Fighting Rust with Brass and Bronze
The summer is here in earnest, and with it came the rising humidity. Humidity and ferrous-based metals such as carbon steel and cast iron don’t get along that well, and the result of the [...]
Patching Woodworking Mistakes
A long-time carpenter shares a repair trick to hide the mistakes made by ham-handed apprentices. For more than 30 years I was a traveling carpenter foreman in charge of installation of [...]
Top 5 Chair Repair Mistakes to Avoid
In my furniture repair shop, I repair a lot of chairs. I’ve seen many DIY mistakes over the years that didn’t need to happen. Repairing a chair with loose joints is a relatively [...]
Regluing Doweled Chairs
Bob Flexner walks you through all the steps in repairing an antique factory-made chair that is glued with animal hide glue.
Repairing Veneer on Antique Furniture
Veneer is just thin wood – so don’t be afraid of it. I love repairing old furniture – the older the better. I find repairing more challenging and satisfying than making new because someone else, [...]
Dents and Gouges: How to Deal with Them
If you’ve done much woodworking, it’s very likely that you have experienced some dents and gouges. Both are flaws in the wood. But they are not the same thing, so they should be treated [...]
How To Patch Wood
Every so often I do something dumb. A few weeks ago I was drilling 1/4″ holes to peg the tenons for a table’s apron. I started with a brad point bit but switched to a Forstner after [...]
How to Repair Loose Screws on a Chair
With time, furniture joints (especially in chairs) tend to loosen up a bit. It’s part of working with a material that once was alive and continues to react with the environment. Wood [...]
