As a professional furnitue upholster -- also do some wood Repairs?

[baileyuph]

Some time ago, I started because often it was an integrated requirement within a project already in work.  It has turned out to be a positive for my business and today given the changes happening in the business , insures job security.  

Also, like stated, it is nearby so why not make the money!

I am sure there are some who also do wood as well as upholstery, how is it working with you?  Profitable?

Just a thought worth sharing, chime in if involved in this subject and perhaps how you manage that sector of the work.

Doyle

[sofadoc]

Naturally, I do internal structural wood repair on upholstered furniture. But I send all the cosmetic repairs of external finished wood to a refinishing shop down the street.

In turn, he sends all upholstery repairs to me. We've had a great relationship for over 20 years.

We extend each other courtesy fixes. I'll do minor fabric repairs for him. He'll take care of minor wood touch-ups for me. He has a key to my shop if he needs to bring a piece by after hours and tack on a new dust cover that he had to remove for repair.

[MinUph]

I too do structural repairs along with touch up of exposed wood trim. I don't get into major refinishing any more just because it can be messy and like auto and marine work that grime might find it's way to the white silk sofa on another set of horses. So I shy away from anything like that now.
  I do love working with wood though and have done much in the way of repairs and replacements on furniture.
  We also build cornices and such all the time. It gives me a way to make sawdust :)
  What exactly to you others do in the way of wood work.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Strictly upholstery.

I was in HS in the early 70's and if a female had signed up for auto repair/woodworking/etc, the counselor would have had apoplexy.  Reverse was true as well for male students and traditional home ec courses.  That has all changed.  One of my nieces graduated from the same HS 20 years later and she took auto mechanics.  She is a worse grease monkey than her father and together they have spent many happy hours rebuilding vintage cars.

I'm now just old enough and set in my ways to not be ready, willing and able to learn woodworking skills.  I also have a very limited space in my shop and honestly don't know where any woodworking projects and/or tools would go.

Virginia

[SteveA]

Doyle
Good choice - do both as much as you can as long as space provides.  You don't have to become a finish repair expert but as you better the finishing craft you'll be less dependent on others.  If you really want to train find a finisher and work for him on Saturdays or after hours.  Look for a continuing education courses at nights in the local high school -  read the finishing forums like Wood Magazine where you'll see some familiar names that are here as well -
Buy the CDs - you-tube - read the books and one day it will all mesh and your shop will be one up on the others. 

[byhammerandhand]

**blush**

read the finishing forums like Wood Magazine where you'll see some familiar names that are here as well -

I highly recommends Bob Flexner's "Understanding Wood Finishing" and Jeff Jewitt's "Complete Illustrated Guide to Wood Finishing."  If there is a traveling Mohawk Wood Class near you, it might be worth your while.  It will take a lot of practice to get good at things like burn-ins and toning, but it will be a good start.


I guess I consider myself a "professional wood repair person" that also does some upholstery cleaning and repair.  Got pushed/pulled into that when my customers wanted me to do upholstery work, too.

[baileyuph]

Isn't it great to have the opportunity to relate with the wood and finishing of same with members on the same board!  It is truely something to experience.  Thanks for the two professional people (Steve and Hammer) who come, participate, and offer their knowlege to the related questions that come up.

First, the two finishing guides (by Bob Flexner and Jeff Jewitt), could be obtained by:  Could one or both be read on the internet?  Finishing does come up now and then and could add some respect to an upholstery business.  A lot of upholstery customers can be favorably impressed by just realizing that their provider knows something about finishes, wood, and wood repairs -- I have had the experience just given.

Anyone else here read these authors (Bob and Jeff)?

I have been involved in some of the older finishes, lacquer, tung oil, just to start talking but what differs with the new furniture finishes, I just don't know.

Wood working, I truly love just as much as upholstery and often feel that the knowledge of same is essential, really just as essential as upholstery capabilities, because the wood repair issues constantly arise.

I am fortunate to have two separate shops for this with some decent equipment.  That skill is used frequently.  Matter of fact, repaired three bed frames today and didn't have to thread a needle - grin.  The work is there and competition is, from my limited perspective, is very scarce.

Further, the work schedule tomorrow does include doing wood repairs on brand new upholstered pieces.  Why is this frequently coming up -- well in my simple vernacular, people are getting bigger and the new framing is weaker.........it breaks!

That is the picture as I see it.

Thanks again for the highly qualified participants (all of you) who come here and give their time, providing such enrichments.  

Doyle  

[byhammerandhand]

I would be wary of anything on youtube.   Any fool can post anything on youtube, and many do.

Part of the problem is the outright misleading labels on products with names that don't represent what they truly are and sometimes bad directions.  This  is where Flexner excels.   He does not sell products, nor does he accept endorsements from manufacturers.   He does not believe anything until he has done research and trials to his satisfaction.  He book is full of myth vs. fact sidebars.

As far as I know his book(s) are not available online, though many of his articles (some of which are excerpts from the book) at Popular Woodworking and WoodShop News magazine web sites. You might check your local library for a copy.  http://woodshopnews.com/columns-blogs/finishing
PopWood seems to have reorganized after acquiring another magazine and loosing most of their main in-house editors.   So the links are gone, but you can find them here http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/finishing

Another great book for structural repairs is http://www.amazon.com/Furniture-Repair-Restoration-Home-Improvement/dp/1580114784    I have the original version.   I have heard from the publisher that the "abridged" version has less information (which makes sense since that is what "abridged" means).  If you can find the pre-2010 version via ebay or amazon, I recommend you get it.

[SteveA]

Hammer - I disagree - you tube is a great source - it's changed the world -  Doyle a furniture restorer can pick through videos and asses their merit -
Hammer have you ever learned an upholstery technique on you tube ?   Here's a couple of sites that are good Doyle - Wood Whisperer and Stumpy Nubs - entertaining and done by experienced folks - and lets not forget about Mike whose right here ! 
SA

[sofadoc]

There are good instructional videos on Youtube, and there some bad ones.

Any knucklehead with a video camera and a YT account can present himself to the world as an authority. Much the same way that any jerk with a blog can be the answer to a question that nobody asked. Anyone with a keyboard is a journalist now.

Every now and then I'll peruse through the upholstery related videos. I've learned a little........I've laughed a little.

I once ordered a DVD on sewing machine repair. It cost $60, and was very amateurishly made. The camera shook like crazy. He was constantly out of focus. The audio was terrible. And he spent the first 15 minutes of a 1 hour video displaying and explaining all the different types of slot screwdrivers.

There are a lot of experts in the field with wonderful knowledge to share. Unfortunately, not all of them are good videos makers. And there are some good instructional video makers who have no command of the subject matter.

So basically you have to take many of the YT videos with a grain of salt.

[byhammerandhand]

there are some good videos on Youtube and there are some bad ones.  The problem is sorting out the difference,  You would only have to search youtube on how to recover a dining chair to see this.

I guess I made the assumption that a common problem for upholsterers is wood finish repair - scuffs, chips, damaged finish, dirty/degraded finish, wood gouges, missing pieces that need made to match.  The other half is what I call "structural repair" of broken parts, split and fractured wood,  loose joints.

[Darren Henry]

you have to take many of the YT videos with a grain of salt.

The same can be said about anything on the internet. That was one of Dad's big peeves. "I saw it on the internet so it has to be true", followed closely by being able to say what ever you like to or about someone as long as you suffix it with LOL. What ever happened to bibliographies ? Back in school if the source of my information was not creditable my paper was rejected and I got a "D" no matter how sound my argument or my logic. [assuming my spelling and grammar were correct]

The example I use is a photo of a bull moose suspended by his antlers from a high tension power line. The "news article" claimed that the bull had gotten wrapped  up in the new cables being installed before the hydro company pulled that 8 km (5 miles) of cable tight along the towers with a caterpillar tractor, and was hauled up with it. Social media went nuts with demand that the power company check the line before lifting it , the wildlife people should have relocated the moose et al  if they were going to work in that remote location,etc...

A> The moose would not be expected to be that close to construction in a remote area.
B>How did he get his antlers wrapped around a 1 1/2" thick strand of cable that was lying on the ground?

It was the better part of a month before word got out that it was a doctored photo.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

Darren

That would be a perfect Myth Busters caper. 

As far as the "I saw it on the Internet, so it must be true", that is Bob's & my favorite stupid saying.  Anytime we see something on the internet that is obviously untrue, we tell each other and then follow up with that mantra.

I really feel sorry for teachers today who expect students to research and write papers.  I remember going to the library and spending hours working on term papers when I was in college back in the coal ages (pre internet).  Yup, every quote had to be sourced and proper bibli at the end of the paper.  Now, you can go on-line and order the paper of your dreams.  Teachers spend inordinate amounts of time (good ones) insuring that the little darlins actually wrote their papers as opposed to buying them.

The internet is like anything else.  It is what you make of it.  I think the old caveat "Buyer beware" still holds true.  It is what you make of it and you have to take what you read or watch with a grain of salt.  So back to wood repair, you will find good videos and not-so-good videos and it is up to you to recognize the difference.  You can say the same of books.  I've found good reference material and bad.  Especially today, you don't even have to have a publishing company to write a book.  Thanks to the internet, you can "publish" it yourself.

Virginia

[sofadoc]

The claim of "I saw it on the internet, so it must be true" is merely the modern-day version.

As a kid, I remember my grandmother always backing up her wild stories with "I read it in the paper". Usually, that so-called "paper" that she was referencing was some rag like the Enquirer.

And Virginia makes a good point about books nowadays. Any yokel can have a book printed.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

As a kid, I remember my grandmother always backing up her wild stories with "I read it in the paper". Usually, that so-called "paper" that she was referencing was some rag like the Enquirer.

My SIL used to get SO upset with her mother (my MIL) because she would constantly lecture Jill about some darn thing or another back in the day and follow it up with, "Well they say".  When SIL asked her who the heck they were, MIL would reply, "You know, the people who write the newspapers and magazines."  Nowadays, SIL would have given her a good eye roll and walked off.  Don't remember what SIL's reaction was but I can assure you it was over the top and funny!

Virginia