by Sam Simpson
Without getting too long winded, let me offer a few tips that we have learned along the way.
Glue Use hot hide glue in the joinery. Good quality pearl hide glue has much better gap filling properties than most people realize. If you are really concerned about the fit, correct it with veneer strips or add sawdust to the glue mix. On broken elements the use of a top quality epoxy is acceptable, but never let it come into contact with the joinery.
Finish Use a cleaner on the finish before making decisions about removal. One developed by the British Museum is as follows:
- 8 fl.oz Pure turpentine
- 4 fl.oz. Denatured Alcohol
- 2 fl.oz. White vinegar
- 1 fl.oz. Murphy’s oil soap
- 1 fl.oz. Brasso
- 1 teaspoon Household ammonia
This mixture will give an emulsion which can be used with a cloth or 4/0 steel wool to clean the surface of years of build up without damaging the original finish. Often a few skills with finish repairs will negate the need to strip.
Joints We will quite often find old country style chairs were made with green wood. (not yet dry) This was to take advantage of the shrinkage properties of the wood. Joints were cut as “Ball and Socket” joints, which were forced together, as the wood shrank it provided a very tight and long lasting joint. This type of joint should never be disassembled. Instead it is acceptable to inject hide glue into the joint. Or better still, try to live with the looseness that eventually develops over the years.
(Editor’s note: See also the separate Tip on “Chair Leg Repair”.)
I wear two hats in the antiques field, one as a restorer, and the other as a conservator. Melding the approaches of each can sometimes get confusing. And so we end up with answers like “don’t disassemble the joint, but use hide glue.”
Disassembly of ball and socket joints can be destructive of the joint, and therefore I suggest that, unless it has already come adrift, don’t take it apart any further. What type of glue to use considers not only the qualities of the glue to do its work and be reversible, but also the invasion of the surrounding wood fibres. Not enough is known about the long term effects of many of the newer glues and materials, and their compatibility with other things we might yet invent to do the job in the future. So, there you have a conservators’ “play it safe” answer.
I have learned that there are almost always three ways of accomplishing any task, and just as many answers to a question. I often find it hard to write an answer that I know will be thought of as the only way, and be taken too literally.
Now to the bit about how antique an antique really is. For all of those who think that a fifty year old hand-me-down chair is not to be considered in the same way as a 250 year old Chippendale, consider that at one time the Chippendale was a fifty year old hand-me-down