A Dog's Dinner

These arms from a Client's chair were badly chewed by their Dog, the repair was given to what turned out to be a less experienced French polisher, and clients were understandably very disappointed with the outcome. 

The works were then given to me to salvage, yet another tricky job.
However, the finished result was very satisfying to the client.

The underside before works

After scraping off the finish to see what's underneath

A difficult shape to work with

Sanded off

After staining and finishing

A close up of quality workmanship

I can never understand, why people choose to use inexperienced French polisher's in the first place, perhaps they are doing the work at a cheaper price. 

At least the Customer was very happy with my work, and that's all that matters I guess.

Thanks for reading my post's. 

Coffee table restoration

This Coffee table, as you can see is in very bad condition, it looks like it has been very badly touched up with what looks like the wrong colours.

I stripped off the old finish back to the wood, thankfully the surface was in good condition, then I had to stain match the colour with the base, and for a durable finish, I sprayed over the surface with several coats of semi-matt lacquer. 

The customer was really amazed at the outcome. 

It's best to strip off the old surface, to avoid adhesion problems between one finish and another.
Thanks for visiting my Blogsite. 

Gave up Teaching

Hello to you all.

Around this time last year, I decided I'd had enough of teaching and decided that after Fifteen-years as a Tutor running an evening class for Adults.  
(Teaching French polishing)

Despite my learners being keen to learn and being very nice people, I had enough of the seemingly endless paperwork involved whilst running my class.  Together with the ceaseless ongoing training, the last course I was expected to take part in was mental health awareness, and I was to feel that my time was being taken up as a surrogate Parent to my Adults.

My learners, never wanted or asked for all the paperwork that was put before them such as Individual Lesson plans, Scheme of works, and Record of achievement's to mention a few however, I do understand that some of the paperwork was necessary to be able to evaluate the learner's achievements.

I really loved to teach and pass on my knowledge of French polishing, and Wood-finishing, and have enjoyed my time running my classes.
Unfortunately, together with the disappointment as and when my course would or could be cancelled at the last minute through lack of learners didn't help.

It's my opinion that the teaching profession is tied up in overzealous bureaucracy and too much red tape that hinders learners progress.

The Management team, despite their best efforts to run and encourage the courses, are under too much pressure from the authorities to produce positive figures and outcomes for the various Government bodies.

I hope that throughout my time spent teaching, I have inspired many Adults to go on to produce some fine quality Wood-finishing.

Thank you, for taking the time to read my posts, I very much appreciate it.

  

Oak Cabinet restoration

How about this one, it came to me in bits, and as you can see needs lot's of work to put it back to its former glory. 
Had to be stripped off, and then I sanded it smooth but tried to keep some of the age as much as possible, then stained the cabinet and spent time to re-finish as required. 

I think that it was made around the 1930s but it's not always easy to tell.

Another happy customer!

Out with the big clamps

This is my recent project, once again not an easy one, as you can see that this is badly broken and made me wonder how this could have happened? Over 25 mm thick and made of solid Oak, how was this possible?  Guess I'll never know. 

It looks like a clean break however, this is deceptive as the surfaces have to be flush when glued together otherwise it involves lots of sanding down to bring them in line with each other. 

Also, I found out that some of my clamps were not tightening up properly as they were worn out due to overuse. Not good when you most need them.

After leaving overnight for the glue to dry, the next morning it was time to remove the clamps, I was left with only a very small raised surface that was easy to smooth down and re-finish. The customer was very pleased with the result.

I used PVA Glue, as it gave me time to work with whilst clamping up.

Thank you for visiting my Blogsite.

Happy Christmas & New Year

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and New Year!

Thank you for visiting my Blog, I very much appreciate it.

May 2017 be a good year for you all

If you can Polish you can paint

Hello,
Today, I will share with you yet another job, I decided to take on however, it was a little different from my usual work.

I was asked by a Client to paint her side Gate and Garage Doors, at first I thought is this in my remit? Then I thought I need to earn a living so, of course, I said yes.

The Doors had been started around Two years earlier but sadly the person passed away and they were never completed.

They had been undercoated with grey paint and then just left, I decided to take the Gate Door off its hinges and lay it flat for easy access, then I sanded off the loose and flaky surface. 

Luckily, for me, the weather was extremely hot which makes a change for the UK. I undercoated the Door with good quality paint, and when dried the next day, I painted it over with a quality external paint of the Client's choice, I put two coats of paint for a really great and long-lasting finish.
Needless to say, the Client was very pleased with the end result, and then gave me more painting work to my delight. 

A nice clean job, as it should be! Thanks for stopping by.