This is not a website with staged before and after photos of fine furniture and antique restoration projects. These are photos of work in process and the steps toward completion. Frequently projects take creative ingenuity to repair and reassemble. I enjoy rebuilding furniture and restoring antiques. It’s one of the things I really do the best. Most of what is brought to my shop is well-made and nice older pieces with treasured family history. Several of these antiques have been neglected, poorly maintained, and over time often previously repaired, although unprofessionally. Their owners want to give them a new life to honor their heritage so that the furniture can be used and enjoyed by themselves and the next generation to whom they will pass them onto.
I take on small furniture repair, refinishing, and antique restoration projects. Oftentimes the items are worn and badly depreciated pieces that require special attention to restore the antique patina and charm. I’m a professional artist and have a love of beautiful woods.
Carousel Horse Restoration
This carousel horse was outside in the weather under a covered porch for twenty years and rescued by my customer. The horse was brought to my shop for a total restoration. The tail had been broken off and reattached with a long screw. Both ears were missing and the wood body had several season splits all over and a few areas with rotting wood. The original finish was not salvageable.
I researched the internet for information as to accurately reattach the tail in the correct position and determine the shape and height of the new horns I would be carving. Every crack in the wood was filled with a resin and then the body was sanded smooth. For this artist, the fun began when I matched the original colors and repainted the horse. The final color application was a glaze which gave the body a patina appearance.
Walnut Chest
A very common problem with vintage dressers and chests is the wood drawer slides on the interior of the cabinets are worn from friction and the drawers slide in and out poorly.
On this project, I replaced all the slides.
Dr. Seuss Semi-Normal Green-Lidded Fawn
Many people do not know that Dr. Seuss was an accomplished sculptor and his pieces are very rare and valuable works of art.
This antlered deer head came into my shop with a broken antler tine. Using a diamond drill bit, I was able to drill pin holes on the ends of each broken part and glue them back together. The repair area was sanded smooth and then touched up to perfection.
Frequently, I’m asked to repair animal sculptures with broken parts. Fun projects!
Antique Dining Table
Veneered French Claro Walnut dining tables are not meant to be plant stands. Prolonged saturation of moisture nearly destroyed this beautiful top.
In an area nearly the size of two dinner plates, in multiple steps, I re-glued the loose veneer. Many veneer fragments were chipped off and missing. An area about six square inches was gone.
These badly damaged areas were filled with a resin, sanded smooth and then I began the process of hand painting the wood grain back on.
These are challenging projects to take on and very gratifying to artistically bring to completion.
Wood Turning on the Lathe
This dining table has four base sections with three legs on each section. Half of the legs were missing and I had to make six new legs. Inch and a half thick walnut boards were glued together and then turned on the wood lathe.
Family Heirloom Restorations
Often customers bring to my shop family heirlooms that they want to have
restored so that their treasures can be passed onto the next generation in a like-
new condition. Often these pieces have been neglected and will require repairs in
addition to refinishing. During my career, I have been in thousands of homes and
frequently I have had pointed out to me those special treasures that have been
passed on from the parents and grandparents to their children and grandchildren.
These items are priceless. Now in my late seventies, I’m very sensitive to these
customers and passionately want to put my love into their projects.
Richard’s chair is the only remaining treasure that his sister has. Unfortunately,
Richard’s time on earth was very short and the memories are few. The chair came
into my shop with brown paint and had been used as a plant stand. Of course, the
customer cried when she saw the restoration I’d completed. That was a
tremendous gratification for me.
1850’s German Grandfather Clock – Clock Case Restoration
This clock has been in the family for several generations. For the past one hundred years in an apartment in New York City, it has survived extreme heat, humidity and an environment with heavy cigarette smokers. The three figurines on the crown have been unprofessionally repaired. Various broken parts were commonly reattached with airplane model cement and touched up with mis-matched gold paints. It was time for a clock case restoration.
Besides the ones that had fallen off, I detached all the poorly reglued limbs. The old glue was scraped off and then the parts refitted and reglued using a high-tech cyanoacrylate adhesive. Every joint was drilled out and a wire pin was
inserted for strength. A polyester resin was used to fill-in missing fragments and crack lines. The repair areas were delicately sanded smooth to the correct contour.
Decades of environmental contamination nearly ruined the original gold leaf finish but as much of this that I could preserve was rejuvenated. All the other parts of the figurines were refinished in a matching antiqued goldleaf finish.
With proper care and maintenance, these parts will be enjoyed by the next several generations for this family.
Longcase Grandfather Clock – Rebuilding and Clock Case Restoration
Kip Hart brought this longcase grandfather clock to my shop for rebuilding and restoration. In 1958 his grandparents were vacationing in Europe and while on a layover in Scotland, they went antique shopping. In Glasgow at the Ernest Alexander Antique Shop they purchased three grandfather clocks for their family. From his grandparents, Kip inherited this longcase clock made by Robert Rose of Dublin. This clockmaker passed in 1769. Kip’s grand and great grandparents were all engineers. They moved from New York City to Baltimore and recently Kip moved to Kent, Washington to start his new engineering job. Unfortunately his movers did not properly prepare this clock for moving and it was busted apart.
Its not often that I have the opportunity to restore such an old and beautiful piece like this. What a treasure! Particularly with the lower section, I took the case almost completely apart. The case was carefully reassembled and the finish restored. This project was a complete rebuild and clock case restoration.
Testimonial
Ray Spencer is the epitome of professionalism and a true master craftsman. We have known Ray for over a decade and we couldn’t imagine calling upon someone else when it comes to touchup work. Ray takes the time to educate and explain the process to his customers. In turn, this establishes trust in his workmanship and sets the stage for the remainder of the project. In all our time working with Ray, we have never received feedback of a job not completed to a customer's satisfaction. Ray is a joy to work with and we are very thankful for his services.
Antique Ash Dresser with Missing Drawer
One drawer was lost during this customers move. Using 3″ thick ash wood, I
cut out two curved drawer fronts with matching grain and replaced the
drawer boxes.