When Things Go Wrong?

When things go wrong?

Well, this is something very important and needs to be looked at as and when it does happen, how do we overcome it and put things right? 

Firstly, with experience built up over many years, this will give you a much wider perspective on how to go about the best way to solve the problems as and when they do occur.  

How many people have sanded through the veneer?  And then the panic sets in oh what can I do now?  Well if things are so bad and the affected veneer can’t be touched up then it will need to be replaced with a new veneer.

How many of you have ever taken on a job, and thought how am I ever going to do this?  Must be all of us I reckon, I know that I have and many times.  Well, for me it works that I stand back from the job and take a fresh look and work out the best way to approach the situation, i.e. should I strip off the old finish? Or should the wood be solid and allow me to sand the surface?  As this would remove dents and marks within the surface, however, if I over sandpaper then I would be at risk of losing the old patina should the piece be an antique and that would be dreadful.

How about the classic blister on the surface?  How can we deal with that situation?  Do we heat the head of a hammer and press the blister down whilst the hammer is still hot so as to melt the old fashioned glue beneath the veneer as this often works on the old Animal glues used and in some workshops are still being used today.  Or do we cut a fine line into the veneer and apply glue into the blister and then apply a clamp to apply pressure whilst it dries. 

What about the dreadful woodworm?  Do we inject the woodworm killer?  Or do we soak the wood in a bath of woodworm killer?  Well, whatever does the job best for you.  Once the killer has dried do we then attempt to fill in the holes?  Or do we leave them to show that the item has age and character?  Well, that depends on what your client shall be expecting from you, and hopefully, you have had a discussion as to what is possible and what can be achieved given the condition of the item in the first place.

For me, it always seems that I get the jobs that no one else wants to do or perhaps can’t do.  Therefore I have a saying that I am sure you have heard before and that is “If you can do the hard jobs the easy ones are very easy”.  

One job that I would not take on are pianos why because they take up so much space and the workshop has to be almost spotless, well for me that was very difficult with other furniture to work on at the same time such as sanding causing dust everywhere.

Also, the amount of work that you have to put into working on pianos is tremendous and therefore the price, in my opinion, would be too high and most clients would not wish to pay for all of my efforts. 

Over the years I have self-taught myself how to repair furniture and in doing so meant that I rarely had to call in a Carpenter, therefore, keeping the cost down and that makes for a happy client that will come back for other jobs in the future.  Smart move.

Well, I hope that this will give you something to think about before you take on a job that you are not quite sure about.

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Kind regards. 

Thank you.