Antique repair

Rick Levine

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Messages
91
My wife inherited a "secretary" from her parents that is in need of some repair and restoration. I am definitely not very accomplished at this but I thought I'd attempt a bit of the work, at least the chipped parts as well as some of the re-gluing.

The close-up photos show the front of the drawer that has been chipped on both ends. I'd like some suggestions how to repair these chips.
 

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Get some wood of the same species, cut and carve, then glue em in. When you cut the pieces make em big enough to handle easily. This will make crving them safer. Then where the end piece is after you have them carved to fit just cut them off at the lenght needed to fit in. You last cut will be on the outside of the piece.

Welcome to my world.
 
That looks like oak, isn't it?

In addition to what Don has said, if you are careful when choosing the piece you can try to match the grain as much as you can, and it will help to disguise the joint.

If you need to re-carve a bit first glue and carve once dry.

BTW The central face is a greenman, have you noticed it?
 
I would suggest some QSWO Dutchman, using a chisel and such, clean up the break into a smooth clean edge (square up the hole or flatten it off, being sure to anticipate difficulty in clamping when you orienate the cut surface. Carefully orienate the grain and secure with a dark glue (perhaps an Epoxy)

Using files, chisels, sandpaper and the like to reshape the Dutchman to match the original, then color will be the problem.
 
Using files, chisels, sandpaper and the like to reshape the Dutchman to match the original, then color will be the problem.
As for color matching go to woodcraft and get some tranfast Dye in Golden Oak. You can change the dilution as needed to get the color to match. Practice on a piece of scrap of the same species. After you apply the dye wet it with mineral spirits to see how it will look finished. You should have no problem getting a match.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. You give me more credit than I deserve thinking I can carve the piece, but I'll try. The last time I tried carving wood was in high school woodshop. Fortunately I do have some QSWO already so that is a start. It is some old wood and hopefully I can find some with grain to match but I'm not really sure it is oak. There are some stange looking reddish grain running through that don't look like typical medullary ray flecks.

By the way, Don, you should see the rest of my shop; it is not as clean as you think. I chose the only spot that is clean for the photo, less distracting.

Toni, I did notice the carving but didn't know it had a name. I looked it up on Google after you mentioned it, very interesting.
 
BTW The central face is a greenman, have you noticed it?

Hadn't noticed that until you mentioned it, makes for a Cool piece and worth rescueing...

Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. You give me more credit than I deserve thinking I can carve the piece, but I'll try. .

Carving is simple, just cut away everything that doesn't belong (w/o cutting away the parts that do)

Keep us posted... :thumb:
 
Bill, easy for you to say. I don't think I'd attempt it if it wasn't such a small piece to carve. My main task is to make it fit so the seam is barely visible. The finish won't be too much of a problem. All there is left of it is the stain. I should be able to wipe it down with mineral spirits and add some new stain then some poly. I have a sprayer and may attempt to use it for the stain.
 
I finally got started on the repairs. After some careful carving and fitting with my chisels I was able to fit some matching wood I had on hand to the chipped corners. After the glue dried I used my oscillating spindle sander to refine the fit. Then I cleaned it with mineral spirits and applied a coat of stain to the whole piece. The last step is to reassemble the drawer.
 

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Great result! and thanks for posting it.

I notice that the dovetails are router made, how old did you say the piece was?

I wonder when routed dovetails started to be used in furniture.:dunno::huh:
 
The routered dovetails were a giveaway to me that the piece wasn't as old as was suggested. That is why I decided to do the repairs, not to mention strong urging from my wife. And yes, it wasn't as hard as I first thought. I just had to take my time (which isn't my usual mode of operation) and cut with sharp chisels. Fortunately I recently bought a Worksharp 3000 which worked beautifully. I still have a lot of work to do on the rest of the piece.

This project is just one more justification for the purchase of all my tools! :D
 
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My next problem is how to clean the brass hinges. I'm not sure what solution I should use. I don't want to remove all of the patina just clean some of the green corrosion off. What do you guys suggest? I have TSP and naval jelly but I don't know if they are the right things to use. Any suggestions would be welcomed.
 

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your repairs look great rick but before yu get to carroed away here have yu checked on the value of it??? alot of the time they dont want the pieces redone the old look is best for value..
 
your repairs look great rick but before yu get to carroed away here have yu checked on the value of it??? alot of the time they dont want the pieces redone the old look is best for value..

I'm not too worried about the value, that is, my wife isn't. The piece is in such bad shape anyway anything I do to it is an improvement. I have to re-glue many of the joints just to keep it from collapsing. We want to use it in our guest bedroom so it won't get too much use but still will be used some time. My MIL, who gave it to us admitted it wasn't well taken care of.
 
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