Furniture will, get Damaged!

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1061, 27 August 1930, Page 6

Furniture will, get Damaged!

YOU It furniture is subject to all sorts ot* accidents. Some of these are very easily concealed; others are likely to challenge your knowledge

and skill a good deal more than scuffs and surface blemishes, says a writer in the “Popular Science Monthly.” When a piece of furniture receives a square blow from some hard object, the extent of the dent or bruise gov erns the method of repair. If the brui.se is shallow, drop a little water into the depression, using the tip of a finger. Then lay a damp blotter or piece of felt over it. Place a marble, or the round end of a thimble on the blotter, directly over the dent, and press it into the cavity with a moderately hot flat-iron. Keep the iron in position so as to cause steam to penetrate into the wood fibre below. The cells will slowly swell and the contusion grow less- and less.

When the bottom of the defect comes up to the main surface, the only thing that remains to be done is to rub the spot. Sprinkle a few drops of sewing machine oil or olive oil on the damaged surface, add a small pinch of FP pumice powder, then rub the fine oil-mixed grit until the abraded varnish has been freshened up and appears uniform with the remainder of the surface.

Should any white show around or in the bruise, mix a little stain (aniline colours soluble in water, or household dyes for wool), with liquid shellac to match the finish. A thin application of this will dry in 15 or 20 minutes, whereupon another coat should be added, to give body to the surface. Rub the new film lightly with a felt-covered until the glare of the shellac has been softened to match the original finish. 4 Some bruises are far too deep to be effac€‘d by swelling the wood fibre. These, like nicks or spots where wood has been knocked out require filling in order to make them look well. For surface bruises and nicks not greater than Mil across, use either stick shellac or sealing-wax of the proper colour, applied with a hot screwdriver (either an old one or a cheap one worthless for regular work). To fill larger defects it is advisable to insert a patch of wood, often called a “dutcliman.” Shellac and wax are too brittle in large areas to prove durable. As a substitute for a patch, you can use a commercial plastic wood preparation, glue and wood dust, or a gesso mixture. Especially with corner or edge defects avoid the use of shellac or wax, for it is likely to chip out when struck.

Where the cavity is shallow but large in extent, and stick shellac or wax seems the best filler to use, deepen the hole with a knife or chisel, undercutting the edges a trifle (Fig. 2) so as to afford the filling a sort of anchorage. Even when applying gesso or glue and wood dust, the deepening and undercutting of shallow depressions is to be recommended.

As* a rule, a better job of repairing will be done in the case of large holes and certainly on all really fine work, if a wooden patch is inserted. The new wood should be as nearly like the original wood as possible. You must be careful to cut it out in a form to have its grain run in the same direction as the grain of the main stock, as in Fig. 3; and it is best, of course, to make the patch diamondshaped rather than rectangular to

But it may be fixed . . . The Best Ways of Mending Broken Chairs, Tables, and even Pianos . . . Polish Your Furniture

avoid a hard straight line across the grain at each end. It is usually wise to make the dutchman before straightening up the cavity it is to enter. Use a plane to get the ends and edges of the patch perfectly level. Hold the plane inverted between your knees while you grasp the block in your hand and draw it across the fine-set cutter. Level the faces of thin pieces with a handscraper, or sandpaper wrapped round a block.

Lay the patch over the blemish, with a suitable projection at the edge or end if a border job is being done, and trace around it with the small or “iien” blade of vour knife. This will leave a whitish outline on the varnished surface. Then, with the knife ol* a chisel, deepen the outline and hollow the interior wood to the ; correct depth. Make the bottom of I the recess as level as possible. Try the patch in the opening. If it is too loqse, you can either make a j new patch, or glue it in as it is, and i later fill the interstices with stick j shellac or sealing wax. If, on the ■ other hand, the patch is too tight, pare it away carefully to fit. Use either hot or cold glue, and I coat all surfaces that will unite. Press ! the patch into place with the head of j a hammer, and rub the head back and ! forth, but do no striking. Dampen a cloth in warm water, and quickly I wipe off all surplus glue. Over the ! patch place a blotter or a pad made j by folding paper or cloth, and exert | some sort of pressure to keep it in j place until the glue dries. On hori- I zontal surfaces you can use a flat iron j or other weight; in some places, j clamps can be applied, or thin strips of wood sprung, bowlike, between a ; block covering the pad and an overhanging portion of*tlie cabinet. On perpendicular surfaces which c annot j he shifted to the horizontal, you may have to use twine or tape.

SOME “TICKLISH” JOBS If you cannot get the same species of wood for making the patch, select a wood of similar texture. Then, after the patch has been laid and dressed, you can conceal it by the process called graining. Stain powders and turkey burnt umber are mixed with liquid shellac to match ilie tone of the main surface; then streaks of other shades are worked in with a fine brush to look like the grain markings in the surrounding wood. In this manner you can make a pine patch resemble oak, walnut, or mahogany.

A coat or two of shellac or thin varnish, lightly rubbed down with felt and oil, will restore the original finish and, if skillfully done, make a repair to defy detection except on the closest scrutiny.

If the damaged surface is veneered, either get a piece of similar veneer (your local wood or furniture dealer perhaps can supply it) or saw out a thin piece from thick wood of the same kind. Have the edges as straight as you can, as this insures ease in making tight joints. Make the patch, if it is to be let into the surface like an inlay, a trifle thicker than the depth of the recess after the latter is dressed flat in the bottom. If the blemish occurs at the edge or end, the patch must project a little above and a little beyond to allow it to be dressed level after the glue has dried. Sometimes, too, you may have to patch veneer on a rounded surface. Make the patch, trace it, and deepen the outline with chisel or knife until the old veneer is cut through. Insert the knife blade flatly at a spot where some of the veneer is gone and pry off all you can. Loosen any veneer that sticks with a little hot water. Scrape tli6 bottom of the cavity clean and flat and fit your patch. Fill a salt sack or even a sock with sand and, after gluing in the patch and covering it with a piece of paper, apply the sack, which will conform to the shape of the surface.

Face veneer sometimes becomes loose. Run a thin knife under the loose ply, freeing all the rough par-

tides of dried glue that you can. Dip the knife in glue and push it under the raised veneer. Press the veneer down by rubbing it with a hammer head. Use a wet cloth to wipe off all surplus glue. Lay on a strip of newspaper and apply a pad of cloth and a pressure block, holding all with a clamp. Sometimes face veneer will loosen and form blisters. In the beginning these are usually of such small extent that the householder does not suspect their presence; but damp weather causes the thin veneer to swell and stretch. When you see a suspicious looking spot, press upon it with thumb or forefinger. If it depresses at all—springs up and down—the veneer is loose and needs immediate attention.

Using the small blade of your jackknife, cut cleanly through the middle of the blister, following the grain, as in Fig. S. Dip the blade or a piece of tin in glue and force it under the blister, on both sides of the slit, as in Fig, 9. Then rub the surface with a hammer head and follow the procedure suggested above.

When the job is dry, peel off the paper, dampen any spots of it that stick, and rub these places with the tip of the Anger until ihe paper rolls off. A little light rubbing with a felt, wet with oil and pumice powder, will restore the finish. The checking of furniture tops, drawer fronts, doors and panels is caused usually by atmospheric changes of a contrasting nature, although sometimes it comes from improperly kiln-dried lumber. If the check is short and close, try drawing it together with a clamp. If this works, put glue on a piece of tin or thick paper, and wipe the liquid into the check. Clamp it up again, wipe off the surplus glue, and, when dry, lightly rub the blemish with a felt pad wet with oil add pumice powder. If the check is quite narrow, but resists coming together under pressure, burn stick shellac into the cavitj-, and then rub down the surface. Should the check be l-16in or more in width make a thin wedge-shaped piece of wood or shive to fit it, and force it in with glue, pressing it down with the head of a hammer. Allow it to stick up a little, so that you can shave off the projection when the piece is dry. Finish by staining the shive to match its surroundings and apply two coats of thin shellac or pale, quick-dry-ing varnish, thinned 50 per cent, with turpentine. Rub the last coat.

In order to get the most telling effect out of your patching endeavours, I recommend your giving the entire cabinet finish a freshening up—a sort of rejuvenating bath. Furniture soon gets rather dull and lustreless, and a brightening of the polish now and then will make it seem like new.

One of the simplest and best cleansers is castile soap and water. Stir shavings of the soap in a basin of soft water until you have good suds. Dip a hand in the soapy water and with the palm rub the varnished surfaces circularly. After 15 minutes remove the preparation with a coft cloth, rubbing briskly. This leaves a good polish. Liquid furniture wax. if it is of firstclass quality, is auother excellent rejuvenator. Apply a thin, uniform film, let it stand about half an hour, and polish with a soft cloth.