Supporting a Memory

Now, this was fun. During a recent home estimate a customer showed me a cedar chest. It belonged to his wife and he wondered if I could make a similar, albeit miniature box, one with a glass window in its top. Apparently his wife has an old license plate that carries some sentimental value. He wanted the little window box to show off the license plate. Long story short, I embarked on a small Christmas project for him---for her. 

 
It really is a work of art; an aromatic Eastern Red Cedar box, approximately 7" X 13" and 5" deep. Open the lid and draw a pleasant deep breath. Hmmmm. The finished product, according to my customer's follow-up report, was a success. Now, is that a "feel good" story or what!?

It's Wood Talkin for today. Best wishes for a promising New Year celebration to you and yours.

Dick   

Gleefully...The Happy Little Vitrine Danced Home

"I wanna go home!" That was the exuberant theme from this little lady. So, yup, she's been home for over a week now. She arrived home before Christmas day...and everybody was happy about it. What you see here is a not so good picture of her with all her hardware and her glass mirrored back panel in place. 

A Completed Face Lift

The gold tones are all gone...history, and "Thankfully so!" she exclaims.

Considering this young lady's wonderful lines and beauty, I think my customer made a good choice; a new lease on life for this handsome bell. For sure.

That's Wood Talkin for today. Remember...as a general rule, good listener's make good friends.

Deep Breaths n Finger Tapping

Bored to pieces

Here's a quick update on the Vitrine...stained and curing. She stands quietly, albeit impatiently, in a corner of the shop--bored. She's sorta like a gal at the stylist under the hair dryer waiting, waiting, waiting. That will be her situation for at least the next 24 hours. It reminds me of the little ditty, "Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can; seldom found in women...but never found in man." Ha.

That's Wood Talkin for today. Listening?

Naked Promise....a beautiful update

Blushing with modesty

I never would consent to strip a piece before giving it an initial, careful inspection. So, as I previously mentioned, it was that event that told me this piece, manufactured by this furniture company in the 1930's-40's, was very likely to justify my effort. (When I was a kid my dad always reminded me, "Ya gotta do your homework first.") I thought I could see "it" in the way parts of the cabinet had worn to reveal bare wood underneath. The "it,"  the quality of the wood, was quickly evident as the hardwood I could see promised to easily justify the effort I would be committing to this customer and this piece.

I was not disappointed! Removing the cabinet's cut glass surrounds, back mirror, and its hardware, some bare wood began to cough-up a promising story. Those glass pieces were carefully labeled and tucked away before I began hand stripping the cabinet's doors. "Voila!" --solid cherry!  

Oh, it's so, so cool. The cabinet of this little French Vitrine began to offer humble whispers, and an impassioned conversation followed. "Why would they hide all my natural beauty under these three coats.....of the silver-golding process?! (It includes a blue or green base coat, then silver paint, and finished with a gold glaze top coat.)

So, how do ya respond to a talking Vitrine? I used words like, "Um hum," and, "Sure," and, "I suppose your right.." and, "I feel your pain." Then I sensitively reminded this young lady what we're doing. I rehearsed just how exciting her "unveiling" is going to be. Wow...and at long last, how exciting indeed!

So, what you see (above) is what she looks like right now...in the beautiful buff! Just look at those legs! Every inch of her offers a wonderful promise of the glories soon to be her's at her unveiling! A beautiful Cherry Vitrine. Gonna be stunning for sure!

That's Wood Talkin for today. Keep on listening cuz there's more excitement to come!  

Every square inch of the project has contributed

A whole body "face-lift" at 72

I got a call to look at a family heirloom. My customer explained how she had recently inherited it from her mom, and as she described it, "a gold colored curio cabinet." Whenever I hear the words "gold colored" or "painted gold" attributed to an early 1900's piece my ears come to "A-tten-tion!". 

There was a lot of  really fine "gold-leafed" furniture manufactured in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Lots of it repeated or incorporated classic styles of the 16 and 17th. centuries. So, understandably, I wondered if the piece she was describing might fall in that category. I asked her to text me (above) a picture. 

Sure enough. What I saw justified the scheduled visit to her home and some timely discussion about what she wanted to do with her mom's "gold colored curio cabinet." Subsequently, I did some investigation about the manufacture, the Weiman Furniture Company, and their Table Quality Eirloom Series in the 1930-1940's.

I was fascinated to find exactly the same piece, an heirloom French Vitrine, featured in a fine furniture store, in N.Y., NY....and it wasn't going to sell for pennies on the dollar! This was the real deal. I suggested three choices: don't do anything, but maybe touch it up a little; sell it and buy an attractive piece that will fit your color scheme; or, refinish it. Understandably, my customer has chosen to keep this marvelous little vitrine "in the family." This little 72 year-old jewel will get what we'll call a "full-body face lift." Yah...don't you wish!

That's Wood Talkin for today. You might want to follow this fun little story...so keep listening.

Here's another, "Is it or isn't it."

Ummm um. A handsome sight!

It's a 1930-40 vintage medium "Hope Chest," otherwise described as a Cedar Chest. The question I'm wanting to answer here is the one many ask, "Is it a Lane?" In this particular instance I really don't know. The obvious serial/model number on its marvelous backside doesn't look "Lane." But that may have more to do with my ignorance than it has anything to do with the chest's historic identity. 

What you see in the (top) picture is the almost completed refinish/"restoration." Compare it to what it looked like when it came into the shop (below). As you can see it  had a lot of battle scars, not the least of which--and the most visually grabbing--was a very large water spot on the center, front edge of the lid. The Walnut veneer was badly checked and split in that spot and it was also deeply discolored. Bummer!

 

With that kind of insult and its accompanying discoloration in the veneer, any anticipation of it's complete removal is generally poor. But that doesn't mean we can't hope and try...right?! So we did, and I think we realized a marvelous return on our "hope investment." (What do you think?) So, understandably, this handsome guy is begging to go home. When that finally does happen a lot of it's furniture compadres will do a jaw drop as they see this handsome guy reappear. 

Monday, one more top coat and some generous hand buffing will find it ready for a timely home delivery. 

That's Wood Talkin for today. Keep listening.

 

Yup, it's a 1940's vintage Cherry Duncan Pfyfe Pedestal Table. It was made by Drexel. With six accompanying chairs to compliment it, it offers a very attractive dining room presence. (As you see it here, it's just been stained with its three leafs.)

Note differences in color, top vs leafs!

Of course we often learn some fun things in the refinishing process. In this case the bases (below) are stamped "MAH" atop their pedestal bases, suggesting the table may originally have been issued with a Red Mahogany stain. You can see from the picture (right) that the three stripped leafs seem to contrast the table's top--a competition between cherry and red mahogany? God knows.

Naughty Kitty Cats!

Our goal is to blend them to the customer's preference as best we can...............CHERRY.  And whenever you've got an item as pretty as this with several years (72!) of family history behind it, we can expect to get the stories that come with that history. In this case one of those includes the presence of Kitty Cats....as you can see. If the top was of solid wood those signatures could be sanded out, but because this is a fine veneer, these kitties have permanently left their mark. Yes, those guys will be forever remembered.

The pedestals stood in line, the last to be cleaned up....so they are last but not less important.  Here, (below) you see them with clamps variously placed. Those will soon be removed and the staining process will be completed before sealing and finishing begins for all the pieces. That event is just around the corner...it'll probably be all done by the end of the week.

Yup, the table is anticipating....going home soon...An-Tic-I-Pate-Ing. Its a fun word and one I hear thematically in this shop. 

The table's two Pfyfe pedestals await stain

And that's Wood Talkin  for today....so...Keep listening.