Wood Talkin: An Institutional Rocker?

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

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

An Institutional Rocker?

Here's maybe a curious story....and maybe you can clarify a detail our two?

A special customer belongs to this fascinating solid mapel rocker. It has a fold-down portion that lifts to make a half-table on one side. I suspect this hand-made beauty may have been built in an institutional shop, like a hospital or turn-of-the-century Sanitorium. As you can see, both the back and it's seat are canned in a Herringbone pattern.

Our customer called us to repair a broken dowel in the frame of the caned seat. But what appeared to be a reasonably doable repair....replacing the dowel...was quickly complicated by the tightness of the cane woven seat. It means that the seat must be cut away to accommodate the new dowel, then the cane can be replaced. So, that's where we're at right now, we're caning the seat having replaced the dowel and resetting and gluing the joints. It'll soon be good as new.

That's Wood Talkin for today....do you listen to your furniture?

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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

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

An Institutional Rocker?

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

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