It’s been really rewarding being able to spend a few days with the Peach State SAPFM crowd. These guys are highly skilled and very passionate about period furniture and have been doing it longer than I’ve been alive. This fact is obviously humbling to me and so I am grateful to be invited to come down here. The whole time these kind gentlemen have received me as one of their own. I’ve heard several times this weekend that seeing a younger generation taking interest in our woodworking heritage is an encouragement to them. They’re excited to see that Mortise & Tenon Magazine and all my rambling about period tolerances and hand tools has struck a chord with folks outside of...
Late last night I arrived in Atlanta, Georgia to present to the Society of American Period Furniture Makers Peach State Chapter for four days. I was hired to come out to talk about and demonstrate furniture conservation theory and practice. Saturday and Sunday have been reserved for lecture while Monday and Tuesday will be lab time. Today’s presentations went well and mostly according to plan. I talked about the history of the conservation discipline, definitions of restoration and conservation and basic conservation principals. The principals were then worked out by showing how shellac can be manipulated and worked to facilitate long term finish survival. I demonstrated some of this on pieces in need of a little TLC that a few...
