Care & feeding of antique furniture ?

[Jamie Coffman]

Love of my life has decided to make her hobby my new vocation. She buys & sells antiques & I'm supposed to fix'em. New cabinets I can do & houses I can build, but this is pretty thin air for me and the consequences of my normal learning process, (try, cuss, try again, cuss again) can be quite costly. I've noticed a lot of early 1900's oak pcs. bring better resale when refinished, when done well, but older 18th century pcs. are preferred as is. I have no idea what the C.W. is regarding when to refinish, clean or just leave it alone. Also since I don't know what the original finish is that I'm dealing with I have no idea what would be a safe method for cleaning. Lastly, I've talked to quite a few dealers that "dip" everything, glue together what falls off and refinish what's left but most of their handywork never seems to go back together too well. Any ideas & input would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile I'm becoming a tithing customer of Barnes & Noble.
:confused:

[jeremy levine]

http://antiquerestorers.com/Articles/FURNITURE_ARTICLES.htm

Not the best web site but a lot of pointers.

[John Huber]

As a collector, refinisher, restorer, repairer of mid-1800s furniture for the past 40 years, I can say that you have gotten off to a good start. Read, read, read, start small and cheap, then work your way up to the big and difficult projects. In my experience, every piece has a different challenge and a different solution.

First, learn how to tell the old finishes apart. Each needs a different approach. Then learn the different glues. Life gets especially hard if some knucklehead has botched the job earlier.

Good luck!

[Jamie Coffman]

Been try'n to concentrate on late 1800 - early 1900 oak. Lot's of solid wood, not too much delicate veneer or mouldings, fairly available & very sellable. Got a roll top that some knucklehead bionic glued... isn't that a felony? I.D. on the finishes still baffles me but I'm learnin'. Jeremy sent me a good info link that I much appreciate. Anyway I've got a lot of reading to do, a house to finish closing up, a shop to finish, some walnut Victorian mouldings to find & my child bride is hittin' the auctions again tonight. She must've noticed I was still breathing this morning and figured she better try harder to finish me off. Thanks for the input.

[Jamie Coffman]

Right you are. Not too techie but lots of good stuff. Thanks again!