Furniture repair

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Furniture repair is the craft of making broken or worn furniture usable again. It may include the preservation of old furniture, which is referred to as restoration. The craft of furniture repair requires a number of different skills including woodworking, metalworking, wood finishing, caning (furniture), woodturning, and upholstery.

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Woodworking repair

Wood is most abundantly used raw material to make a furniture piece. [1] Wood provides the structure for upholstered pieces and is what finishes are applied to. Repairing wood requires knowledge of:

Some woodworking repairs can be done as DIY projects while others require more skilled woodworkers to complete. The most complex repairs involve reproducing replacement parts as well as restoring antiques.

Finish repair

Refinishing means the existing finish is removed before a new finish is applied, whereas restoration refers to the process in which the original finish is cleaned, revived, and protected. [2] Restoration protects the history and value of antique furniture.

Finish repair requires understanding the types of finishes and the corresponding techniques to clean, repair, and apply the finishes. The most common finishes include:

Reupholstery

The process of recovering a piece of upholstered furniture with new fabric is called reupholstery. It begins with removing the existing upholstery, including the dust cover, tacks, fabric, muslin, padding, burlap, webbing, and springs. Once the furniture has been stripped of all upholstery, it can be repaired as the wooden joints of old furniture typically become loose. New upholstery should be reinstalled with considerations of reusing some of the old materials, such as horsehair, or replacing it with new materials. [3]

Antique restoration

Antiques need to be handled with care to preserve their value. As a rule of thumb, restoring up to 30 percent of the piece is acceptable on an antique. Any more than 30 percent seriously undermines the value. [4]

Modern glue should not be used on the joints of antique furniture. Hide glue should be used as can be disassembled in the future if repairs are needed. [5]

Furniture repair industry

This industry is involved in reupholstering, refinishing, repairing and restoring furniture. [6] The NIACS industry code is 811420 and includes: [7] [8]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodworking</span> Process of making objects from wood

Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furniture</span> Objects used to support humanity activities

Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating, eating (tables), storing items, working, and sleeping. Furniture is also used to hold objects at a convenient height for work, or to store things. Furniture can be a product of design and can be considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. It can be made from a vast multitude of materials, including metal, plastic, and wood. Furniture can be made using a variety of woodworking joints which often reflects the local culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joinery</span> Where pieces of wood are fixed together in an assembly

Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes, to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, while others use only wood elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carpentry</span> Skilled trade

Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters traditionally worked with natural wood and did rougher work such as framing, but today many other materials are also used and sometimes the finer trades of cabinetmaking and furniture building are considered carpentry. In the United States, 98.5% of carpenters are male, and it was the fourth most male-dominated occupation in the country in 1999. In 2006 in the United States, there were about 1.5 million carpentry positions. Carpenters are usually the first tradesmen on a job and the last to leave. Carpenters normally framed post-and-beam buildings until the end of the 19th century; now this old-fashioned carpentry is called timber framing. Carpenters learn this trade by being employed through an apprenticeship training—normally four years—and qualify by successfully completing that country's competence test in places such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Australia and South Africa. It is also common that the skill can be learned by gaining work experience other than a formal training program, which may be the case in many places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upholstery</span> Covering of furniture with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather

Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slipcover</span>

A slipcover is a fitted protective cover that may be slipped off and on a piece of upholstered furniture. Slipcovers are usually made of cloth. Slipcovers slip on and off, they come fresh, and may be removed for seasonal change, cleaning, moving, or storage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upholstery frame</span>

In furniture-making, the upholstery frame of a piece of furniture gives the structural support and determines the basic shape of the upholstered furniture. The frame may be a basic piece of wooden furniture prior to its being upholstered. Like a finished piece of furniture prior to the upholstering, the frame establishes the final quality, including its durability, and sets limits upon the final design, padding, cushioning, or cover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood finishing</span> Process of refining or protecting a wooden surface

Wood finishing refers to the process of refining or protecting a wooden surface, especially in the production of furniture where typically it represents between 5 and 30% of manufacturing costs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wood veneer</span> Thin slices of wood

In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood and sometimes bark that typically are glued onto core panels to produce flat panels such as doors, tops and panels for cabinets, parquet floors and parts of furniture. They are also used in marquetry. Plywood consists of three or more layers of veneer. Normally, each is glued with its grain at right angles to adjacent layers for strength. Veneer beading is a thin layer of decorative edging placed around objects, such as jewelry boxes. Veneer is also used to replace decorative papers in wood veneer HPL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ticking</span>

Ticking is a type of cloth, traditionally a tightly-woven cotton or linen textile. It is traditionally used to cover tick mattresses and bed pillows. The tight weave makes it more durable and hinders the stuffing from poking through the fabric. To make it even tighter, ticking could be waxed, soaped, or starched. Tick materials designed to hold foam may be knit, or more porous. In English-speaking countries ticking commonly has a striped design, in muted colors such as brown, grey or blue, and occasionally red or yellow, against a plain, neutral background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris chair</span> Early type of reclining chair

A Morris chair is an early type of reclining chair. The design was adapted by William Morris's firm, Morris & Company, from a prototype owned by Ephraim Colman in rural Sussex, England. It was first marketed around 1866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Animal glue</span> Adhesive created from boiling animal connective tissue

Animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue in a process called rendering. In addition to being used as an adhesive it is used for coating and sizing, in decorative composition ornaments, and as a clarifying agent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refinishing</span>

In woodworking and the decorative arts, refinishing refers to the act of repairing or reapplying the wood finishing on an object. In practice, this may apply to the paint or wood finish top coat, lacquer or varnish. The artisan or restorer is traditionally aiming for an improved or restored and renewed finish. Refinishing can apply to a variety of surfaces and materials such as wood, glass, metal, plastic and paint, although in Britain, when referring to wood or wooden furniture it is commonly known as repolishing - short for re-French Polishing.

Wood glue is an adhesive used to tightly bond pieces of wood together. Many substances have been used as glues. Traditionally animal proteins like casein from milk or collagen from animal hides and bones were boiled down to make early glues. They worked by solidifying as they dried. Later, glues were made from plant starches like flour or potato starch. When combined with water and heated, the starch gelatinizes and forms a sticky paste as it dries. Plant-based glues were common for books and paper products, though they can break down more easily over time compared to animal-based glues. Modern wood glues are largely synthetic, made from petroleum-derived plastics like polyvinyl acetate (PVA). PVA glues are moisture resistant while also being flexible when dry. Epoxy resins are also popular for their strength and water resistance. Some resins used in producing composite wood products contain formaldehyde. As of 2021, “the wood panel industry uses almost 95% of synthetic petroleum-derived thermosetting adhesives, mainly based on urea, phenol, and melamine, among others”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distressing</span> Treating objects such as furniture or clothing to make them look old, worn, weathered, or lived-in

Distressing in the decorative arts is the activity of making a piece of furniture or object appear aged and older, giving it a "weathered look". There are many methods to produce an appearance of age and wear. Distressing is viewed as a refinishing technique although it is the opposite of finishing in a traditional sense. In distressing, the object's finish is intentionally destroyed or manipulated to look less than perfect, such as with sandpaper or paint stripper. For example, the artisan often removes some but not all of the paint, leaving proof of several layers of paint speckled over wood grain underneath. This becomes the "finished" piece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of road vehicles</span>

Conservation and restoration of road vehicles is the process of restoring a vehicle back to its original working condition, whether the car is partially scrapped or completely totaled. Automotive restoration can be applied to many different eras of the automobile. Bus preservation groups aim to purchase buses of various eras to restore them to their original operating condition. Buses are often restored to the original authentic livery of their original owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amish furniture</span> Furniture manufactured by the Amish

Amish furniture is furniture manufactured by the Amish, primarily of Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio. It is generally known as being made completely out of wood, usually without particle board or laminate. The styles most often used by the Amish woodworkers are generally more traditional in nature.

Conservation and restoration of movable cultural property is a term used to denote the conservation of movable cultural property items in libraries, archives, museums and private collections. Conservation encompasses all the actions taken toward the long-term preservation of cultural heritage. Activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventive care, which is supported by research and education. Object conservation is specifically the actions taken to preserve and restore cultural objects. The objects span a wide range of materials from a variety of cultures, time periods, and functions. Object conservation can be applied to both art objects and artifacts. Conservation practice aims to prevent damage from occurring, a process known as 'preventive conservation'. The purpose of preventive conservation is to maintain, and where possible enhance, the condition of an object, as well as managing deterioration risks, such as handling and environmental conditions. Historically, object conservation was focused on the category of fine arts but now many different types of objects are conserved. Each type of object material, typically denoted by organic or inorganic then the specific medium, requires a specialized professional conservator and often requires collaborative work between museum staff, scientists, and conservators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation and restoration of wooden furniture</span>

The conservation and restoration of wooden furniture is an activity dedicated to the preservation and protection of wooden furniture objects of historical and personal value. When applied to cultural heritage this activity is generally undertaken by a conservator-restorer. Furniture conservation and restoration can be divided into two general areas: structure and finish. Structure generally relates to wood and can be divided into solid, joined, and veneered wood. The finish of furniture can be painted or transparent.

References

  1. "Types of raw materials used to make furniture". www.jdinstitute.edu.in. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Wood is the most abundantly used raw material for furniture.
  2. The Weekend Refinisher, Ballantine Books, 2014, P. 52.
  3. The Furniture Bible, Artisan, 2014, P. 64.
  4. The Furniture Bible, Artisan, 2014, P. 268.
  5. Courtnall 1999, p. 63.
  6. "Furniture Repair & Reupholstery Industry in the US". www.ibisworld.com. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Furniture repair industry description.
  7. "NIACS Code: 811420 Reupholstery and Furniture Repair". www.naics.com. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Furniture repair industry description.
  8. Office Furniture Company
  9. McLarin, Kimberly J. (13 October 1994). "AT HOME WITH: Ed Feldman And Joe L'Erario; The Two Stooges Of Furniture Repair". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Television show on PBS.