Happy St George’s Day.

Hello and welcome back!

The last  few weeks have been some of the busiest I have had since starting 23Chairs. The main reason is moving home, me and the Misses have moved into our first flat. Coupled with moving we had the decorating to do, oh and keep the business running as well. So now the move is over and decorating nearly done, things seem like there getting back to normal.

So far April is shaping up to be a great month. Due to traffic works I had a week and a half of traffic crawling past my sign which is fantastic because its brought an increase in trade.

  

This is an upcycled 1960′s folding table. The original thought was to simply laminate the top with new formica. But the top was too old and the ply was de-laminating . Using the old top as a template I cut and routed a new top, then using all the old hardware legs and frame built the table as it looked before.

 

This is a before and after of a 1950′s school desk. As you can see it was rough to start but with some laminate left over and a coat of lacquer its given it a new lease of life.

A little polish and tlc and looks good as new. Very nice coffee table.

You might have seen this table and chairs in previous blogs in various stages and states well its finally finished and now has a new home.

I have a few pieces on the go at the moment this is a teak coffee table  the veneer was badly damaged in places so I cut some shapes masked it off and ended up with these patterns. I think its pretty effective and when its put back together will look great. I think I might make the next one even more outrageous.

These are some pics of the other pieces I’m working on at the moment. As well as these I have eight dining chairs to reupholster for a client. I also have an upholsterer just starting one of my Parker knoll lounge chairs. This is for a customer that found me through the blog. I’m pretty excited about this because its the first piece of upholstery I have had done by some one else. Should look amazing!  If you want to see the finished article be sure to come back for more of the same.

Thanks for stopping by.

Rock On

Hello and welcome back

With February being a trying month its nice to see some sunshine and nicer weather certainly makes a difference when trying to make sales. The new signs have been bringing in a steady flow of customers with work ranging from repairing rocking chairs  to making bespoke shelving.

I have been kept busy with repairing  furniture for other customers which means I haven’t had much time to work on my own upcycled pieces.

This is a clients stag chest of drawers, as you can see I have started to apply formica laminate to all the surfaces. This is a relatively simple application. Firstly, you have to sand off the lacquer with a 80 grit sand paper. This gives a nice rough finish which makes it easier for the glue to key to both surfaces. The finish result looked very cool.

Like a lot of the jobs I take on, they always turn out to be more involved then first thought. Take this Parker Knoll lounge chair, the springs had gone and needed replacing. Thinking that I could access the springs through the bottom  it looked like a reasonably straight forward job. Not so! The tension strap that holds the springs to the frame had worn out and needed replacing which meant the whole bottom had to be unpicked. A bit of a pain but all the same quite interesting to do.

Due to buoyant sales the last few weeks I  am running low on stock. I purchased a number of items some of which I have had such quick turn around on I didn’t manage to take any photos. These are the pieces that are soon to be worked on or in the stage of.

These are just a few of the pieces I’m working on and just the other day I purchased some more. So I have plenty to be getting on with.

I will now end this blog with some news that gave me much encouragement. I was contacted by the production company that produces the channel 4 show Kirsties Hand Made Britain. They are in the process of formulating a new show.  Anyhow they liked my work and what I was about, tying in well with the new series theme and there might be a place for me on the show. This is still a might, so only time will tell. Even if i don’t, its most encouraging to know that people of that calibre are taking interest in little old me. As no one really reads this blog, I won’t be giving any secrets away.

Thanks for stopping by and call back soon for more of the same.

New Signs

Hello

Welcome back. Firstly I apologise for the length of time it has taken me to write this blog.  There just aren’t enough hours in a day.

Since I last wrote I have got my signs made and the work shop is looking a bit more professional now.

Since the signs have gone out I have managed to pick up some business restoring furniture for costumers.

This is a Macintosh chest of drawers. Badly stained, they needed stripping and some acid applying then some clever staining to blend out some of the more stubborn stains.

Last post I was telling you about a set of oak chairs I was in the middle of restoring now finished they look fantastic.

One of my latest projects has been a making a sideboard. This is the first piece I have designed and built from scratch. Retro inspired but at the same time modern. I am really happy with the results and have had some wonderful feedback!

Made from oak veneered mdf, solid oak and formica. The doors and top has been inlaid with coloured resin. I have used this process before on other upcycled pieces with great results. It involves creating a rebate, this time I used my plunge skill saw and then filling with the liquid resin and sanding back to reveal the pattern.

This is the latest edition, an upcycled, early G plan sideboard. stripped painted and re lacquered. The door and drawer fronts have been laminated with eye-catching, colourful formica and the original handles have been polished to perfection.

Anyway that’s all for now. I will be back again soon for more of the same.

Thank you

Clamptastic

Hello and welcome back

Well after another chilly but fruitful Saturday trading on Golborne Road I’m straight back into the workshop working on a few projects. I am working on some lovely Ercol nest tables for a client, they are in great condition just need a bit of tlc. The costumer wants them lightning up, for this I’m using oxalic acid this works by bleaching the timber and give a much lighter appearance. The acid comes in a crystal form which you add to warm water. Wearing appropriate safety gear is essential so gloves, goggles and face mask should be worn, this stuff can be very corrosive in high concentration, so if you try it yourself be very careful and always read your COSHH  sheets. Once you have applied the solution leave till dry and then wash off thoroughly and repeat at least three times this should remove all traces of acid. This will leave the timber lighter and ready for you to sand and lacquer. The use of water will swell the grain slightly so you will need to sand it back to get a desired finish. This is a technique known as raising the grain and does what it says. We use this technique so that when you apply a lacquer or oil, the grain doesn’t swell and ruin your beautifully finished surface.  Last week I was finishing off a set of chairs and sideboard I think i mentioned it in my last blog, well stupidly I forgot to take pictures of the finished sideboard, however I did get some pics of the finished chair frames and seat pans but not together. I apologise!

 Yesterday I picked up a set of late 60′s early 70′s dining chairs, they are a real find and are in great condition although in need of re upholstering and sanding. Well three of them, one chair was a little wobbly so clever boy here thought he would take it apart. Crack, snap and one chair now in many pieces. After doing this sort of work for around 8 years I don’t get that instant stomach dropping feeling anymore as I have either got use to breaking things or I have more faith in my ability to fix things, a bit of both I’d say. Well this  is what it looks like now.   One of the great qualities of timber is that you can glue pretty much any broken or snapped piece and it will be just as strong as before  provided you use the right glue.

Thanks for dropping by and call back again for more of the same. Or for more up to date day by day installments you can follow me on  twitter and facebook  https://twitter.com/#!/23chairs or http://www.facebook.com/TwentyThreeChairs?ref=tn_tnmn

Happy New Year

Hello and happy new year!

After having a week off for festive celebrations I’m back grinding the stone!  Its the new year and so far its shaping up to a great one, two sales in the first week, so more then enough motivation to spare me on.

The lead up to new year was hectic, trying to get all projects finished on time. With materials not being delivered it all got finished at the last minute.

This was a 1970 G Plan teak veneer and solid teak dining table I had been finished! stripped back and re lacquered. However the customer loved the shape but wanted a bit more colour. She picked a wasabi  formica which has been applied to the top, as you can see it’s a extending table which will sit at least 8 comfortably.

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Finally the Hifi unit is finished.  The customer was more then happy calling it a piece of sculpture. But better then that, he could tell a significant improvment in the sound quality. One satisfied customer.

This is a fantastic 1960 set of drawers. Made by Avalon Yatton a British furniture company, based in the town of Yatton just outside Bristol. In their hay day Avalon were known for their stylish and quality made British furniture. The top, sides and drawer fronts are teak veneered ply wood with the frame made from solid beach. I bought the chest at auction and have stripped it back to the bare veneer then applied a two part spray mat lacquer, gives a great finish. Tough durable and brings the beauty of the veneer to life.

 These are a set of 1970 dining chairs. Made from solid teak with a laminated curved back. I have sanded them back and now re lacquered, just awaiting the material to re upholster them. The costumer inquired after a set of on the website. I had sold that set a few weeks earlier at the market, so I sent her some photo’s of these and the sale was made.

Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon for more of the same.

Martin

Chilly Trading

Hello

I’m back again for a new installment of the goings on at 23chairs. Last time I posted was just after trading on Golborne Rd, well I join you agian after another chilly day at the market.  It was a rainy start but thankfully cleared in time to set up. With only one sale it didn’t go as well as planned but still great talking to all you people who took the time to tell me how much they loved what I was doing.

The last few weeks I have been working on a few projects with my main focus on making a hifi stand for a customer. I’m hoping that it will be finished this week but as always, it’s dependent on other suppliers to deliver components on time.

After doing the market the other week I  managed to acquire an old table and chairs which was left out for the bin men. With the chairs needing too much work I decided to donate them to the charity shop at the top of the road. The table wasn’t looking very desirable in its current state and was in need of some modernization. I took the table apart, which thankfully wasn’t too difficult as it was constructed with knock down fittings. I reshaped the top and reduced the frame slightly in size then added some resin filled squares for a bit colour. The result was a  fantastic dining table brought back from the brink of land fill.

After a day at the auctions the other week, I successfully picked up a few nice items. An Avalon Yatton set of drawers, a Mcintosh extending table and chairs, and a G plan Astro coffee table.  The table and chairs will have to wait until I’ve got plenty of time because it needs a large amount of attention. The coffee table needed stripping and re lacquering and now looks fantastic!  The set of drawers are very stylish and in very good condition considering that they date from around 1960.

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Please come back soon when i’l have more images and info on how its all progressing

Thank you

A good days trading

 

Hello

 

Well the last five days have been hectic but fun and by the last day all worth it. From Wednesday I have been frantically finishing furniture to take to Golborne Road.

 

The hole experience has been brilliant all the Traders and public I’v met with great responses loving my work and what i was trying to do. Really made it all worth while.

 

Thank you to all the people who loved my furniture so much they were willing to part with there well earned cash.

 

I will be there on the Saturday 3rd of December with new pieces for all to buy.

 

 

Golborne Road

Hello

Good news this week I have registered with Kensington and Chelsea borough, to trade on Golborne Rd part of the of Portobello market. From next Saturday I will be trading there each weekend bringing 23chairs upcycled and restored creations to the people of London.  I’m feeling very excited and optimistic.

As usual I have been busy! After the last blog I had repaired the Windsor chair and returned it to the happy costumer, so happy they gave me two more chairs to repair which both turned out to be particularly challenging.

Some times the scary part of repairing a chair is taking it apart. Normally there are joints where the glue has completely degraded and come apart very easily. With other parts being quite the opposite trying to get the chair in to all its component piece with out doing any damage can be rather hard. Once you the chair is in pieces you can clean up all the joints and then start to glue it back together, I use a Urea Formaldehyde based glue this is a rigid glue and sets harder then wood. Due to the shape of the chair you have to glue it up in stages, trying to come up with ways to apply pressure in crucial places is easier said then done. 

On the upcycling front I have been working on a few projects some that I talked about earlier in my blogs. The coffee table and g plan nest tables. The coffee table is in the last stages of painting and lacquering. The g plan nest tables have been sat around in pieces for some time with me trying to decide what to do with them. Well I decided to buy some walnut veneer and have veneered all the tops, the legs have been sanded up and oiled all should be finished soon.

After some great bargain hunting at the auctions and i picked up a set of four retro dining chairs. These have been a quick turn around and have been taken apart sanded up and put back together now just to upholster them.

Thanks for reading If you want to have a look at any of our furniture go to http://www.folksy.com/shops/23chairs

Or if you are in the London area I’l be on Golborne Rd all saturday.

Frustrating Old chair

Hello

Once again it has been a long time since I last posted. Not that I haven’t been busy…. I have been making and fitting some sliding doors and shelving which took 7days of my time and looked great when it was finished.

On the upcycling front I have had the ongoing task of trying to put back together a Carver Windsor style chair for a client, what a pig!! The chair that is, not the client. The chair had been glued back together with a flexible glue that had turned all the tenons fibrous and as a result I had to splice new pieces into the end of four tenons which allowed me to glue the chair back together. Once secure I could chisel out a channel to glue in some flat aluminium  L brackets to strengthen up the weak joints.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From my last post you will see that I have been working on a coffee table, I have filled the routed detail with resin and sanded back.

The top was rather damaged and had started to delaminate hence the G clamps on the corners. Next stage will to lacquer it up. I finally manged to get the print box finished

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I think the most enjoyable piece that I have finished this week is a chair for my nephew, the chair was my brothers which he has had since a baby.I have replaced the old seat pan with oak and carved his name then fill with resin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks once again for stopping by and come back soon for more of the same.

coffee with curve

Hello

Well I haven’t blogged for some time now, busy with the show which went better then expected, well it was a agricultural show! I managed two sales off the back of it and lots of positive fead back. Also met a gentleman that designed for G plan for a large part of his life. I have to say this was a highlight for me, a bit geeky you might think well your right!

Last week I was concentrating on pay the bills, trying to score a job to build some fitted shelves and sliding doors. Well the time put in has paid off and I got the job. This will ease the financial situation for a while.

On the upcycling front I picked up two items the other week, both in disrepair and in much need of some tlc. A coffee table that I over looked to start but you wouldn’t blame me if you saw it, it had plastic sticky vinyl on the top,  it was looking pretty tatty.

The table is all made from ply except the legs, the ply had started to de-laminate in many place, I thought at first glance I might be able to glue and clamp together, no such luck, I had to remake all the main parts of the frame again.

I did managed to salvage the top and have started routing a detail which will be filled with resin then sanded back. I have laminated the inside of the frame with white formica, put frame  back together and legs on, now just got to laminate the outside now.

The top makes up three pieces I have reshaped all four sides to give it more of a curve, then put a heavy chamfer on the under side edge, makes the top look thinner then it is!  The middle section is hinged so when on the frame it lifts up to the compartment underneath.

Thanks for reading call back soon for more of the same.