Rather than just adding this to Barry’s thread below, I thought I would share a tip.
Whenever Wood gets broken across the grain, sometimes when your lucky you can carefully fit the ends back together where the fibers fit just like they were before they broke. However that isn’t very often. Usually there are some fibers that came loose from both ends, or some that try to bend into the wrong space.
Once I’ve tried fitting things together a couple of times, the problem spots are easy to spot, so rather than trying to make them fit, I just carefully remove the bad ones, either with tweezers or a fine sharp blade.
It’s much better to loose a few strands of fiber, than to have them prevent all the others from making good contact. I can’t tell you how many bad repair jobs I’ve seen where there was lots of glue in I’ll fitting breaks.
Great tip, Keith. Also a craftsman experienced in restoration work knows the additional "tools" available to make a repair like this one almost invisible. There are times it's necessary to remove wood fibers for a break to go back together properly or either enough is already missing that the point where the pieces join cause voids. At this point any repair is highly visible.
Once the pieces are glued together, depending on the voids, there are a couple of methods to remedy these. Sometimes a wood filler could work. More often, however, an epoxy putty is used. Once sanded to shape, the joint is still very visible. This is where another "tool" comes into play.
There are toners available in spray cans in an array of colors that are usually lacquer based. Careful color selection and application will cause the area to blend in well enough to where after final finishing the repair is not noticeable to most folks.
My point is there are any number of ways to repair and restore wood parts on furniture. An experienced restorer utilizes those that will best fix the problem while also making it look like he was never there. I think this is why I always enjoyed restoring furniture so much more than building it.
>>>Once I’ve tried fitting things together a couple of times, the problem spots are easy to spot, so rather than trying to make them fit, I just carefully remove the bad ones, either with tweezers or a fine sharp blade.
I do exactly the same thing. I buy surgical scalpels from Amazon in #10 and #11 blades for this and other shop tasks, around the lathe and elsewhere. Scalpels are very inexpensive.
Good advice Keith, I have done that a number of times.
David, I bought a Mohawk kit when I was in college to earn some money. I could go on and on about that adventure but one of the main things I discovered was a lot of calls came in from widows who wanted something that belonged to the late Mister repaired but what they really wanted was for anybody to spend a couple of hours there as company. I still have the kit.
Interesting, my least favorite part of woodworking is repairing furniture. I still do some of it, but would rather not.
If you like restoration, check out Thomas Johnson on YouTube. Pretty good video work and good information on repairs.
Plus, if you have a suddenly have an attack of appendicitis while in the shop and have a mirror, some string and superglue handy you can take care of it on the spot and get right back to work!
A guy I partnered with doing remodeling kept a suturing kit in his truck for emergency stitches. I have removed stitches and even pulled a couple pins that were helping a hand bone heal,I can't imagine sewing myself up.
One reviewer on Amazon said she used them for a self face lift. I don't know if it was a joke. MANY people report using them for removing callouses and such.
I use them often in the shop and occasionally in the house. However, the #11 is good for making an incision to remove a deeply embedded splinter that refuses to work it's way to the surface.
I have about a dozen handles, in different sizes, and often use #10, 11, & 15 blades in the smaller handles, and the #10, 21, and 25 in the larger ones.
I do use them for callous trimming, splinter removal, etc., but mostly they get used for detail carving and stuff like that.
