Topics

My boys are in businesses other than furniture restoring - I wish they had wanted to do what I do but they weren't interested.  Probably a better choice for them anyway.  Are any of you breaking in the next generation - how is that going ?  Lots of help when you need it ? - are they devoted ? do you have a chance to step away when you want ?  Just thinking out loud after working non-stop for 2 weeks :(

SA

This Clock came in a few weeks ago - finally done - curved veneer pieces are a pain - the value is mostly in the reverse glass painting
SA

Two dressers in for missing parts.  Although it pays well to repair I hate when customers loose the parts and think it's nothing to repair.
I much rather re-glue and touch up than all that shaping, sanding, and retouching -
SA

This is the story of a young college student flying in a two-seater airplane with just the pilot.



He has a heart attack and dies.



She, frantic, grabs the mike and calls out a May Day.



"May Day! May Day! Help me! Help me! The pilot had a heart attack and is dead and I don't know how to fly. Someone help me! Please help me!"



She then hears a voice on the radio saying: "This is Air Traffic Control and I have you loud and clear. I will talk you through this and get you back on the ground. I've had a lot of experience with this kind of problem. Now, just take a deep breath, stay calm and everything will be fine! Now give me your height and position."



She then says, "I'm 5'4" and I support Hillary"


"O.K." says the voice on the radio, "Repeat after me: Our Father, Who art in Heaven"

Do many here do your own weaving - rush, splint, cane -  This was an easy over under pattern and the wood sealed and lacquered over
SA

Trump likes living in the South - things he has learned .....

A possum is a flat animal that
sleeps in the middle of the road.
There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998
of them live in the South.
There are 10,000 types of spiders.
All 10,000 of them live in the South,
plus a couple no one's seen before.
If it grows, it'll stick ya.
If it crawls, it'll bite cha.
Onced and Twiced are words.
It is not a shopping cart,
it is a buggy!
Jawl-P? means, Did you all go
to the bathroom?
People actually grow,eat
and like okra.
Fixinto is one word. It means
I'm going to do that.
There is no such thing as lunch.
There is only dinner and then
there's supper.
Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and
you start drinking it when you're two.
We do
like a little tea with our sugar.
It is referred to as
the Wine of the South.
Backwards and forwards means I know
everything about you.
The word jeet is actually a question
meaning,
'Did you eat?'
You don't have to wear a watch, because
it doesn't matter what time it is, you work
until you're done or it's too dark to see.
You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.
Ya'll is singular. All ya'll is plural.
All the festivals across the state are named
after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect,
or animal.
You carry jumper cables in your car -
for your OWN car.
You only own five spices: salt, pepper,
mustard, Tabasco and ketchup.
The local papers cover national and international news on one page,
but require 6 pages for
local high school sports,
the motor sports, and gossip.
Everyone you meet is a Honey, Sugar,
Miss(first name) or
Mr.(first name)
You think that the first day of deer season is a
national holiday.
You know what a hissy fit is..
Fried catfish is the other white meat.
We don't need no dang
Driver's Ed. If our mama says
we can drive, we can drive!!!

Complete restoration - repair crack across top from shrinkage - all brass corners loose, interior panel that conceals drawers was missing, hinges stripped out, refinish mahogany with oak dye and gloss lacquer rubbed to satin.  The upholstery part ...... Lay new leather top and gold tool the edges.  New key to fit old lock.  This was one of the biggest desks I've seen in this style -  a months work on and off.  It's mine - garage sale find for $ 30.00 due to prior damaged condition.
SA

Thanks for suggestions - should I web the bottom or substitute new springs on the existing platform ? 

What raises your blood pressure ?

Finally got that corner perfect - picked up the gun - shot a staple - and the gun was empty  -

SA

I have to do a service call for this company.  They have a few nice videos on their web site and the frames are made well - not like the frames we have talked about lately.
There are 3-4 videos on their home page  =   https://cococohome.com/

SA

What is Edith saying to Donald

Next week I have a job coming in - Tufted leather barrel back chair. Brand new - one button has pulled through a sewn diamond on the seat.  The manufacturer's tech is telling me I can top sew it with a curved needle and retie the button.  I'm thinking I need to remove the seat cover and sew the seam from the underside correctly.  Which repair would you lean toward ?  They want to do this as cost effective as possible since it is outside the warranty.  Would the more experienced here than I feel confident enough to top stitch and get away with it ?

Thanks
SA

A while back we touched on cleaning fabrics. As usual - short memory for me -  Keith for one has gone down this road.  I'd like to purchase a small, quality, portable machine and would really appreciate suggestions.  Not sure if heat + steam are necessary or just one that has a brush, mixer, and extractor -

Thanks All
SA

It's quiet here lately - holiday time ?  Pope is  coming ? Flu shots ? New dog food ?   Anybody Home ?

Years ago I purchased the Fein detail sander.  Great tool for sanding filled in repairs - putties - bondo - and sanding into corners.  Then they came out with the oscillating blades for the sander and the Fein tool required an adapter to use the cutting blades.  The adapter was never that good - it slipped.  Last week I purchased the Bosch a dedicated oscillating tool  - worth getting if you don't have one - the Multi X tool kit on Amazon runs about $ 129.00. 
This is one of my favorite tools for controlled cutting - easy to use - no chance of grabbing or pulling out of the cut and ruining a finished area - comes with a variety of blades -  get the corded one -  it's made very well - solid and powerful -
SA

You know you're in the Upholstery business when:

  * you can remove a staple you can't see even with your good glasses
  * when a job comes in you wish that it hadn't come for another 5 days
  * when your better half sees the fabric they say "really" ?


SA

This came in last week - just finished it up.  s/n dates to 1941 - I think it's a model 99 ?
Refinished the case - made a new key - cleaned the machine -  beautiful quality wood case from years ago. I forgot to take a before picture -
The machine works - everything is there - it wasn't a premier model but solid as can be.  No Plastic ! 
The water decal came from a company called Singer Decals.Com - nice folks !

Maybe I just hadn't noticed until now but the header here has changed and for the better.  I kind of liked scrolling through the different selections for tools, supplies, motors, videos etc.   I noticed there was a  ripping hand tool which seems practical to have and I'm going to order it.  Can't turn down the chance to add another tool to the mix. I was looking for a link for dog cookies and dog training videos but I guess the web master hasn't linked those up yet.   There are numerous sites for craftsmen and I visit a few others but none better then this one !
SA

I looked at this sofa this morning.  The customer has a matching sofa and the cushions were lost.  The account wants to recover the one sofa in a comparable fabric.  The owners don't remember anything about the fabric.  They call it Trapunto - there are raised portions like a quilt ?
The upholsterer I work with hasn't seem many of these high end fabrics nor have I.  Can someone tell me who would carry this kind of fabric - or at least similar ?

I picked up a flat forked steel bar at a tag sale for 25 cents.  Seemed like it was possibly an upholsterers tool but needed a handle.  Two hours of fussing and it's ready for the next job.  Paying jobs were sitting around but this got my attention today - a break from the usual stuff -

I'm being asked to estimate the cost of making a new bigger cushion to fill out a new slip cover that is over size but when I look at the boxing I'm thinking there are wrinkles from bad sewing that won't come out -  am I guessing right ?
Thanks for the help
SA