Furniture Restoration

[harvey b davison]

Hi, just wondering if anyone does any type of furniture Restoration either as a business or hobby. Any tips, downfalls, etc about doing it. Just thinking of ideas to expand my joinery into. I have done bits but nothing too serious.

 

Cheers

H.

[se7enthdevil]

can't say that i'm a restorer but i do like to get my hands on old furniture and refurbish it. others may say i've ruined some old furniture but i like to think i give it new life.

 

what sort of furniture are you looking to do?

[harvey b davison]

I'm only thinking about basic stuff at this moment in time. Probably just repairing/replacing loose legs or backs and maybe recovering seat bases, then just progress the more experience I gain. It's just a service I'm thinking of offering. I already repair some furniture as I do it at work. I'm relocating at some point in the next 12 month and will probably be going sell employed, so the more I can offer the better. I just don't want to go back to being a site chippy. Would rather concentrate on stuff that interest me now.

[TIMON]

Restored furniture - Restored, upcycled, vintage furniture – Betel Restored Furniture

RESTOREDFURNITURE.CO.UK

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A wide range of restored, painted, shabby chic and classic furniture, restored by a national charity working with the homeless and addicted.

This is ours. (Not personally involved in it day to day, but have done a bit over the years)
Was never much cop at the carpentry side of it, but used to know my way around staining and lacquering. Hope it works out for you.

[topchippyles]

9 hours ago, harvey b davison said:

I'm only thinking about basic stuff at this moment in time. Probably just repairing/replacing loose legs or backs and maybe recovering seat bases, then just progress the more experience I gain. It's just a service I'm thinking of offering. I already repair some furniture as I do it at work. I'm relocating at some point in the next 12 month and will probably be going sell employed, so the more I can offer the better. I just don't want to go back to being a site chippy. Would rather concentrate on stuff that interest me now.

Its a specialist market and at the moment you are most likely on a decent income,Not sure you would get that by a new venture 

[gobbypunk]

Furniture restoration is tricky basic stuff is ok but when you start with older stuff colour matching is an art of its own ,french polishing is also an art it took yrs before my dad would let me do more then watch ,I haven’t seen anybody doing it properly on any of those resto programs ,that bloke on that Drew Pritchard program really annoys the fuck out of ,specialist more like a cowboy

[Paul in the woods]

I only buy cheap items and restore stuff for our own house, so a good clean, a few small repairs and a good wax is all I do.

 

All I can advise is make sure you have a realistic selling price in mind, it might be nice to spend time French polishing an item but is anyone willing to pay you for all that work?

 

 

[se7enthdevil]

On 22/03/2020 at 11:20, gobbypunk said:

that bloke on that Drew Pritchard program really annoys the fuck out of ,specialist more like a cowboy

good to know i'm not the only one who thinks like that...

Edited March 23, 2020 by se7enthdevil

[Forest2Furniture]

On 22/03/2020 at 11:20, gobbypunk said:

Furniture restoration is tricky basic stuff is ok but when you start with older stuff colour matching is an art of its own ,french polishing is also an art it took yrs before my dad would let me do more then watch ,I haven’t seen anybody doing it properly on any of those resto programs ,that bloke on that Drew Pritchard program really annoys the fuck out of ,specialist more like a cowboy

I served a four year apprenticeship in furniture restoration, ran a restoration and french polishing business for 30yrs and my advice for anyone thinking of taking it up as a new venture is DON'T BOTHER.

It's not for the amateur, fine repairing modern furniture but when you get to the high end antiques with old veneers and marquetry then you're into a whole new ball game and a world of pain and stress if/when it goes t*ts up.

Then there's the finishes,different finishes were used for various timbers and uses.

Use the incorrect finish on an antique and you'll ruin its value at the stroke of a brush.

Then there's french polishing which is a skill in itself to get it right.

I could go on but I think you get the idea.

 

A lot of my work involved dealing with pieces that others had had their fingers in, repairing someones c**kup before starting the repair is a costly business.

You may be very good at it but unless you are absolutely sure and confident that you can take on the challenges that restoration will throw at you I suggest you stick to what you know and are good at.

 

p.s. The guy on Salvage Hunters is a t**t, there's no way he can spend the amount of time he reckons he spends on a piece and charge what he does and don't get me started on his workmanship and way of doing things. My wife has banned me from watching the program!!

Edited March 28, 2020 by Forest2Furniture

[openspaceman]

I worked briefly alongside an old lag who was mustard with furniture restoration, a very quiet bloke but he did tell me how his boss would buy a select piece and then he would disassemble it and make new parts, when he reassembled them there were two antiques for sale. He did the time, his boss didn't.