Restoring a French Antique Maple & Rosewood Chest of Drawers C1830/40 (Part Two)
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- čas přidán 31. 07. 2023
- In this 2nd video presentation Simon walks us through some of Gilboys methods of restoring an antique French Commode Chest, dating from the Louis Philippe period of France's history.
If you missed Part 1 you can find it here: • Restoring a French Ant...
In this, the second episode of this antique restoration, Simon continues to demonstrate how he uses French polishing techniques as well as antique restoration skills to restore the French commode.
Simon was trained by www.dartington.org/ as an apprentice French Polisher, at the Dartington owned Staverton Joinery.
With business mentoring from 'The Prince's Trust' Simon opened his antique restoration business in 1994. Gilboys now operates from a beautiful purpose built building nestled beside the River Dart and alongside www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/
Many of the materials he uses in this restoration can be purchased direct from Gilboys website.
Gilboys.co.uk
Materials Used:
Hard Wax Oil - bit.ly/3Yfod88
Buffing Cloth - bit.ly/3DJMjyl
Repair Cubes - bit.ly/457XxZb
Oxalic Acid - bit.ly/454dG1K
Beeswax Polish - bit.ly/3OFRjKZ
Drill Brush for buffing Wax Polish - bit.ly/43L94wE
Video Index:
00:14 Introduction
01:36 Laying out the wood stripping materials
01:17 Knocking off the rosewood drawer mouldings
01:42 Applying the wood stripper to the drawer face
03:41 Stripping the finish from the side of the chest
04:40 Using a quirking stick to remove the waste from the moulding
05:00 Why you need to strip the finish three times
06:35 Chemical stripper versus a water based Stripper
07:01 Using steel wool and water based stripper
07:32 Water based stripper and veneer
08:26 Advice on using Oxalic Acid on wood
11:18 Applying Oxalic Acid
14:23 Repair the mouldings
14:38 Band-sawing the mitres
15:40 Offering up the new epoxy resin moulding
15:46 Lightly sanding the surface with 320 grit sandpaper
16:17 Removing the drawer locks
18:39 Simon explains why he's applying a weak fad of shellac to the surface to seal the wood
18:48 Shellac or French Polish what's the difference?
20:15 Applying the polish
22:51 A change of plan.. Using hard wax oil on antiques.
24:05 Applying hard wax oil to the chest
26:46 Sanding with 320 grit sandpaper the next day
27:13 Using '0000' steel wool on the mouldings
27:48 Small repairs using beeswax repair cubes
30:38 Using beeswax to repair missing veneer
31:48 Re-gluing the rosewood mouldings
32:03 Using a syringe with pearl glue
32:17 Gluing the epoxy mouldings
32:39 Using colour pigments to grain the new epoxy mouldings
33:28 Using a No.2 Polishers Mop
34:19 Graining the epoxy
35:35 Using beeswax polish to create an antique finish
37:00 Advice on using beeswax polish
38:47 Using a drill brush to buff the wax
39:54 Revealing the wax polished finish
40:10 Gluing in the rosewood knobs
40:33 Re-fitting the feet
40:49 Using a colour rubber to revive the knobs
41:50 Sourcing a key for the locks
43:12 The lock dates the chest
44:07 Looking for a nail or two
44:13 Plugging the old nail holes with a cocktail stick
45:29 Revealing the finished chest
47:29 Before and after
49:17 The secret revealed - Jak na to + styl
A truly beautiful restoration! I wouldn’t have thought it possible!
It's absolutely brilliant, a great product, and so well explained thankyou
Absolutly beautiful. Thanks from the US.
Exceptional video. Only recently discovered this channel. Thank you.
Great result and I learned a lot again. Thank you very much....
Thank you.
You are welcome.
Just fantastic, life long skills.
Thanks Julie 😌
Just a beautiful finish. So smooth, you are a master what a wonderful craft!
Thank you. 🙂
Love that orange look.......
Me or the chest? 😆
Yes, I did spot the seret drawer. In fact, I would have been surprised had it not been there.
One of the best restorations I have ever seen! Top professional level! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you. You're very kind.
I had the pleasure of not only meeting Simon and his colleague this morning but was also lucky enough to see this commode in the flesh, and I have to say I love it even more now I've seen how much work went into its restoration. The owners are so lucky to own such a beautiful piece. Also thank you to Simon for your advice this morning, I'm now a dedicated follower!
Brilliant
Just gorgeous! You were given this commode just in time by the looks, and it has been faithfully, and artfully, restored to glory. I absolutely love your channel! The quality of film-making and expertise is top shelf; plus you're funny! This channel is sorely underrated on CZcams - it shouldn't be a hidden gem! Thank you for your videos🥰
Thank you. You're very kind.
Top notch pro, brilliant video.
Loved it and the secret draw was brilliant
Thank you.
Such Lovely Work. And Have To Say I Love All Your Products
What a beautiful job! Well done.
Thanks Dianne
Superb work. Hard wax oil looks like a winner.
I think it is a very versatile finish. I'm not saying it should replace French Polish, but in this situation it was a perfect finish.
Kind regards
Simon
Absolutely gorgeous. I seem to be using hard wax oil more often than not lately, followed by my home made bees wax, which I consider to be the best in the world LOL 🤪😉. Thanks Simon
I agree. Hard wax oil is such a great product. ✅ And the beeswax...😉
Hi, Simon, is this the first time you have applied hard wax oil over a fresh French polish sealer coat? I had not considered this before, I always assumed it was best on bare wood; and the result looks stunning. I am definitely going to try it on my next chest. Congratulations on such an excellent restoration.
Hi Robert.
Thanks for watching and your kind comments. I don't think there's much of an advantage by sealing first with French polish/shellac. But yes, you can use the HWO over the top of a sealer coat as I did here.
The reason I did it, was to see the overall colour of the chest before I went any further with finishing. Most finishes will go over the top of a sealer coat of polish. 😉 If you do follow this method make sure you apply the sealer coat evenly to the surface. This will ensure a more uniform finish when you apply the HWO. 🙂
Kind regards
Simon
Hi Simon
Many Tanks for your videos, I love watching them and all the little nuggets of info you give us.
With using the epoxy resin for the new moulding, which looked great, will there be any difference in the future between the wood moulding and epoxy due to wood movement? or is the rosewood aged and dry enough not to move.
Fabulous. Thank you for your videos, I learn so much from wtaching them. The piece looks gorgeous. Just one question, could you tell me what you used as the compound for making the epoxy resin moulds? Thank you.
Hi, you took the mouldings off the ends of the draws but you did not take them off the top and bottom of the draws, why not?
Hi John
Good point.
I did this to ease the French polishing process:
I would have had to use a French polisher's 'Rubber' to achieve the desired finish, and that would mean using the rubber in a figure -of-eight action, which would be hindered by bumping into the mouldings. The upper and lower mouldings wouldn't be too much of a problem, but the end mouldings would be, as the rubber would be continually bumping into them. The end result would be a 'shy' area of polish in the corners where the moulding meets the drawer face. In short it would look messy and unprofessional.
I suspect when the chest was built that the main body (birds eye maple) was finished first then the mouldings would have been applied, which also would have been finished prior to cutting to size and applying to the chest.
I hope this helps. 🙂
Thanks for watching
Simon
Love your videos - what grade of steel wool do you consider course? 00? Thanks!
Thank you. It's a bit confusing but we tend to use 'Grade 3' for stripping purposes. 'Grade 4' can sometimes be too course.
Kind regards
Simon
Step it up, lots of competition in the space. I’ve bought refinishing boxes without peas. Time to change the game.
I have no idea what your are talking about?
I know I’m late with this question but I thought you have to neutralise with soda crystals after using oxalic acid, but perhaps it’s a different process if you are French polishing?
Hi Eileen.
It's not a strict rule. You can wash it with water or meths or both. ✅
@@GilboysRestoration Thank you so much for your speedy reply. Love your videos btw. I’m new to your channel and have been binge watching your videos for the last couple of days. I’ve just inherited a
Beautility dining room table and chairs, that got ruined by my disabled brother and I thought I might try to restore them myself. I’ll just strip, oil, wax and buff up, using your products, off course! I want to tone it down from its very dark, high gloss finish, but was wondering what sort of wood veneer might have been used~it was manufactured in 1959. There are some bits of bare wood on the table that have darkened due to water damage and that’s why I asked the question about Oxalic acid.
Hi Simon, where do you buy your powder colour pigments and spirit colours from?
I’ve been looking online and can’t seem to find anything anywhere!
I have powder colours from several years ago from working for French polishing companies in London but don’t know where they ordered their colours from and now I’m running a bit low on pigments and spirit colours. Would be so grateful if you could share your source 😎🙏🏽 thanks in advance. Christina
Hi Christina
I haven't bought any for years and years. But I used to get them from Fiddes 😉
@@GilboysRestoration that’s great!! Thank you so much and for replying so quickly!! 🙏🏽✨
Before I wax a piece of furniture that has been lemon oiled in the past should I wipe it with mineral spirits? It’s rock oak maple. Very heavy
I wouldn't worry about wiping it down unless the surface is sticky with wax prior to applying.
@@GilboysRestoration
Okay thanks
Could the beeswax be used to cover up large areas of repair or on top of wood filler?
Not really. Repairs really need to be disguised by graining / colouring. 🙂
@@GilboysRestoration Ah ok. Are there particular types of paints that are best for graining/colouring?