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Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge

A55 Smoothing Plane

Still working on the clock

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Still working on the clock

#1

Still working on the clock

john lucas

there were several beads that were torn off. The first was a corner bead. Glued on a scrap and then carved and stained it to match. The second was a 6" section that was missing off the side. My friend had a piece of that moulding so all I had to do was stain to match. the next were 2 tiny beads missing in the middle of a section. You can probably see which ones they are up this close but when stand back a foot they are undetectable. I have turned and replaced the missing turnings. they need time to dry and then tone the finish down to match the original. I'll get that done and photographed tomorrow. Also finished repairing the feet that were damaged by being hit by vacuum cleaner I'm guessing.








Re: Still working on the clock

#2

You're doing a great job John, but......

JamieDonaldson

....if this were my clock I would wipe and brush on a coat of an oil finish like Minwax Wiping Poly to "renew" rather than "refinish" the existing finish. This piece is so dirty and abused I doubt the new oil would diminish the value as an antique, and would preserve the case and details for future appearance. I have some experience working with such antiques, and have done similar repairs for several dealers over the years.

Re: Still working on the clock

#3

Re: You're doing a great job John, but......

John C Lucas

Actually most of the piece is in good condition. The base is dirty, the feet were dinged, it has small scratch type dings on corners and had a broken turning and a missing turning. The upper door has loose joints and a worn spot where the hinge was loose. The glue on the bottom section had disintegrated so I pulled it off and will re glue. Ideally when I'm done you won't know I've touched it. I'm not actually repairing many of the normal wear scratches just staining them so they are only slightly visible.

Re: Still working on the clock

#4

Re: You're doing a great job John, but......

John K Jordan

Depending on the finish, we sometimes repair scratches on a piano with colored Sharpies.

JKJ

Re: Still working on the clock

#5

I'm using Trans Tint dyes and a

john lucas

really tiny brush and lots of magnification over my glasses. It's easier to match the color with the trans tint dyes. They want to puddle up and bleed over the edge of the scratch. I've found that using a really tiny brush helps control that and if it does bleed I just wipe it off with my finger and try again. Some scratches might be filled with the correct lacquer stick which I have a collection but just haven't pulled them out yet.

AS I said above my goal is to leave some scratches but color them so you don't readily see them when you walk up. Only when you take a closer look. I want the clock to look like it's been used for 115 years, but maybe used carefully.

Re: Still working on the clock

#6

Re: Still working on the clock

Rum

Your color matching is spot on and the beads look fantastic. The first pic you shared on this project it took me a minute to figure out it was a repair job.

Color matching is a skill I mostly lack but luckily loml is good with colors, when I needed to replace some molding around the fireplace she got it really close on the first try.

Re: Still working on the clock

#7

Wow, great work!

Tony-Memphis

Thanks for sharing. Very nice work and very interesting. I carved a replacement piece of ornament for my brother a couple of years ago. It was a long distance project - only had pics to work from. Turned out ok.

My dad has a real talent at repairing and reviving antiques. One of his old tricks was to replace the wood pieces before he refinished (yes, he refinsihed a lot), then strip the piece with the new stuff attached. The slime from the stripping operation often stained the new stuff enough to look like the old stuff. For a self taught weekend warrior, he did some impressive work.

Tony

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