Parrot
May 11Here’s a nice Parrot figural nutcracker that came in for repairs recently.
This piece had a nasty break at the base and needed an age appropriate refresh on the colors and finish.
Here are some pictures of the piece before the restoration work began:
Here is a picture of the piece in process with all the new wood in place:
Here are some pictures of the piece all done before being shipped back to its owner to be proudly added to his extensive collection:
This was quite a difficult piece to repair due to the complexity of the break at the base.
This one took me 2 or 3 tries to get right. I’m very fortunate to have really good customers who are patient and understanding if a piece is taking a while.
The extra time this one took paid off. The customer was very happy with how great this piece turned out.
—– Brandon
Cat Nutcracker
Apr 07Here’s a great cat figural nutcracker we added to our collection recently.
I bought this great piece on Ebay a while ago. It was missing an eye and had some considerable damage on the left side of its face
Here are some pictures of the piece as I received it:
Here are a couple pictures of the piece in process as I was restoring it:
Here are some pictures of it all done and fully restored:
A huge shout out to Megan at Handmade Glass Eyes for carrying high domed cat glass eyes that are an accurate replacement for these pieces.
Trust me, accurate eyes for these vintage pieces are hard to find and Handmade Glass Eyes is my shop’s “go to” for eyes now versus the taxidermy sites I was trying to use in the past where types, styles, and sizes of eyes are very limited. Megan’s site is wonderful and was a great find!
Well that wraps it up. I gave this piece to my wife for her birthday and she was absolutely thrilled with it!
On the Bench
Jan 14Today I’m working on a Monk that’s full of holes.
They’re wormholes from wood beetles and there’s a LOT!
I counted over 200.
Been snowy here in Ohio so I poured me a “Brandon sized” Old Fashioned, put on some music out in the shop, and worked on this piece for a few hours today.
Here’s a pic of the piece with all the previous filler removed from the holes:
Here’s a pic of the piece getting ready to have all the holes injected with wood hardener.
This stabilizes the piece and kills any remaining wood beetle eggs.
This is really a great piece and is going to look fantastic once it’s done.
Happy New Year!
Dec 31
Hope everyone had a great Christmas.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
May it be filled with good fortune and new adventures!