Phoenix Furniture
I take on all types of woodwork but I won’t take a fence
Greg Sinclair
Phone: 01952 41 44 11
Mobile: 0787 6537 909
Email: info@phoenixfurniture.co.uk
+ Past work examples
These pages describe how different pieces for furniture were repaired and restored. The descriptions will not be going in to detail about the processes of removing and applying finishes, or how surfaces are prepared, these pages are not intended to be instructions on how to do the work. They are a general overview of the mechanics of the work.
Most people understand that loose joints need to be reglued but may not realise there is a lot more to it than opening a joint, adding glue and closing it up. There is considerable planning goes on to ensure everything is prepared beforehand before anything has glue applied. Old glue needs to be removed, broken joint parts have to be assembled with glue and set before the joint can be glued together.
If clamps are to be used there are times where soft packing is used to protect the furniture. The clamps apply considerable force and can mark whatever they are holding. The packing needs to be ready in advance, and when it is positioned it should not obstruct the view of the repair in case the parts being glued move out of alignment, or be positioned in such a way that they become glued to the furniture making more work in the cleaning up process.
The repair of furniture is not one continuous process. Waiting for glue to dry can take many hours and sometimes days. When the glue has set there is always surplus to be removed, most is wiped off before it sets during the clamping up, but there is always the odd bit not reachable at that time.
Most antiques are French Polished by hand. This cannot be applied in one go, more likely to be many layers, often with a day of drying after three of four layers have been applied. Once dry a certain amount of cutting back is required to remove dust particles, small imperfections, raising of the grain of the timber fibres. All very time consuming and hard physical work.
Before French Polish, or any final finish is applied, the surfaces need to be prepared; sanded down, imperfections such as dents, holes filled, new timbers coloured to match its surroundings, open grained timbers need filling, stains need bleaching then colouring, splits joined together.
A simple thing such as ensuring a screw has something to bite in to requires a plug of timber inserted in to a prepared hole. All these things take time, and some of that time is spent waiting for a processes to dry
A lot of damage occurs to furniture due to central heating. Antiques were made before central heating was invented, houses were drafty often cold and damp. In the modern centrally heated house the moisture content of antique furniture is much reduced, by as much as 20% compared to the days when it was manufactured. In a table with a width of 30 inches it can shrink as much as half an inch. If the table has been constructed correctly it will not matter if the top shrinks or expands. Incorrectly constructed it has to split. Those bangs and creaking in the night (or day) are not ghosts, it is your furniture releasing its tensions
Phoenix Furniture
I take on all types of woodwork but I won’t take a fence
Greg Sinclair
Phone: 01952 41 44 11
Mobile: 0787 6537 909
Email: info@phoenixfurniture.co.uk