Restoration Gallery

Eclectic Restorations

Page 3

"Eclectic Restoration "

Restoration leads down many paths, and it's not always furniture! An eclectic array of restoration projects have found their way into our shop, offering us a challenge and a variety of new examples for our website. If you have something collectable or antique in need of care, please contact us! We're happy to provide direction even when our services are not appropriate.

Antique Radio Restoration

GE Radio Restoration Complete

Antique radios are a definite novelty, they are a common household item to this day, only they've gone from a central living room focus to a basement or the attic. Most of them are beat up inside and out, the cabinets show signs of age, the knobs are missing, the upholstery shot, the speakers cracked, and the chassis electronics showing every possible signs of aging. The photos below illustrate the condition of this GE Rig when it arrived in our shop after spending several decades in a basement.

What's amazing is, that these units can be fully restored - meaning they can play again in many cases. Artisans has teamed up with Nick Senker to repair and restore the electronic components while we handle the cabinets. The top two photos show the completed component restoration - below the three illustrate a great example of the condition of components before restoration.

Another completed Antique radio restoration - this rig likewise received a full chassis and cabinet restoration.

The rig above is show before and during restoration.

Below is a series of in progress shots and "before" photos - unfortunately our diligence fell off and these got delivered before we got to many finished photos. The do the serve the purpose of showing how many pieces arrive in our shop, and what the rigs look like without a finish or their electronics.

Toolbox / Humidor Conversion

So what do you do with an old toolbox, or small antique or collectable box? In this case, we decided to turn a golden oak box from a toolbox into a humidor. It's really a simple process, restore the box, line it with cedar, and install a humidity gauge and a moisture block.

We also decided to frame the lid, instead of replacing all the veneer on the top since the edges were lose badly damaged. We had the plaque engraved with a date and the client's initials, restored the lock, added some simple feet, and adjusted the lid to work with the new interlocking cedar lining to create a good moisture seal.

A unique gift and a great way to put a collectable piece to a good functional new use. Consider options for jewelry boxes, toy chests, customize for storing smell items or sets such as chess sets or gaming pieces. Boxes can be used for coins, stamps, or other collectable's.

Antique Wicker Baby Carriage

This antique collectable wicker baby carriage is getting some much needed attention including a paint job, new upholstery, and some moister added into the dry wicker. Small sentimental pieces like this make great gift restorations.

Marble Repairs

This is not our specialty - but we do have a few tricks when it comes to marble or stone. We can usually utilize high strength epoxy adhesive and various colored epoxy fillers to repair marble and stone that has been chipped, cracked, or scratched. We can also polish and dress stone surfaces.

Antique Spinning Wheel

The sewing wheel as was common as the kitchen table in every home, well pretty much around the world, right up into the 1900's. This functional staple wasn't a luxury, it was an absolute necessity to fulfill the needs of making clothing, blankets, linens, hats, etc. Today many of the remaining antique sewing wheels exist only in museums, occasionally in basements and attics.

The family that possessed this wheel through several generations decided it was time to bring a piece of their family history back into their living space. It's unfortunate that this piece was so far gone that regaining its functional state would require pretty much replacing everything, so our client elected to complete a preservation and display restoration. The wheel and supporting structures are now rebuilt, and the components set in a permanent place to avoid further losses, and safely stay the wheel for display around young children.

Busted Lincoln!

Artisans has a diverse skillet that traverses beyond just wood, we've restored a variety of pieces ranging in materials including stone, plaster, paper-m�ch�, leather, various plastics, ivory, bone, and working occasionally in metal.

This Lincoln bust is one of Stanley Saperstein's volunteer projects, a donation in time and materials by Artisans to Camp Olden Civil War Round Table & Museum. Stanley has served many posts for Camp olden, and has generally settled in responsible for preservation of their collection.

Plaster restoration in itself is not amazingly sophisticated, generally it consists of mixing new plaster and fixing it into place against the existing material. The skill comes into play when sculpting the new material, not only recreating the original form but blending to create a seamless appearance. Then just match the color and finish and your all set!