Furniture restoration questions

[Wood Collector]

Hi Guys, I was just wondering if it is better to glue antique furniture joints with hide glue or to use PVA. The other question that I have is it better to replace the ply wood sides with proper timber of is it better to just clean up the PLY. I will post up some pics of the cabinet with the shelves in it soon.
Cheers WC

[DaveTTC]

as for the glue Ithink there will be a number that will suggest stick with the animal glue. Iam just going off previous readings and not personal experience so more than happy to be corrected

DaveTTC

Turning Wood Into Art

[Wood Collector]

Below some pics that I took before cleaning the shellac. I am not sure which shellac to get if I should go with a orange or a brown colour?
The piece of cedar in the top is a light red brown colour and I was wondering how to get some new red cedar to not go a dark chocolaty brown colour. Iam considering changing the ply in the sides to red mahogany and possibly doing the top in red mahogany asthe small piece that I have matches fairly well(pen blank size) or should I gowith cedar for the top and leave the sides alone and just give them a clean?

I am considering getting a French Style Vintage ShabbyChic Table and removing the old paint from it to restore it back to it's former glory but I am concerned that if I do this then I could be destroying aperfectly good table. below is a link to see the listing for the item. Cheers WC
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Beautiful...b4595#shpCntId

[mike100jobstodo]

I would use hide glue to glue the antique furniture joint simply because they are the most recommended for furniture. This glue also enables you to apply heat for the glue to loosen – just in case you decide to repair or restore the furniture at a later time.

As for the plywood sides, I would replace them.

Hope this helps.

[Wood Collector]

Okay, I will used hide glue. The question is should I replace the sides with red mahogany and do the top in red cedar if I can find a bit that will be light enough when finished to match the outer mitred frame or just go with red mahogany for the top as well. I will post some pics of the red cedar to the outer frame and what I think is red mahogany a bit later. I am thinking that I might use orange shellac on the new top and sides. Hopefully this will match the rest of the unit.
Cheers WC

[DaveTTC]

I think the pics will help. Also of the unit uou wish to repair

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

[Xanthorrhoeas]

As others have said, hide glue is the best. New, hot hide glue melts in with the old glue and forms a strong bond. Newer adhesives do not connect well with the hide glue and make a mess of the joint - as well as being difficult to remove later if more work is needed. Even the liquid hide glue that you can buy is better than a modern adhesive though I do not have extensive experience with it.

The lighter colour red cedar, in my experience, comes from cedar trees that have grown quickly - such as those on farmland that was once vine forest. It seems to be easier to find than the dark red cedar so I would imagine that you should find some easily.

The colour of the shellac you choose is an aesthetic one that only you can make, as they work equally well to the best of my knowledge. That is unless you choose to use a hardened shellac such as UBeaut sell, which crosslinks as it sets to become water and heat resistant. My aesthetic is to use Brown Button shellac for antiques rather than orange flake but that is probably because I have seen so much antique furniture "ruined" by orange shellac - but as I said that is only my opinion and my aesthetic and I usually work with early 19th century furniture.

Without seeing and touching the furniture I do not have a strong opinion on the ply and timber choice questions. From the age of the piece the ply is most likely what one would expect to find so may have some more historical integrity than a replacement. For me, the choice would depend on the condition of the material - if it is damaged or delaminating I would replace it otherwise not.

I hope that this helps.
David

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Re: "I am considering getting a French Style Vintage ShabbyChic Table and removing the old paint from it to restore it back to it's former glory but I am concerned that if I do this then I could be destroying a perfectly good table. below is a link to see the listing for the item. Cheers WC
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Beautiful...b4595#shpCntId"

The table in question, as a coffee table height item (50 cm), is not an antique. They did not have coffee tables in the 19th century, they had much higher wine tables and sofa tables. It is therefore a reproduction table from some unknown date but probably somewhere in the range 1950's to 1980's (it is difficult to date repros). As such, I do not think that there is any "former glory" to restore it to. It also looks to be in ghastly condition to me. IMHO the asking price is over the top as in that condition I would think it was worth maybe $25, but I do not deal in second hand furniture so I may be completely out of touch there.

However, if you like it and need a coffee table that looks like that then that is a different question altogether. It looks as though it may have had a shellac or varnish finish at some stage and sometimes using a heat gun you can scrape off the paint over the top and then clean it up with a solvent for the finish (metho for shellac, thinners for many varnishes - but good ventilation essential for your health).

Good luck.

[Wood Collector]

Thanks Xanthorrhoeas I have decided not to get the French table.I have pulled the top off the cabinet and found that the shelves inside theunit have their own box around them. The reason that I was thinking ofreplacing the ply wood sides is that if they are tapped then it creates abooming sound as there is no support atthe top of the sides. One option that I had thought about was to reinforce thesides to stop it from moving but I am not too sure if this would help so thatis why I though replacing it with solid timber might be better. Cheers Pat (akaWC)

[Bluewren]

Hi Guys, I was just wondering if it is better to glue antique furniture joints with hide glue or to use PVA. The other question that I have is it better to replace the ply wood sides with proper timber of is it better to just clean up the PLY. I will post up some pics of the cabinet with the shelves in it soon.
Cheers WC

Nice blog post here on just this topic: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2015/0...iture-repairs/

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi Bluewren,

Thanks very much for that link. I think it provides a very good starting point for furniture repair.

At the risk of hijacking this thread somewhat I must say though that I have never used the "drill and inject" technique and believe that it breaks one of the basic rules - don't take away original material - but perhaps it could be useful in some circumstances. I have found that good hot hide glue (in a heated glue pot) applied liberally all around the joint, then working the joint as described, gets enough new glue into the joint to make it firm. Then hot water on a rag wipes away all the excess without damaging the finish - as long as you are quick and leave the finish dry and clean asap. In fact, even if you miss a bit of the hot hide glue on the surface it dries out, cracks and peels away from an old waxed shellac finish and you can pick it off later. My glue pot is an antique cast iron pot with separate heavy cast iron inner, but I know that people use the electric warmer/melters intended for hair removing wax too.

David

Edit for typo