When caring for furniture especially antique furniture, it is always best to preserve as much of the original as possible and this includes the original finish. An antique is of greater value if it has its original finish. Moses T’s All Natural Wood Care Products provides those original finishes with St. John’s Oil, St. John’s Wax and Gunstocker’s Finish and an excellent treatment for other original finishes with Reviver. The original integrity of the…
After the piece has been repaired, washed, treated and touched up, it is ready for its final finish. In some instances the treatment and touch ups are all that is needed, but if the treated finish or touch ups are dull then a final finish should be applied. Moses T’s provides a complete choice of finishes. For a satin oil finish, St. John’s Oil is the choice. If wax protection or a rich wax luster…
I built this dresser to fit under hanging clothes in a closet for a customer. She wanted a little more storage. Made of pine plywood with solid pine legs. Finish is puritan pine and satin lacquer. There is enough room to slide a pair of shoes under the dresser. Easy woodworking project and the materials were cheap.
Once the furniture has been washed and treated with Moses T’s Reviver and any necessary filling is done, it is ready for touch ups. Touch ups are done only in areas where the finish is missing or damaged. Touch ups can be done with dry powdered pigments and a variety of vehicles. The pigment can be used With Moses T’s St. John’s Oil, with shellac, with paint or varnish or in paste wax depending on…
The treatment process should not be attempted until the piece of furniture has been through a thorough cleaning and washing processes and allowed to dry completely. This assures that if the surfaces have been softened by the cleaning process it will have time to dry out and firm up. Accumulations that are not readily removed in the cleaning process (water soluble dirt), will be taken care of during the treatment process. All repairs should…
After filling in, we can proceed to the next step in the process of maintaining and caring for furniture, including antiques, is a thorough cleaning. The interior should be brushed down and vacuumed. All loose dirt should be dusted from the surface prior to washing. Washing is done with clean warm water and any liquid soap, not detergent. Put a few drops of soap into a quart of water, add more if surface accumulations are…
Before reading this article, we recommend that you read the introduction. Holes, cracks and voids in the finished surface need to be filled after treatment and prior to touch up. Some filling is best done after the finish is applied, depending upon the individual cases,after which we can move on to cleaning. Pumice or rottenstone and pigment mixed with thinned spar varnish can be applied to areas were just the grain of the wood…
Furniture including antiques requires a certain amount of maintenance and care. The proper care of furniture can increase the life of the furniture indefinitely. This publication focuses on the care of furniture and the correct methods of touch up and finish restoration to damage that invariably occurs to the exposed surfaces of the furniture. Repairs to furniture are covered in another of Technical Leaflet series. Repairs should be done to the furniture prior to…
One of the first pieces of furniture a woodworker frequently attempts is a bookcase or shelving unit of some sort. There are many things to consider when deciding on the bookcase size and style you are going to build. First off, where will it be placed? Will it be built in? Will it be free standing or up against a wall? How tall do you want it? Will it hold hard cover books, pocket novels,…
Wood workers love wood and will collect wood from friends and relatives, campsites and any place wood has been abandoned. It is moved to be used as firewood, wood turning and lumber production just to name a few potential uses. The list is endless. Moving wood can be risky for your wood supply by moving pests to areas that are not already infected. Everyone must be aware of the area they live and travel in…
