Once you have mastered the polisher’s mop as described in an earlier post, I am sure you will be eager to progress and try your hand using a “rubber”. This is the tool used for achieving a faultless finish on a flat surface or even a curved one if the radius of the curvature is large enough. Generally though the surface will be flat and horizontal, which will catch the light, making it imperative to have a surface free of brush or wipe marks, that would break up the refracted light and stand out. There is a certain mystique about French Polishing and it is true, there would be a huge amount to learn if you wished to set up business professionally. However, there is no reason why you should not achieve spectacular results on a small or uncomplicated project for yourself. However, it would be wrong of me not to point out that large, complicated or high value pieces should be referred to a professional.
That said, a lot of pleasure and satisfaction can he had finishing or repairing smaller or less valuable pieces; and if you catch the bug there is nothing to prevent you from honing your skills by attending a short course at a school of polishing or further reading and practice.
However the first thing to do now is make your rubber. When these are properly made and stored they can be used again and again, over many years. The one I am currently using is several years old and is used on a regular basis. Or at least the fad part is, the cloth cover will need changing from time to time, because of wear. I should explain; the rubber consists of two parts, the “fad” and the “rag”. To make the fad, you will need a small piece of upholsters skin wadding. Grey skin wadding is best. Cut this into a 9inch square and fold in half top to bottom. Now fold in the corners of the folded edge (as opposed to the cut edge) to form a delta. Fold and tuck in the cut edge about an inch while folding the delta again into the centre. You should now have a conical pear shape about 3 inches from point to bottom with a seam along the top edge.
This will be springy so place an elastic band around the middle to hold it in place while you cut a piece of clean white cotton cloth, about 10 inches square. You can buy this in 1kilo packs from finishing suppliers, or an old cotton sheet is ideal if you have one available. Place the fad into the centre of the rag with the point towards one of the corners. Place this in the palm of you hand and grip the fad through the rag. Turn your hand upside down so that the edges of the cloth hang down. Now working from the point, twist the leading edges, while maintaining the point and work back along the fad to form a rope shape, which should lie against the back of the fad. When you come to the end of the rope, give it a twist around your finger, to form a loop on itself and tuck it in.
The cotton should now be tight around the fad. Place another elastic band around your neatly formed rubber and soak the whole thing in methylated spirits with a little shellac added and set aside to dry. This trains the fad to keep its shape and makes it easier to use. You will only need to do this once, in future after the rubber has been commissioned, you will want to avoid letting it dry out again, even a little. Therefore you must store your rubber in an airtight container. A small Tupperware box would be ideal.
I shan’t repeat the method of preparation for the work piece as we have covered this in earlier posts, except to say that it must of course be clean and dust free.
To begin you will need to charge the rubber with shellac. Remove both the elastic bands. Next, hold the rubber in the palm of your hand, then while gripping the fad, open the cotton rag covering it and let the edges fall away. Now slightly open the seam at the top of the fad and pour a small amount of shellac along this seam. Naturally you are going to need slightly more the first time you do this than on later occasions. I’ll just mention, decanting the shellac into a handy sized bottle will make controlling the flow much easier, every time you re-charge the fad. Lastly, close the rubber tightly as before, laying the rope edge so that it will nestle in your hand comfortably. You will need to test the rubber before using it. Do this by pressing it against a clean piece of paper, which it should just wet, without an excess of the shellac flowing out. If you do find the rubber is overcharged, squeeze out the excess shellac and move to a clean spot of paper to test again. Repeat until you are satisfied its right. Over time you will learn to judge the right amount and it will only be necessary to dab the rubber against the palm of you hand to know if you have it right or not.
Now, some polishers advocate adding raw linseed oil to the face of the rubber to lubricate. This is not really necessary and if overdone can cause problems. All I do is to dip the tip of my finger into the linseed oil and spread this tiny amount over the face of the rubber and only then, if the rag has been changed or the piece covering the fad moved due to wear. It’s probably not necessary at all; I just think it conditions and smoothes a new piece of cloth.
Hold the rubber firmly in you hand, as low down as possible without danger of your fingers touching the polished surface. If held too high, you will have no control over the rubber and it will stick at some point, causing a “rubber burn”. Begin by gliding the rubber onto the surface and work around the edge of the piece in small circular movements. Once you have completed one circuit, glide the rubber off again. There should be no obvious marks left on the surface, however if you have a heavy build up, wait an hour and sand back with 400 grit paper. Re-test the charge in your rubber and now try again. You should feel some resistance as you pull the rubber over the work and you should be able to see a damping of the surface behind the rubber, which will begin to dry immediately. The pull should not be so great that the rubber judders or sticks. If you pull the palm of you hand over a clean windowpane, this will give you an idea of the correct resistance you should experience. Although you will notice a slight increase in the pull as the rubber dries out. When this happens, increase the pressure on the rubber, then, finish the run you are working on and glide off at the end, re-charge.
Once the edge has dried for a few moments, look at the surface and mentally divide it into 4 tracks. Working each track in turn, proceed by making small figure of 8 strokes along the grain, gliding onto the surface at the beginning and gliding off at the end. It would be perfectly natural to form these figures of 8 movements with the wrist. However, this is not good a good way to work. A far better technique and less tiring method would be to keep the wrist stiff. Making all your movement come from the elbow and shoulder. Let your strokes overlap the imaginary tracks about a 1/3 on each side and keep the figure of 8 strokes tight enough within the track to cover the entire surface. Next re-work the surface with two tracks overlapping as before and then one track. Repeat as necessary. As we are repairing a surface rather that building one up, you should not require many coats before you see a shine appearing. When you do change to working along the grain with strait, slightly overlapping strokes. Gliding on and off at each end of the stroke. Continue until you see the shine deepen. When satisfied, leave overnight for the polish to dry back and harden.
The next day, or later, very lightly cut the surface back with fine synthetic wire wool, using the gentlest of stokes and wipe clean. Follow with one or two coats in the same manner as you finished with the night before and leave for twenty minutes. While you are waiting you can prepare your rubber for “spiriting” or stiffing. Do this by charging with clean methylated spirits and press the rubber against a clean piece of card or paper, squeezing out as much shellac mixture as possible. Do this twice. Then give one pass of the rubber over the entire surface, The thinned shellac and meths rich mixture will liven-up the previously applied polish. Now drip a few drops of meths onto the face of the rubber, dab the rubber against your palm to distribute the methylated spirits through the fad. Go over the surface with straight strokes as before. You should feel a slightly greater resistance, than when using the shellac full strength but this should not be excessive. Keep a close eye on the rubber making sure it is neither too dry, causing it to stick. Nor wet enough to leave a visible deposit. This will in a short time dramatically improve the quality of the shine. However, you must again leave overnight before proceeding, in fact it’s better if you can leave it several days. You should then find that any slight rubber marks have disappeared as the polish has hardened and dried out. In fact the shine will probably be so good it will look unnatural for a piece of antique furniture. It may pass as fine for a piece of Louise XIIII, dripping with gilt ormolu. However, a shine like this will look brittle on traditional “brown” furniture and will need dulling down with your synthetic wire wool and wax in the exactly the same way as mentioned before. Only this time pay particular attention to the direction of the grain and use the lightest pressure. I’m sure you will now glow with the greatest of pleasure yourself, as with a flourish you buff the wax until it gleams.
Friday, 26 September 2008
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
Shellac, Using a Mop
Having already looked at repairs and cleaning I shall move on here to talk about the final touches, toning and polishing of your repaired work. The most appropriate and traditional finish for any piece of antique furniture made in the last 200 yrs, is shellac, sometimes, called French polish; although, ironically in France it is known as “Vernis à Tampon”. There are two basic methods of application. Most commonly with a “rubber”, a specially prepared pad, (the tampon) this is used for large areas such as a tabletop. Or with a “mop” these come in various sizes and are normally used for mouldings, small objects or cylindrical parts, such as the table legs.
I shall be talking in the context of refinishing or repairing an existing finish rather than starting from scratch (no pun intended) on new bare wood, this would require a lot of preparatory work, like grain filling, that is mostly unnecessary on repaired work and will be covered at a later date.
Recently I described a typical chair repair, so it may be useful to carry on from there and describe how this newly repaired chair should be finished. With the exception of one or two unusual cases, using a “mop” is the preferred method of applying shellac to most chairs. A No 10 mop is the ideal size for this job and this will cost you about £25 for one with a soft hair mixture. Squirrel would be best, if you can find it, but be prepared to pay about three times as much for the genuine artical. The good news is, that if properly cared for, either will last a lifetime and actually improve the more you use it. Anything else will just not apply the polish in the same way, or hold anywhere near, the same amount of shellac without dripping. The shellac itself, you can buy already made up or mix your own by dissolving shellac flakes in mentholated spirit. However, if you are new to polishing it’s best to start with some that has been commercially prepared… it is one thing less to worry about. It does come in different types, which have odd names, like Button, Garnet, Lemon etc. The lightest of them all is Blond and this is the one I would recommend you start with. It is practically colourless, has been de-waxed and can be safely used on any shade of wood. You will also need some good quality methylated spirits; 400 grit silicone carbide abrasive paper (NOT wet and dry); clean rags and a few containers like jam jars or similar (pickling jars are ideal or even better an old stone Jar); “0000” wire wool, the synthetic kind is best; a small dish.
Before you can begin polishing, some cleaning up, is bound to be needed. Start by thoroughly removing any excess glue and then clean the chair by washing as described in an earlier newsletter. If the old polish is crazed or there is an excess of old wax you can remove this with a wash over with methylated spirit using the wire wool. Have a small dish of the meths into which you can dip the wire wool before you use it to wash down the chair. Use a rag to remove the resulting residue before it dries. Don’t overdo this, as you do not want to remove the delicate patina, only the old surface polish or wax. Follow this by washing with soap and water, then leave to dry.
Dilute a small amount of the shellac 50/50 with the methylated spirit into one of your jars. Apply one or two coats to the chair by dipping the polishing mop into the diluted mixture and squeezing out the excess against the edge of the jar. Then using long graceful strokes rather than stabbing ones work in a methodical manner, starting with the chair upside down and polish from the inside to the outside of the cage formed by the legs and stretchers. Begin your brush strokes at the top and work down. You will notice that the shellac foams and runs slightly. This should not matter too much, if it is sufficiently diluted. If, however you find a suggestion of a run when the first coat is dry, dilute the mixture further. The idea is to apply numerous coats so thin that they will leave neither runs nor brush marks, but a smooth even film built up as the methylated spirit evaporates. After finishing the lower section, flip the chair over and complete the upper part using the same technique. If you are working on two or more chairs at once, you will be able to work continuously. If only one, you must wait a few minutes for the polish to dry between coats.
The filling of surface defects is best carried out after you have applied at least two coats of shellac. This will have sealed any bare wood and prevent the filler contaminating and staining the timber. Proceed as described earlier. When the filling is finished and tidied up, go over the whole chair with the 400 grit abrasive paper. You only need to use the lightest of strokes here to remove nibs, work in one direction along the grain.
Now is also a good time to adjust and unify the colour.
What I’m going to tell you now is one of the closest guarded secrets of French polishing, so I think it is worth taking a few moments to explain fully. There is a wonderful substance, known as Vandyke. This can transform a mediocre looking piece of furniture into an expensive and desirable looking antique. Vandyke crystals are available from finishing shops, however they don’t come with the right instructions and you must make sure these are real Vandyke crystals made from the husks of walnuts and not Van Dyke dye. Liboron Vandyke, sold by Axminster Power Tools, is the right stuff.
To make up a reasonable amount, put about ½ pint of clean water in an old saucepan and get it nice and hot, but not boiling. Start adding the Vandyke a little at a time, stirring as you go to dissolve the small granules. It will start to thicken and become quite stiff, but continue slowly adding the Vandyke until no more will dissolve. Now tip the thick paste you have made into a jar. A pickling jar is ideal or even better an old stone Jar.
(Remember not to put hot liquid into cold glass jars, or the jars may crack)
Tamp the paste down as best you can and leave it to cool.
Now you are ready to return to your chair and continue building up the finish and colour. Start by sprinkling a few drops of water onto the Vandyke and then, using a 1-inch brush, work this around until you have a mixture the consistency of single cream. Brush onto the chair, working one area at a time. Then, taking a barely damp cloth, formed into a wad, wipe the mixture lightly along the grain repeatedly until the water evaporates leaving an even effect without streaks. Don’t worry if it is not right first go, you can wash it off and have another try until you develop the right technique and you are satisfied with the result. The small scratches and dings that are characteristic of any genuine antique piece will take up more of the Vandyke and appear darker. As will corners, joints and recesses. This is desirable and will give the look of an aged and correctly polished antique. Further coats can be applied. However, you must seal each one with two or three coats of shellac before applying the next.
The Vandyke can also be used for graining and matching larger repairs, or to imitate the build up of dirt in mouldings or recesses. Here, wiping with the wad will naturally highlight high spots, leaving the recesses dark, making the chair look “right”. When the Vandyke has dried, just run your hand over the surface to remove any gritty deposits that sometime are left. Now, continue with your polishing, applying successive coats of shellac as before. It is hard to say exactly how many coats will be required, but you should start to see a good shine after about 10. Once you are satisfied, set the chair aside and leave at least overnight or a day or two longer, for the polish to harden.
The shine you will have achieved will look a little too bright for a convincing antique, so you will need to soften this back to imitate the sheen of a well-used and polished antique chair. Do this by applying a good quality bees wax polish with the “0000” synthetic wire wool. Apply the wax sparingly and leave for a few minutes, then buff with a soft clean cloth or duster.
All you have to do now is stand back and admire your work. I am sure you will be truly amazed at the results you have achieved and will be encouraged to tackle even more ambitious projects in the future.
I shall be talking in the context of refinishing or repairing an existing finish rather than starting from scratch (no pun intended) on new bare wood, this would require a lot of preparatory work, like grain filling, that is mostly unnecessary on repaired work and will be covered at a later date.
Recently I described a typical chair repair, so it may be useful to carry on from there and describe how this newly repaired chair should be finished. With the exception of one or two unusual cases, using a “mop” is the preferred method of applying shellac to most chairs. A No 10 mop is the ideal size for this job and this will cost you about £25 for one with a soft hair mixture. Squirrel would be best, if you can find it, but be prepared to pay about three times as much for the genuine artical. The good news is, that if properly cared for, either will last a lifetime and actually improve the more you use it. Anything else will just not apply the polish in the same way, or hold anywhere near, the same amount of shellac without dripping. The shellac itself, you can buy already made up or mix your own by dissolving shellac flakes in mentholated spirit. However, if you are new to polishing it’s best to start with some that has been commercially prepared… it is one thing less to worry about. It does come in different types, which have odd names, like Button, Garnet, Lemon etc. The lightest of them all is Blond and this is the one I would recommend you start with. It is practically colourless, has been de-waxed and can be safely used on any shade of wood. You will also need some good quality methylated spirits; 400 grit silicone carbide abrasive paper (NOT wet and dry); clean rags and a few containers like jam jars or similar (pickling jars are ideal or even better an old stone Jar); “0000” wire wool, the synthetic kind is best; a small dish.
Before you can begin polishing, some cleaning up, is bound to be needed. Start by thoroughly removing any excess glue and then clean the chair by washing as described in an earlier newsletter. If the old polish is crazed or there is an excess of old wax you can remove this with a wash over with methylated spirit using the wire wool. Have a small dish of the meths into which you can dip the wire wool before you use it to wash down the chair. Use a rag to remove the resulting residue before it dries. Don’t overdo this, as you do not want to remove the delicate patina, only the old surface polish or wax. Follow this by washing with soap and water, then leave to dry.
Dilute a small amount of the shellac 50/50 with the methylated spirit into one of your jars. Apply one or two coats to the chair by dipping the polishing mop into the diluted mixture and squeezing out the excess against the edge of the jar. Then using long graceful strokes rather than stabbing ones work in a methodical manner, starting with the chair upside down and polish from the inside to the outside of the cage formed by the legs and stretchers. Begin your brush strokes at the top and work down. You will notice that the shellac foams and runs slightly. This should not matter too much, if it is sufficiently diluted. If, however you find a suggestion of a run when the first coat is dry, dilute the mixture further. The idea is to apply numerous coats so thin that they will leave neither runs nor brush marks, but a smooth even film built up as the methylated spirit evaporates. After finishing the lower section, flip the chair over and complete the upper part using the same technique. If you are working on two or more chairs at once, you will be able to work continuously. If only one, you must wait a few minutes for the polish to dry between coats.
The filling of surface defects is best carried out after you have applied at least two coats of shellac. This will have sealed any bare wood and prevent the filler contaminating and staining the timber. Proceed as described earlier. When the filling is finished and tidied up, go over the whole chair with the 400 grit abrasive paper. You only need to use the lightest of strokes here to remove nibs, work in one direction along the grain.
Now is also a good time to adjust and unify the colour.
What I’m going to tell you now is one of the closest guarded secrets of French polishing, so I think it is worth taking a few moments to explain fully. There is a wonderful substance, known as Vandyke. This can transform a mediocre looking piece of furniture into an expensive and desirable looking antique. Vandyke crystals are available from finishing shops, however they don’t come with the right instructions and you must make sure these are real Vandyke crystals made from the husks of walnuts and not Van Dyke dye. Liboron Vandyke, sold by Axminster Power Tools, is the right stuff.
To make up a reasonable amount, put about ½ pint of clean water in an old saucepan and get it nice and hot, but not boiling. Start adding the Vandyke a little at a time, stirring as you go to dissolve the small granules. It will start to thicken and become quite stiff, but continue slowly adding the Vandyke until no more will dissolve. Now tip the thick paste you have made into a jar. A pickling jar is ideal or even better an old stone Jar.
(Remember not to put hot liquid into cold glass jars, or the jars may crack)
Tamp the paste down as best you can and leave it to cool.
Now you are ready to return to your chair and continue building up the finish and colour. Start by sprinkling a few drops of water onto the Vandyke and then, using a 1-inch brush, work this around until you have a mixture the consistency of single cream. Brush onto the chair, working one area at a time. Then, taking a barely damp cloth, formed into a wad, wipe the mixture lightly along the grain repeatedly until the water evaporates leaving an even effect without streaks. Don’t worry if it is not right first go, you can wash it off and have another try until you develop the right technique and you are satisfied with the result. The small scratches and dings that are characteristic of any genuine antique piece will take up more of the Vandyke and appear darker. As will corners, joints and recesses. This is desirable and will give the look of an aged and correctly polished antique. Further coats can be applied. However, you must seal each one with two or three coats of shellac before applying the next.
The Vandyke can also be used for graining and matching larger repairs, or to imitate the build up of dirt in mouldings or recesses. Here, wiping with the wad will naturally highlight high spots, leaving the recesses dark, making the chair look “right”. When the Vandyke has dried, just run your hand over the surface to remove any gritty deposits that sometime are left. Now, continue with your polishing, applying successive coats of shellac as before. It is hard to say exactly how many coats will be required, but you should start to see a good shine after about 10. Once you are satisfied, set the chair aside and leave at least overnight or a day or two longer, for the polish to harden.
The shine you will have achieved will look a little too bright for a convincing antique, so you will need to soften this back to imitate the sheen of a well-used and polished antique chair. Do this by applying a good quality bees wax polish with the “0000” synthetic wire wool. Apply the wax sparingly and leave for a few minutes, then buff with a soft clean cloth or duster.
All you have to do now is stand back and admire your work. I am sure you will be truly amazed at the results you have achieved and will be encouraged to tackle even more ambitious projects in the future.
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Polishing Furniture; an introduction.
Whether we are building up a surface or repairing a damaged finish, polishing is the final process after making or repairing and some will say the most important. Because a mistake here can render an otherwise splendid job a disaster. Or on the other hand, poor work can be made to look superficially good, as can be seen with a few items to be found on offer along the high street. Not that I would advocate covering up poor work, however a tired and used piece can be given a completly new lease of life with a few simple techniques.
There are a number of finishes that can be used on furniture and which one you choose will depend on the piece to be finished and its intended use, or the existing finish which requires repair. The main finish types are Shellac, oil, varnish, wax or paint.
I’m going to leave paint aside for the moment as it is quite a varied subject in its own right and deal with it in the future. Of the three remaining finish types Shellac is by far the most common finish to be found on antique furniture after the 18th century. Its also one of the most versatile and useful finishes we can use on new work; however it can be easily susceptible to water and heat damage. Therefore final use is an important consideration.
Oil also an attractive finish and one that can either be mat or highly polished. It’s extremely easy to apply, is quite resistant to heat and liquid and can easily be repaired in the event of an accident.
Varnish today comes in two main different types, oil based or water based. Within these two categories is any number of sub-categories, each designed to solve one problem or another; not always successfully.
Wax can be used over any of the other finishes to enhance them or it can be used on its own, however being the most delicate of all the finishes it is not really suitable on its own for areas that will receive heavy or constant use.
It will not be possible to adequately explain or teach all the nuances or the ‘’feel’’ that is necessary to produce some finishes to professional standard. That would require personal tuition. It should however be possible to dispel some of the mystique that surrounds polishing and explain the rudiments that will allow you to experiment and achieve satisfactory results.
There are a number of finishes that can be used on furniture and which one you choose will depend on the piece to be finished and its intended use, or the existing finish which requires repair. The main finish types are Shellac, oil, varnish, wax or paint.
I’m going to leave paint aside for the moment as it is quite a varied subject in its own right and deal with it in the future. Of the three remaining finish types Shellac is by far the most common finish to be found on antique furniture after the 18th century. Its also one of the most versatile and useful finishes we can use on new work; however it can be easily susceptible to water and heat damage. Therefore final use is an important consideration.
Oil also an attractive finish and one that can either be mat or highly polished. It’s extremely easy to apply, is quite resistant to heat and liquid and can easily be repaired in the event of an accident.
Varnish today comes in two main different types, oil based or water based. Within these two categories is any number of sub-categories, each designed to solve one problem or another; not always successfully.
Wax can be used over any of the other finishes to enhance them or it can be used on its own, however being the most delicate of all the finishes it is not really suitable on its own for areas that will receive heavy or constant use.
It will not be possible to adequately explain or teach all the nuances or the ‘’feel’’ that is necessary to produce some finishes to professional standard. That would require personal tuition. It should however be possible to dispel some of the mystique that surrounds polishing and explain the rudiments that will allow you to experiment and achieve satisfactory results.
Monday, 15 September 2008
Chair Repair, a restorer's dream job. Part three.
Now all the parts are dry, check them over to see if there is any old glue lumps you missed, if there are these will generally pick off. Also have a good look at the tenons and mortises for any splits or other damage. Everything ok? Then you are ready to start gluing up. Glue-up, is probably the most stressful part of furniture making or restoration, get it wrong and at best its back to clean-up at worst, we wont even think about that. Here would be a realy good place to talk over procedure; yes it is dull, just like all good advice. First a word about cramps and glue. You will need at least two cramps possibly more. The webbing strap type, with a ratchet, are an excellent choice for chairs, as these will adapt to different shapes and angles and are relatively inexpensive. I’ve already mentioned hide glue, which is essential for antique repair. You may be put off and not equipped with a double wall glue pot for the traditional hot melt type. Also, the short open time may prove tricky if you are unused to working with it. Luckily help is at hand in the form of “Franklins Liquid Hide Glue”, which is exactly the same thing, but chemically retarded. Second, spend a little time planning the glue-up; push all the parts together for a dry dummy run. Use the clamps to pull-up the joints and check if they close tightly, you will probably need to adjust the cramps to achieve this. If you are using conventional screw cramps you are going to need to make shaped wooden blocks to protect the chair and also to ensure that the line of force is directly in line with the screw. Don’t consider time spent on this as time lost, it is most definitely time well saved.
Ok let’s get on with the interesting bit; commence with the back of the chair, working in the reverse order to that of dismantling. You will need a cramp or two for this. One placed about a third down from the top of the back leg, with the other about a third up from the bottom, this should do it. However, check that this will evenly pull up the joints without distortion. Check the back for overall squareness. This is important and will affect the squarness of the whole chair. Unhelpfully most chairs have contoured parts, or the parts are set at obtuse angles. This makes it impossible, or at least extremely difficult, to check the angle using a square. I get round this by using my eye and if you trust your own eyes you will find them more reliable than you probably think. However, if you are unused to using your judgement in this way, to begin with you will find it helpful to have a datum to work from. Stand the chair against an upright, which you know to be vertical, the edge of a closed door, for example. If you judge the back to be yawning in one direction or another, a little pressure exerted across corners will generally rectify. Do this by placing one leg of the chair back on the ground and push down from above on the other. Which leg you chose would, of course, depend on which direction the chair is yawning. Keep checking until you are satisfied.
Continuing with the chair back, apply a coat of glue to both surfaces of the joint, a generous amount in the mortise, with just enough to wet the surface of the tenon. You don’t want to apply an excessive amount of glue, but at the same time you want to make sure the joint isn’t glue starved. However, don’t apply glue to the shoulders of tenons. This will add nothing to the strength of the joint and only result in a messy squeeze out that shall need cleaning up. All excess glue, by the way, will wash off with a cloth and a little warm water. Push the joints together; hand pressure is all that should be needed. However, you will need to cramp overnight or longer, while the glue sets. Most glue takes a few days to realise full strength and hide glue is not exception. So please resist any temptation to “test” your work for a day or two at least.
Once the chair back has been successfully tackled you will discover the front fairly plain sailing. If the front legs are joined with stretchers as well as a seat rail, like, for instance a Shaker Chair, I glue this up as a separate unit in a similar way to the back. Of course, making sure all is square in the same manner as before. If you have enough clamps the front assembly can be glued at the same time as the back. If, on the other hand, the chair doesn’t have stretchers directly between the front legs, as with Georgian style chairs, or without stretchers at all, as for example a Queen Anne, it is better to glue up all in one go. Whichever way the front legs are assembled proceed as follows: Lay the back down flat, mortised side up and apply glue to the inside surface of mortises, including those for the stretchers if present. Some types of stretcher will now need assembling in an H format. Now glue all the mating tennons of the side rails and push home into the mortises. Whether or not already assembled apply glue in the same manner to all the mortises of the front legs. Join the front legs together with the front rail. Apply a small amount of glue to the remaining tennons of the rails and stretchers now standing upright from the back. You could simply bring the joints together. However, I always lay the front assemble flat and lift and reverse the chair back, bringing it down onto the front legs. This stops any glue running out of the mortise while you are aligning the joints. Stand the chair upright and place one of your webbing clamps around the back and front legs at the height of the seat rails. Have the ratchet at the chair front, along the line of the front rail. Take up slack in the webbing with the ratchet ….. Now check that the webbing is central to the joints so that the joint pulls up evenly. If all is in place give a few more clicks on the ratchet to pull the joints up tight. Proceed in the same way for the stretchers if present. Check alignment of your chair by placing on a flat surface and checking all four legs are resting evenly and that the chair isn’t rocking. You may not be able to achieve perfect results here for a number of reasons, such as wear or distortion of parts, therefore you may find it necessary to build up or trim one of the legs.
If your chair is the Windsor type you should reassemble, by placing the seat plank upside down and tap home the legs into the round mortises with a rubber or wooden mallet. Of course remembering to replace any stretchers as you go. The only cramping that may be necessary is around the legs to close and hold the joints on the stretchers. Once the legs are attached you can flip over and reassemble the upper part of the chair. You should be able to complete the whole operation in one go.
The upholstery for your chair is too varied a subject to cover in a letter like this, although it can be very satisfying and enjoyable to do this yourself. I would suggest you buy a book on the subject in order to achieve the best results; one I can recommend is ‘Upholstery a practical guide’ by Desmond Gaston. Harper Collins ISBN 0 00 411671 2
I goint to write a post on polishing soon so you will be able to add that finishing touch to your expertly restored chair.
Ok let’s get on with the interesting bit; commence with the back of the chair, working in the reverse order to that of dismantling. You will need a cramp or two for this. One placed about a third down from the top of the back leg, with the other about a third up from the bottom, this should do it. However, check that this will evenly pull up the joints without distortion. Check the back for overall squareness. This is important and will affect the squarness of the whole chair. Unhelpfully most chairs have contoured parts, or the parts are set at obtuse angles. This makes it impossible, or at least extremely difficult, to check the angle using a square. I get round this by using my eye and if you trust your own eyes you will find them more reliable than you probably think. However, if you are unused to using your judgement in this way, to begin with you will find it helpful to have a datum to work from. Stand the chair against an upright, which you know to be vertical, the edge of a closed door, for example. If you judge the back to be yawning in one direction or another, a little pressure exerted across corners will generally rectify. Do this by placing one leg of the chair back on the ground and push down from above on the other. Which leg you chose would, of course, depend on which direction the chair is yawning. Keep checking until you are satisfied.
Continuing with the chair back, apply a coat of glue to both surfaces of the joint, a generous amount in the mortise, with just enough to wet the surface of the tenon. You don’t want to apply an excessive amount of glue, but at the same time you want to make sure the joint isn’t glue starved. However, don’t apply glue to the shoulders of tenons. This will add nothing to the strength of the joint and only result in a messy squeeze out that shall need cleaning up. All excess glue, by the way, will wash off with a cloth and a little warm water. Push the joints together; hand pressure is all that should be needed. However, you will need to cramp overnight or longer, while the glue sets. Most glue takes a few days to realise full strength and hide glue is not exception. So please resist any temptation to “test” your work for a day or two at least.
Once the chair back has been successfully tackled you will discover the front fairly plain sailing. If the front legs are joined with stretchers as well as a seat rail, like, for instance a Shaker Chair, I glue this up as a separate unit in a similar way to the back. Of course, making sure all is square in the same manner as before. If you have enough clamps the front assembly can be glued at the same time as the back. If, on the other hand, the chair doesn’t have stretchers directly between the front legs, as with Georgian style chairs, or without stretchers at all, as for example a Queen Anne, it is better to glue up all in one go. Whichever way the front legs are assembled proceed as follows: Lay the back down flat, mortised side up and apply glue to the inside surface of mortises, including those for the stretchers if present. Some types of stretcher will now need assembling in an H format. Now glue all the mating tennons of the side rails and push home into the mortises. Whether or not already assembled apply glue in the same manner to all the mortises of the front legs. Join the front legs together with the front rail. Apply a small amount of glue to the remaining tennons of the rails and stretchers now standing upright from the back. You could simply bring the joints together. However, I always lay the front assemble flat and lift and reverse the chair back, bringing it down onto the front legs. This stops any glue running out of the mortise while you are aligning the joints. Stand the chair upright and place one of your webbing clamps around the back and front legs at the height of the seat rails. Have the ratchet at the chair front, along the line of the front rail. Take up slack in the webbing with the ratchet ….. Now check that the webbing is central to the joints so that the joint pulls up evenly. If all is in place give a few more clicks on the ratchet to pull the joints up tight. Proceed in the same way for the stretchers if present. Check alignment of your chair by placing on a flat surface and checking all four legs are resting evenly and that the chair isn’t rocking. You may not be able to achieve perfect results here for a number of reasons, such as wear or distortion of parts, therefore you may find it necessary to build up or trim one of the legs.
If your chair is the Windsor type you should reassemble, by placing the seat plank upside down and tap home the legs into the round mortises with a rubber or wooden mallet. Of course remembering to replace any stretchers as you go. The only cramping that may be necessary is around the legs to close and hold the joints on the stretchers. Once the legs are attached you can flip over and reassemble the upper part of the chair. You should be able to complete the whole operation in one go.
The upholstery for your chair is too varied a subject to cover in a letter like this, although it can be very satisfying and enjoyable to do this yourself. I would suggest you buy a book on the subject in order to achieve the best results; one I can recommend is ‘Upholstery a practical guide’ by Desmond Gaston. Harper Collins ISBN 0 00 411671 2
I goint to write a post on polishing soon so you will be able to add that finishing touch to your expertly restored chair.
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Rustic furniture?
Looking through a number of magazines recently, my understanding of the term ''rustic'' when applied to furniture was seriously challenged. Just to be sure of myself I looked the term up in the dictionary. ''1. Rustic, pertaining to, or characteristic of country life. 2. Charmingly simple and unsophisticated, lacking refinement or polish. 3. Made of rough tree branches. 4. Having a rough surface with deep or chamfered joints.'' It didn't say anything about shoddily made, ugly or overpriced???? So what were these items I could see, so seductively photographed in charming settings. Opportunistic! That’s it, I thought. These are just the latest offerings of the jump on the bandwagon, get rich quick and move on brigade. These people have been involved in fitted carpets, double glazing, decking and it looks like they are now turning their attention to furniture. Especially the rustic kind, because, shoddy workmanship can easily be dressed up to look like the authentic touch of ‘country style’, it is not.
Rural craftsmen had to know how to make all kinds of farm equipment, from a plough to a hay cart and then the barn to keep them in. These very real skills were scaled down to make furniture when time permitted. Naturally they set out to make the best furniture they could, with what they had available and more importantly what the local people could afford. Working in a small community they had to give value for money or go out of business. It is exactly this combination of the rough materials and lack of sophisticated design, executed with a high level of skill that gives the lasting appeal to country furniture.
I love these old pieces, quite often made from a mixture of oak, elm and fruitwood and marvel at the painstaking ingenuity that has gone into the construction. These are light years away from the re-assembled pallets and packing cases I referred to above. Of course the genuine articles are becoming rare and difficult to find nowadays, however good makers are still producing excellent reproductions. These do lack the some of the quirky features found on the originals, but still represent good value for money. If you intend to buy rustic furniture do a little research and be discriminating.
Green woodworking skills are currently enjoying a revival and much credit must go to Mike Abbott for this. These are slightly different to the skills I was talking about above and owe more to the Bodgers than say the village carpenter. For some, this furniture made from green wood and often still retaining the bark, more than any other represents rustic furniture. Interestingly this pieces have a chameleon characteristic that makes them at home in any setting, especially a modern one.
Rural craftsmen had to know how to make all kinds of farm equipment, from a plough to a hay cart and then the barn to keep them in. These very real skills were scaled down to make furniture when time permitted. Naturally they set out to make the best furniture they could, with what they had available and more importantly what the local people could afford. Working in a small community they had to give value for money or go out of business. It is exactly this combination of the rough materials and lack of sophisticated design, executed with a high level of skill that gives the lasting appeal to country furniture.
I love these old pieces, quite often made from a mixture of oak, elm and fruitwood and marvel at the painstaking ingenuity that has gone into the construction. These are light years away from the re-assembled pallets and packing cases I referred to above. Of course the genuine articles are becoming rare and difficult to find nowadays, however good makers are still producing excellent reproductions. These do lack the some of the quirky features found on the originals, but still represent good value for money. If you intend to buy rustic furniture do a little research and be discriminating.
Green woodworking skills are currently enjoying a revival and much credit must go to Mike Abbott for this. These are slightly different to the skills I was talking about above and owe more to the Bodgers than say the village carpenter. For some, this furniture made from green wood and often still retaining the bark, more than any other represents rustic furniture. Interestingly this pieces have a chameleon characteristic that makes them at home in any setting, especially a modern one.
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