Cat Nutcracker

Cat Nutcracker

Apr 07

Here’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!

Holy Monk

Holy Monk

Feb 25

The Holy Monk is done!!!!

All the wormholes are gone and the piece has a new darker stain to make the great details on it pop.

Here are some pictures of this great piece fully restored and ready to go back home to its proud owner:

On the Bench

On the Bench

Jan 14

Today 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.

Monkey

Monkey

Dec 23

 

Here’s a great piece that came in needing some chips repaired and the finish refreshed:

Here are a couple pics of the new wood added:

Here are a couple pictures of the piece all fixed and refreshed:

The customer was thrilled with the piece and sent me pics of him all ready for Christmas:

I think snazzing him up for the Holidays is a great idea and might make that a tradition at the shop!

Cheers!

Cheers!

Oct 09

 

This great piece came in missing most of its left arm.

 

 

 

The collector requested we add a goblet.

 

Here’s clay mock up that was done for the customer to review and approve:

 

 

 

Here’s the piece done with the repair blended and color matched to the original piece:

 

 

 

The piece really did come out great, looks even better in person, and the customer was thrilled with it.

 

 

Casse-Noisette

Casse-Noisette

Jul 17

 

 

Here is a great example of a French Nutcracker.

 

This one came in with broken glasses and quite a few Woodworm holes.

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple photos of the piece with new wood added and in process of being carved:

 

 

 

Here are a couple pictures of the piece fully restored with the Woodworms exterminated and their holes fixed.

 

 

 

This piece came out great and I was very happy with how well all the repairs blended in with the original patina on this one.