Wood Talkin: 175 Years of Sophistication and Beauty

Here's where you come to follow the progress of your piece of furniture in the shop. No, wood doesn't talk--or does it? Sure it does! As we work on your piece we learn things about where it's been, how it's been used, maybe even who (or what) has used it, and often about where it came from originally. It's a lot of fun and typically quite interesting.

This space also gives us a chance to let you know about any special experiences or progress related challenges. We try to chronicle work completed on your furniture whenever anything significant occurs. So there may not be an entry every day, but when we document them, we hope you will find these journal entries are fun, informative, purposeful, and creative.

So, have fun "listening" to our dialogue with your piece, as it is, it's Wood Talkin.
Email: woodtalkin@gmail.com

Saturday, February 15, 2014

175 Years of Sophistication and Beauty

This beauty came into the Wood Talkin shop last week. Our customer's goal is to enhance her finish, so we engaged some careful discussion around what that meant to her, the impact of any effort on the value of this fine piece of art, and our customer's long-term plans for this piece.

Everything about this old beauty says "art." From her drawers' hand-scribed dovetail joints, autographed frame, deeply worn drawer slides, square hand-forged nails, cast iron and porcelain castors, rough sawn internal and back-closure pieces...we conclude that she is pre-1840, and probably 1820-1830.

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This was a square weight bearing side of the drawer slide worn convex through 175 years!

Four (count them!) hand scribed and then cut dovetail joints on each drawer. Can you see the scribe marks?

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Specializing in simple or elaborate refinishing to preserve your family heirlooms and antiques.

I learned an important lesson years ago as an apprentice repair and furniture technician in the Northwest : People generally have an emotional attachment to their furniture. In the "Wood Talkin" Shop, that attachment will always be appreciated and respected.

The furniture repair and refinishing effort is both a science and an art. It "discovers" a character and takes on a personality of its own. The discovery process informs the repair and refinishing activities that proceed from it.
...Discovery begins in good, ongoing communication with our customers: what do they want, need, and what do they expect of us and of the outcome?
...The work begins with our developing a familiarity with the piece, its creation or manufacture, its function and its history--maybe some revelations our customer does not even know.
...The work proceeds collaboratively toward a predetermined outcome based on the information gathered from the customer, the piece, and its available history.
...The work progresses in a stream of "dialogue" with the piece. It's a dialogue that we anticipate and respect.
...A celebration reunites our customer with the refinished piece. It punctuates our success and anticipates our customer's long-term satisfaction.

At "Wood Talkin" we know it is a privilege to serve our customers. Consequently, we unconditionally guarantee that the work we do meets or exceeds industry standards. If you are not satisfied with the quality of some process, material, or service we have provided, we will make every reasonable, collaborative effort to retain your confidence, ally your trust, and realize your satisfaction.

Wood Talkin

Saturday, February 15, 2014

175 Years of Sophistication and Beauty

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Specializing in simple or elaborate refinishing to preserve your family heirlooms and antiques.

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