One of Twelve...?

Wow, this is a marvelous old chair. It arrived at the shop for complete restoration, and with a very notable pedigree. It is one of the original jury chairs made for the Fairplay, CO, Courthouse. The facility was built in 1874, two years before Colorado became a state in 1876. So, this old gentleman could rehearse some scintillating courtroom dramas, if only, yes if only.

It's a BIG  solid oak chair. It was made to seat the big and the tall, the little and short, and then everyone in between.  And it's structurally superior, too. It stands a full four feet off the floor at the top.  It's constructed in three main pieces: the leg and bottom frame structure; a separate mid-frame "gasket" that stabilizes the leg and bottom leg structure and connects it to the upper seat structure; and the upper seat structure which includes the seat,  the chair's arms and the lathe-turned spindles and upper yoke...a wonderful old chair.

The restoration process required that it be taken almost  completely apart. There were few joints that were not loose after 140 years (--and of course if you're active and over 40 you know first hand what that's about). Then the joints were all cleaned and reglued in the reassembly process. The old finish was stripped,  cleaned,  and sanded in preparation for new stain and three coats of finish. 

Oh,  and one more thing. Below the arms and securing the arms "return" to the seat are metal fittings.  These were repainted with the bright gold that matched it's original finish.  You can see this if you look closely at one of  the final pics.  Such a handsome old gentleman!

This final pic (above) celebrates it's presence in my customer's living room... happily home at last.

That's Woodtalkin for today.  If you have pieces that need some help... call me.  I'll listen.

Just a Before & After

Sometimes it's fun and maybe even helpful to gloat just a little.  This very practical piece,  a closed dresser,  is of 1920's-1930's vintage.

It's one of several pieces,  one piece of a bedroom suite  I was privileged to refinish.  It had been well taken care of through just a couple owners,  including the years my customer has had it. And just like the rest of us,  stuff gets tired and begins to need some cosmetic--and even structural help. 

This piece's structural issues were my biggest challenge.  Several of the wooden drawer slides inside the case were "done." They were broken, and parts of them were even long lost.  Making those functional repairs required some care and some ingenuity. But it was doable and the final product is a happy outcome for everyone involved. 

The pictures I've posted here give you some idea what the piece looked like fully stripped, and then when it's all finished before all the doors are hardware are replaced, and then finally it's all back together.  Please notice the two little decorative pieces, one on the top's "fence" and the other on the first middle drawer. 

Check out the pulls on the drawers,  right and left,  and on the two doors.

These pulls are solid silver! That was a surprise to me,  but even more so to my customer.  When she acquired the piece many years ago they were already tarnished,  so she had no idea they were anything more than dark grey. When I polished then up and showed them to her, wow,  was she  surprised...and delighted! It was a feels-good moment for us both. 

Ok,  about those two decorative pieces. These two were made of oven-baked moulded resin. I couldn't find exact replicas,  so we left these (for now) just as you see them there,  cleaned and finished.  But,  and just for your information,  facsimiles are available. 

Ok.  That's WoodTalkin for today.  Keep listening, and remember,  your pieces have stories to tell!