refinish then flip it.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:43 pm

Several months ago I bought a painting for a few dollars that looked promising. Signed J.A.F. 1868. After a little research I learned that it is a reproduction or replica of The Death of Chatterton by Henry Wallis. J.A.F might be John Anster Fitzgerald who was painting in London at the time but his later paintings show a different signature. It is well done and has a nice frame but the painting is covered in grime. So I started researching conservation techniques and stumbled upon Baumgartner Restoration.

https://www.youtube.com/c/BaumgartnerRestoration/videos

For starters I gently cleaned some of the varnish off of the painting with turpentine which brightened it up a bit. I will be looking for supplies and tools at the swap meet that I will need to complete the restoration. I believe the next step will be to remove it from the stretcher bars and humidify it so that it flattens. This is a long term project that will almost certainly be worth very little when complete. But it is fun. Mrs. Ego has always wanted to do fine art restoration, so we will work on together. She has way better attention to detail than I, so she will be responsible for the actual application of paint.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:03 pm

I bought some heat activated fabric tape to repair the holes on the canvas. One of the tenants threw out very nice shades made from a canvas material that I can use to reinforce the edges of the canvas like he does here.... https://youtu.be/uFGLpt_r90E?t=1535

But first things first. I have to remove it from the stretcher and flatten it. I don't have a heat table like he uses so I'll have to make due with an iron.

Oh, I also finished the table above. It came out good. Someone came to see it a few days ago but did not buy it.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Tue Aug 17, 2021 5:25 pm

I realized I never mentioned how I refinished the table. I did a very light sanding to remove the top layer of lacquer and then gave it a light coat of Danish oil. Nothing more. Total time was about 30 minutes.

Today the table sold along with the woodblock print below (paid $5) for $200 total. The person asked if I would deliver them. They lived 7 minutes from my building so I agreed on the condition that they do not negotiate. It went well.

Married2aSwabian · Post by **Married2aSwabian** » Thu Aug 19, 2021 6:03 am

Nice work, Ego.

IMHO Watco oil is the best finish there is. People usually like to touch something that’s been handmade of wood. Watco let’s the grain and beauty of the wood come through, without a “plastic” coating, so you can feel the wood.

I’ve never tried lacquer or French polishing - those also yield beautiful results for some applications.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:13 am

Watco oil. Good tip. I will watch for it at the swap meet. Thanks!

Post by **jacob** » Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:39 am

Ego wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:13 am
Watco oil. Good tip. I will watch for it at the swap meet. Thanks!

It's also called tung oil or Danish oil (these are slight mixtures of each other but mostly work the same way). We've talked about it before. Make sure to check the viscosity because it tends to congeal [in the can] with time. It's still usable as long as it's liquidy... if it's not gelled up, you can try to revive/thin old oil with mineral spirits or turpentine.

Ego · Post by **Ego** » Thu Aug 19, 2021 11:43 am

Ah. Learned something new. I've got a can of Danish oil and a can marked tung oil so I guess I've got that covered. The stuff in the can marked tung oil is thicker so I will have to thin it as you've suggested. Good to know. Thanks!

Last night someone messaged me about a 100 year old painting I've had listed for a while now and completely forgot about. It has some holes and needs restoration so it will be my next project after I get moving on the one above.

AxelHeyst · Post by **AxelHeyst** » Fri Aug 20, 2021 12:21 am

Note that there is a difference between tung oil and tung oil *finishes*. Love the log Ego thanks for sharing! I’m inspired by your projects.

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