past projects/works in progress

The family dog made a meal out of this tasty 19th c. ball and claw foot pedestal table. I pared away the damaged area being careful to retain the original “footprint” of the damaged toe so as not to stray too far from the original design.
Here’s a 19th century Pier table that was in need of a little bit of everything: structural repair, carving, gilding, cleaning and polish. I removed the blackened layer of varnish on the gilded capitals while preserving the original gesso layer
Mold making techniques (picked up in my art school days) sometimes come in handy. In this case, the damaged Bakelite pull from this little Art Deco nightstand needed help. The mold is made in latex rubber while the pull is cast in a clear urethane re
A second Gothic chair gets the same treatment as previous post. #antiquefurniturerestoration #antiquefurniture #upholsteredfurniture #furniturerepair #finewoodworking #gothicfurniture #finefurnituredesign #chairrepair #antiquefurnitureconservation #1
Here’s a 19th C Gothic chair with some very ornate applied carving. A good example of something I often see on upholstered pieces, the nailing edge has been destroyed after multiple recoverings. I prefer to remove the damaged wood and insert a
Workshop still life. Late afternoon. Why not #artphotography #woodworking
Here we have the blasted right front leg of a 19th c Empire side chair. It has been repaired (badly with dowels, screws, putty) too many times to count. Perhaps this will time will be the last (?) #empirefurniture #antiquefurniturerestoration #antiqu
Tired old Bosendorfer becomes shiny new Bosendorfer in the blink of an eye. #pianorestoration #ebonizedwood #finewoodworking #antiquerestoration #woodfinishing #shellacfinish #antiques
Sometimes you need to find creative solutions to problems such as regluing the lifting veneer on this Biedermeier trunk that’s too far in to be reached by even the deepest clamp. Wedging boards to the rafters in the ceiling gets around that pr
Returning to an earlier post; love doing messy, invasive structural repairs on white upholstered furniture. Can’t wrap it tightly enough. Thanks to @michael_mascelli_upholsterer for the excellent upholstery work. #antiquefurniturerestoration #
Second entry was this rosewood game table with carved feet and apron water gilded in 22k leaf. #antiques #gilding #empireperiod #antiquerestorations #gildingrestoration #furniturerestoration #finefinishes #watergilding #berkshirewoodworkersguild
Here’s a little Federal drop leaf table that I did for the #berkshirewoodworkersguild annual show at the #berkshirebotanicalgarden. The repair to the leg is an old one that I reinforced with a fillet on the underside, but otherwise left as is.
Lesson #1: How not to repair a broken chair leg #badfurniturerepairs #dontdothis #callaprofessional
Here’s a very nice 19th c. painted chaise lounge that’s been badly treated. The foot also needed some attention with the insertion of an oak fillet to stabilize some bad cracking. #antiquerestorations #antiquefurniturerestoration #antiq
Here’s a 19th C. French Empire drop front secretary (secretaire abattant) in for some structural repairs and polishing. This is a good example of a hybrid piece, made up of a handful of parts from other pieces. When it’s well done, it&
Here’s a 19th c saber leg chair with a less then stellar old repair to the front leg. After regluing the broken sections I inlaid new wood across the breaks to reinforce the repair. Extra glue and a dowel or two will not make up for a sloppy re
On-site today repairing the finish on this Steinway grand. #pianofinish #finefinishing #pianorestoration #antiquerestoration #musicalinstrumentrepair #furniturerepair #antiqueconservation #glrestoration
Here are some shots from the #winterthurmuseum at the recent #wonderofwood conference. Attended some amazing lectures on the history of decorative inlay and marquetry in furniture including live demonstrations by modern day practitioners of the art i
Here are some shots from the #winterthurmuseum at the recent #wonderofwood conference. Attended some amazing lectures on the history of decorative inlay and marquetry in furniture including live demonstrations by modern day practitioners of the art i
The base of this tall case clock was damaged by flooding while in storage. It was too far gone to save but I was able to salvage the exterior mahogany veneers and moldings which I applied to a newly built base and then mounted the whole thing to the