I have been restoring antique furniture for over 40 years. I thought I would show a few of the more recent pieces I have done. Sadly, I don't have pictures of hundreds of the earlier pieces. Some of these were for customers and some for us. This cherry slant top desk ca 1820 is something that we purchased for ourselves. I cleaned up the finish, leaving the original finish in place. In other words it was not stripped and sanded, only the dirt was removed.
This early robe bed suffered water damage due to leaking pipes from the floor above. The plaster from the ceiling left a lot of residue that I was able to carefully clean away. I then applied a new finish on top of the old.
As you can see this piano stool was brought to me in a box. I stripped, repaired, glued and finished it. It is not your run of the mill piano stool.
This is an 1880s Victorian Walnut High Chair that converts to a Stroller that I totally restored for a customer. It also is an unusual piece.
This is a fancy Victorian sofa (along with 2 chairs not shown) that I restored for a customer. There were lots of repairs involving lots of clamps. I don't think there is anything worse to work on than busy Victorian furniture. It took many hours to complete.
Wow great work. It’s really time consuming isn’t it. I too have restored quite a few pieces. Most of them have been sold in my shop. But these are sentimental. My wife’s great grandmother sewing machine. My grandfather made this for my mother 100 yrs ago when she was 8 yrs old. It was in pieces. He made it with mixed woods, whatever he had in the shop. An original Zoar Made potbelly with sheetmetal coal tray.
This nice mid 1800s walnut pie safe was for a customer. It had been partially stripped of white paint years ago but needed to be totally redone. In one picture I have loosened up the door frame so that I could remove the rest of the paint from the tins and then they were re-glued. It is a lot of trouble to disassemble furniture to refinish it, but the end result is worth it. All of the work I do is by hand using stripper, steel wool and paper towels. There is no tank or dipping. Also, all of the finishes are applied by hand. I do not spray. This is just the way I have always done it. Ignore the table saw that appears to be floating in the air. I was mounting it on a new stand which was on top of a work bench.
A customer bought this cherry corner cupboard at an auction. She didn't realize that the feet had been cut off and the original apron had been added to the top of the cupboard as a crown. I told her that I would like to tackle the project and improve it for her. Here are the before and after photos that I took for her.
The same customer as above returned a year or so later and had me fix this corner cupboard for her. I made a new base and a new crown as well as re-finished.
I did this for a customer. It was a family piece but they had no use for a wardrobe and wanted it made into a display case. So, I stripped it, repaired and re-attached the crown (adding braces), re-attached the feet and base moldings, installed 3 lights in the top and had glass shelves cut for the interior. I also took the doors apart, removed the original wooden panels and replaced them with glass.
Beautiful work ! I think I have the exact same sewing machine, along with a few others. My drawers look just like yours. Do you know what vintage it is?
Not off hand. It’s been so long ago I don’t remember the year of manufacture. I bet you’ll find a ton of info on line for Singers.
sweet stuff...sadly, in my area of Colonial CT, the demand really dropped on the older things!.. I hope the nice things that "modern-minded" heirs find in their relatives estates, DO NOT get tossed in dumpsters, but I know it does happen here.. Sad! .
The treadle sewing machines with the oak cases were popular in the early 1900's and in the 1920's they went to electric motors. You can cross reference your serial number online to get the exact date of manufacture. F&J, you are right about the decline of popularity and prices as the younger generation in general is not interested in this style of furniture..
Very nice work Maple, love seeing these old pieces of furniture get restored proper. Sent from my SM-J727T1 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Wow, that is some Beautiful work!! I have saved some pieces the last few years, but nothing like you've done. It really saddens me when I see Any wooden furniture out by the curb, but I have little or no room to store things.
the first old furniture I re did I paid 10 bucks for at the tail end of a garage sale. turn of the century Oak serpentine front tall dresser. it was so dried out I didn't think it could be repaired, but for 10 bucks I got it. these old dressers are like a giant puzzle with only two screws holding the top to the rest, everything else was joinery, I was impressed by the craftsmanship, and every piece but the drawer bottoms was Oak.... I've done a few more since then, if I was not a car guy I would be a wood working guy. pics when I get home.
You do beautiful restorations & refinishing . A well made piece of furniture will last a lifetime, unfortunately not much of that is produced today.
I used to do a lot of refinishing some years ago, not as much now. I warn people that there is seldom much reason to strip painted furniture unless its a true "find".
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