Guides written at the bench, in the order the work actually happens. Each one is free to read here in full, and each has a printable edition with worksheets to keep beside the piece you are working on.
We restore what we sell. These are the methods we use in our own workshop, written plainly, including the parts where the right answer is to leave a piece alone. Three series run in parallel.
Series One
Refinishing & Surfaces
Reading a finish, deciding whether to keep it, and putting back a surface the maker would recognise. The first question is always whether the piece should be touched at all.
Published
No. 1 · Refinishing Antique Furniture
Nine chapters, the four solvent tests, the grit sequence, and a piece record worksheet. Read it
In preparation
- French Polishing
- Veneer: patching and laying
- Painted and Grained Surfaces
- Gilding and Gold Leaf
Series Two
Hardware & Fittings
Pulls, locks, hinges, catches and casters. Hardware is where most of a piece’s character survives, and where most of the damage gets done by people in a hurry.
In preparation
- Antique Hardware: cleaning brass and sourcing period replacements
- Magnetic Catches and Modern Door Fittings, fitted reversibly
- Cabinet Locks, Escutcheons and Missing Keys
- Hinges: types, mortising and replacement
- Casters, Glides and Feet
Meanwhile in the Journal: Dating Furniture by Its Hardware and Brass, Bronze and Copper.
Series Three
Upholstery & Seating
What is under the fabric, how it was meant to be built, and how far to go. The one job where the original materials are usually worth keeping and the covering almost never is.
In preparation
- Reupholstery Explained: webbing, springs and horsehair
- Drop-In Seats: recovering a dining chair
- Show-Wood Frames: protecting the finish
- Choosing Fabric for Antique Seating
- Re-tying an eight-way hand-tied seat
Caned and rush seats are covered already: Chair Caning Explained.
The printable editions
Have the guides sent to you
Every guide has a typeset edition made to be printed and kept in the workshop, with its tables, diagrams and a piece record worksheet. Enter your email and we will send the current one, and the next as each is published.
From The Eclection
Every piece in the collection is listed with its surface history stated plainly: original surface, old refinish, or refinished in our workshop. If you have a piece you are deciding about, we are glad to look at it. Request a Private Viewing, or see what is on the floor in Furniture and Chairs.