Many trades come together to restore an entry of a Brownstone

Just recently I had the great opportunity to help Ryaan Tuttle from RJT Carpentry and Tile to restore this pair of amazing entry doors.  It was amazing to see all the trades coming together and restoring this entryway with so much age and history. The crafts are alive and we the few are working hard to save, conserve, and restore the old, vintage, and quality from the masters before us. 

Book Recommendation on Furniture Care and Conservation

 Often I get asked if there is a book on furniture care, repair, and conservation.  Really the best response is to join GROOP other wised known as the Professional Refinishers Group. This group of individuals are all over the USA and overseas. The members are all professionals and range in age from their 30's to 60's.  Some are professional conservators, restorers, makers, upholsters, violinist, and woodworkers.  We as a groop are what we call family and all we want is to share information and ask questions amongst our groop and get answers.  This is a support groop and secrets don't exist.

But if I had to recommend one book it would Furniture Care and Conservation by Robert F. McGiffin, Jr. Its a great book with a ton information. The methods in this book still are standards in the repair world.  The photo below showcases the chapters in the book.  

Hide glue for sale.

Hide glue the oldest of all the glues commonly used in woodworking. With any glue there are pros and cons. The cons are the glue must be hot, some form of a double boiler must be used, it can spoil, open time can be a concern, and cheap glue smells badly. The pros are reversibility, easy to repair, easy of sanding, perfect for hammer veneering, non-toxic, no creep, will stick to old hide glue, and best of all the glue is transparent to most finishes. 

Hide glue is the ideal traditional protein glue for veneering, and with a bit of practice you can successfully veneer without a pile of clamps or the need of a vacuum press. It's the perfect glue for the occasional user. You can do many joints just by rubbing the wood together until they get tacky and stick - no need for clamps. 

Commonly hide glue is sold in many different "gram strengths." The higher the gram strength of glue the tackier and stronger the glue. The stronger the glue is often the less "open time" you have. For this simple reason I only stock 192-gram strength hide glue. The hide glue I stock is made by the last supplier of hide glue in the states and it's the highest refined hide glue available with the least amount of odor.

Mixing: 

Use equal parts of water and glue.  Once the glue is in liquid form the rule for adding water is hot glue means hot water/cold glue means cold water must be used.  Ideal temperature is 120-150 degrees. Anything higher and the glue will start to cook and weaken.  If any mold is formed the glue shouldn’t be used.  If the use the glue isn’t regular than it can be placed in the refrigerator for safekeeping.

Shelf life:

In granule form the glue will be good standing for 100 plus years.

If interested in purchasing some glue please visit my etsy store found here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/489778424/hide-glue-192-gram-strength?ref=shop_home_active_1

The Ebony Cane

A client had a walking cane made from Gaboon Ebony, unfortunately the husks broke off. The clients wanted to inquire if by chance could I take a bone bracelet cut it down, shape it to fit, and glue the pieces in as husks.  As I was always told early on in my career, you never say no to a paying job.  

Well I did it...  I cut the bracelet and made two husk out of them and glued them in place. Below is a series of photos of the effort and an over view of a beautiful cane.