Category Archives: Solutions to Needs

An effective piece of furniture addresses both primary and secondary needs.

Renewable Finishes

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Many of today’s commercially sprayed finishes are very durable, but that comes with a price.  Especially when built up into a thick film, those finishes are subject to chipping.  And if color was applied within the spraying sequence (toning and glazing) those chips will be not only low spots but also lighter color spots, making them more noticeable. 

Invisible repairs are almost impossible, according to a long-time commercial finisher/refinisher.  Stripping these modern sprayed finishes is difficult (i.e. expensive) because they are so hard.  So the most common “solution” is to throw the chipped furniture away and buy new.  But if the replacement has a similar finish . . .

Renewable finishes are an alternative. 

Whether brushed, padded or sprayed, shellac is a film finish that builds on the surface of the wood.  Shellac is widely considered one of the clearest finishes, so it allows to show through all the marvelous character and figure in wood.  Today’s dewaxed shellac is more resistant to water marks than the shellac of the 1800′s and 1900′s.  If the finish becomes worn in spots, in about a day, an experienced finisher can pad fresh shellac over the existing, and chips can be invisibly filled in with fresh shellac.

An oil-varnish blend is commonly equal parts varnish, boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits.  The oil component wonderfully warms wood and sometimes gives an almost three dimensional appearance to curl and other figure.  The first coat soaks into the wood, following coats add protection wthout building a noticeable film or shine. Three or four thin coats offer an unexpected level of resistance to water marks without eliminating the marvelous tactile sensation of wood surfaces.  Unlike shellac, scratches into the wood cannot be filled up with a fresh application, but the exposed lighter wood will blend into the rest of the surface with another wiped coat.  And like shellac, should the surface look a bit aged in areas of higher use another coat can be wiped on the piece to renew the finish.

Dewaxed shellac and oil-varnish can be applied with less waste,and  there is less likelihood of having to strip a finish (with accompanying hazardous waste).  These finishes should be treated with respect and common sense, but need not be feared.  And with a renwable finish, furniture perhaps is more likely to kept for decades, developing a wonderful patina with associated family memories.

New Desk for Bedroom Furniture Set

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There is seldom one single need that is calling for a piece of furniture, and this situation was a good example of that.

A father’s gradeschool aged daughter needed a desk for her bedroom.  There was already a fairly new matched  bed and dresser.  Unfortunately, the furniture manufacturer did not offer a desk.

The primary needs were to match the style and coloring of the existing bed and dresser, to have room on the desk top for a lamp, computer and notebook, and to have one drawer with hanging file capability.  Secondarily, the desk had to offer long term value, by seeing the daughter through high school.

The style was copied from the dresser, and construction was fairly straightforward.  “Matching” existing furniture is a lofty and sometimes expensive goal – tooling and patterns often are unique to particular furniture lines.  However, sufficient similarity often can be achieved at a reasonable cost, even if the two pieces are only a few feet apart.  In this example, the rounded edge of the desktop was made nearly identical to the dresser top, and the drawer base matched the base of the dresser.  The privacy panel and right end were made “in the style” of the dresser.  With some sample panels, a finishing schedule was developed that was very similar to that of the bed and dresser.

With the daughter in  college, the desk is now in use by the father in his home office, increasing the long-term value.

Drawer Slips

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Quadrant drawer slip

Antique furniture drawers always involved wooden drawer sides sliding on wooden runners.  On better furniture, drawers were custom fit to their openings with even, tight gaps.  But with use, the drawer runners and bottoms of the drawer sides would wear  Eventually the wear was so great that there would no longer be even gaps around the drawer front.

 
A solution developed in England and/or France was to glue a second strip of wood to the inside bottom edge of the drawer sides.  This creates a wider bearing surface that wears more slowly.  A second advantage of drawer slips is that the drawer sides could be made more narrow, adding elegance and a sense of lightness to the drawer.  A third advantage is that the inside of the drawer has much more visual interest.  Three types of slips were used, the quadrant pictured here, a cove, and a flush with delicate scratch bead along the drawer bottom.  Sample drawers with quadrant and flush slips are maintained at my workshop if you’d like to see them first-hand.
 
It’s a mystery why furniture makers emigrating from those countries to the United States did not incorporate drawer slips in furniture made here.  I like to include them for all of the stated advantages.
 
More information on drawer slips can be found at www.stephanwoodworking.com/DrawerSlips.htm