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Stuff You Need To Know

Definitions:

  Things you need to know about furniture.
(Info is not in alphabetical order. I add stuff as I think of it)

Restoration Artist: A.K.A. Touch-up Artist, A.K.A Touchup guy or girl, A.K.A. Furniture Tech (technician)

A person who uses several different techniques including but not exclusive to oil paint and dry pigment color matching; fills and shapes broken, missing or damaged materials (wood , stone, composites, etc); repairs damaged finish to appear as if the damage did not happen.

Pressed wood:

A general term for wood boards made from wood fibers, chips, and veneers that are, (in general) glued heated and pressed together to form boards.

MDF (Medium-density fiberboard):

A wood composite board that is made from wood fibers that are glued and heated under pressure to create flat and consistent boards for a wide variety of furniture and construction uses. Sometimes called pressed wood.

Unless stated "solid hardwood furniture", most furniture manufactured today use this material as a substrate for veneers. It is susceptible to water damage as it swells creating bumps on the surface significantly reducing strength of the board. It is often used structurally on the sides of piece of furniture. It is better than most particle boards.

Plywood:

Wood boards that are thin sheets of wood layered perpendicular to each other with the top and bottom board laying parallel or same direction to each other, usually a higher grade veneer in furniture. Structurally stronger than solid wood. Sturdy material stronger than most same thickness of solid woods.

Note:
Higher end furniture manufacturers use birch, oak, cherry, and walnut veneered plywood as well as aircraft plywood

Particleboard:

Have much larger particles than MDF, manufactured similarly. This material is commonly used for making inexpensive pieces of furniture, mostly overpriced. Avoid these like the  plague if you can afford. I like to call this "young persons furniture" bought when you are young and starting out and can't afford better/higher quality. As you get older and hopefully making more money you buy the good stuff, IE.. solid wood furniture.

Solid Wood:

100% solid. Period. walnut, mahogany, maple, cherry, oak, pine, etc............... no man made content.

Photo or photo copied wood veneer:
Furniture not solid wood, it's an image of wood. Yeah, that's right; some furniture manufacturers do this. It's just a thin sheet of paper printed with a wood grain, sometimes just stamped into the paper or plastic.  If you are lucky, some lacquer or plastic coat to protect the paper is on top. (Stay Away from this)

Oriented strand board:

Similar to all the other engineered wood boards. The panel consist of flakes that are orientated in one direction  in layers that are perpendicular to each other like plywood. Some furniture makers use it in frames of furniture like sofa frames.

Masonite:

Uses wood fibers that are steamed then pressed together to form sheets that are not structurally strong. Usually used in furniture to back dressers and cabinets when the backs are rarely seen.

Furniture polish:

First and foremost you do not need to use furniture polish on furniture. Furniture polish is a modern day snake oil “cure all” that just isn't needed. It looks good for a day or so. Most leave a residue and many have silicone of some sort and or oils.

The finish on your furniture is made to protect the wood and add a sheen that is appealing to most. The polishes will make a matte finish glossy, a clean finish oily and slippery attracting dust. It will not nourish wood. Dried out wood that is splitting or cracking is usually a product of the environment or deteriorating finish and no amount of lemon oil or polish will help.
Install a humidifier or dehumidifier to even out the moisture in your home.

Most finishes will last 20+ years under normal use. Just clean with a damp soft cloth, like an old t shirt without fabric softener in it (not terry cloth) then dry with a dry soft cloth. If it needs more use a small amount of dish-soap with water to clean soiled spots. Just clean all residue off then dry with sofetner free cloth.

Check out this Government site or check out the manufacturer website. Input your furniture polish name to see the ingredients. If there is silicone, do not use it.

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/

Restore/Restoration:

Repair, replace missing parts, wood or ornaments and touch-up to appear in its original state.


Refinish:
To strip the present finish, prep surface, and coat with whatever finish is desired.

Strip:
To remove finish by chemical or water based strippers and some times by heat or sanding.


Touchup:
To repair damaged finish and or wood through any of the varied repair techniques that a restoration artist has at his/her disposal.

Crack:

A split or break in any part of an object.

Crazing / Cracking:

Finishes that have the appearance of spider webs or a cracked windshield which are the results of several different factors; the most common are: age, climate fluctuations and finish mixing and or application. These sometimes can be fixed with the use of an amalgamator that in essence, melts the existing finish than hardens removing problem.

Discoloration:

A change in color from the original tones and shades.

Fading:

Localized or overall shifts and changes in colors, pigments and dyes that occur as a result of over exposure to sunlight or the elements.

Fill:

To replace missing or loss in areas in the support or finished layer of an object with compatible materials.

Indentation:

A depression in the surface of an object that doesn’t necessarily break through the surface of the finish.

Gouge:

Damage to an object resulting in the removal of an object's material through the surface and finish.

Checking:

When excessive  moisture gets through the finish into the wood causing the wood to swell resulting in the finish cracking along the grain.

Insect damage:

Worm holes  and staining caused by insects feeding off or eating through an object’s  material. If you see fine saw dust around small holes after you have wiped furniture clean you may need to have your piece professionally fumigated.


Finish Sheens

Oil Finish:

An oil finish ( boiled linseed, tung, danish oils) that were sometimes used on antiques.  Not used very often today-mostly butcher block tops and outdoor furniture but often used by wood turners and amateur woodworkers.

Dead Flat 5-15:

Having the appearance of no finish. (deadflat and matte recently have been used in the furniture world...... bad choice) Any rubbing polishing even pulling something across the finish changes the appearance making it more shiny. In most cases the only solution for repair is to rub or refinish the complete top.

Matte: 15-20:

A surface or finish that is dull, without luster.

Satin: 25-40:

The sheen between flat and semigloss a slight sheen sometimes rubbed out with 0000 steel wool. Rubbed out finish.

Semi-Gloss 40-60:

Glossy 60-80:

A surface or finish that is smooth and shiny.

High Gloss 80-100:

Sometimes called a piano finish- looks mirror - like.

Rubbed out finish:

Any of the finishes above can be rubbed out with 0000 steel wool and a lubricant, rubbing the same direction of the grain to varying degrees creating a rubbed out finish. (You probably would not want to do it to the glossy sheens)

Glues

Yellow wood glue:

Is what is most commonly used to build and or re-glue old loose joints in furniture.

Epoxy:

Two part adhesives are quickly replacing wood glue in the repair of damaged furniture. Its tensile strength is unsurpassed in furniture adhesives. I use it to repair most modern furniture. Mix equal parts for the size of the job. Curing times vary from 30 second to 24 hours (yes curing it does not technically “dry” it hardens).


Contact cement:

Is Mostly used to bond 2 surfaces together like veneers and Formica materials to a substrate like MDF. Must be applied to both surfaces and allowed to skim over. Do not make wood repairs with this.


Polyurethane Glues:

In my opinion should not be used for repairs. Furniture construction where joints are not seen and construction work are its best uses.
The foaming action does not leave a solid surface after sanding. It messes with some finishes.


Fillers:

There are many types of fillers used in and on furniture. I have seen plaster, bondo, glue mixed with saw dust, two part epoxy tubes, Chocolate (funny story or sad depending upon point of view ), professional wood repair fillers like the soft crayon like fillers you see at the hardware stores, the harder sticks that get melted into the wood  called Burn-in sticks. I use these most often. They provide a long lasting hard fill that will not shrink.

Steel wool:

Steel wool is available in 8 grades 0000(actually has 4 zeros on the package) Finest It is what most finishers use for multiple applications.The other seven 000,   00,   0,   1,   2,   3, and   4   have their uses of coarse  like 00 (fine)  stripping furniture but since I rarely do that I wont take the time now to define. Suffice it to say if you are going to use steel wool for repairs or buffing, cleaning glass use 0000 steel wool.

More to come...