Piano Stool Transformation

Finally got it done today.  Ain't she a beauty?  This was the worst strip job I've ever done.  All those grooves and curves!  Found the best tool was good old steel wool and a dental pick.  I opted to make it look new instead of leaving the feet all brown and rust-encrusted.  The glass balls are really chewed up on the bottoms but they still shine.

Since the wooden seat top was missing and someone put that rough wood on there I made a nice thick cushion and used some crushed velvet I had laying around and tacked it tight all around.  I found some fringe that matched perfectly to cover the tacks and give it some oomph.  In the picture the colors are a little off.  In reality the trim matches.

More "Projects"

Take a look at the neat Eastlake-Style Gentleman's Chair I picked up Sunday at Allegan for $30.






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Lexington says "I'm a Gentleman".

I'm thinking that this is quite late in the Eastlake period as the decoration looks more modern than on the other chairs I have. It's missing casters on the feet and needs better upholstery, but it is in good shape and just has one repair that I can see.

I also picked up this piano stool for $35. It needs some tlc and somebody removed the wooden seat when they "upholstered" it, so I will probably make a leather padded seat for it.

Here it is after removing 72 staples and foam and the blanket cover. I found a layer of Depression Green under the white and the glass feet are really chipped and ground down, so this poor little stool has seen a lot of rough use.


I had a nice closeup of one of the claw feet but Purrcey got in the way.


After I had bought this and taken it back to the truck I found another one for $30 that was in better shape. Oh well! Will post progress reports.

Time for a Little Politics

Our governor, Jennifer Granholm (MI - D), in her infinite wisdom, has decided, probably upon pressure from benefitting interests, to demolish the State of Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries (HAL). That was not enough. She also decided to establish a brand spanking new "Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention". It will have a board of nine members to divvy up the carcass of HAL. Here is the makeup of that board. (I have just found out that Blogger will not let me cut and paste.)

"Nine members will form the Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention Board: the director of the Department of Natural Resources, superintendent of public instruction, and seven gubernatorial appointees. Three of the members selected by the governor will be from a list of candidates nominated by President Simon, and a fourth will be from a list of candidates nominated by Mayor Bernero. The board will issue its final report to the governor by June 1, 2010."

Look at that list. The DNR, three cronies of the president of MSU, a person selected by the Mayor of Lansing, the "superintendent of public instruction"--that leaves three people without an agenda, but they will also be hand-picked by the governor. This does not look good for historians, genealogists, and preservationists in the State of Michigan.

If you read the article I linked to above and scroll down to the very bottom you see what happens to the State Historic Preservation Review Board. It goes to MSHDA! All the irreplaceable historical records and books go to the DNR! And they will "evaluate and implement additional cost saving measures". What does that mean? Will our archives end up as litter in the bottom of animal cages, or as landfill in some state park? Why put an agency devoted to the outdoors in charge of things that should be stored INDOORS? And with MSHDA running the Historic Preservation Review Board will we now be mandated to use vinyl windows and siding and "encapsulate" all lead paint? I shudder to think what will happen.

The Department of Education will now be running the Library of Michigan with the same caveat to "evaluate and implement additional cost saving measures". Oh, wonderful.

And who will get the wonderful, almost new building just two blocks from the capitol? Why, probably MSU!

Here are some links to articles written by other concerned genealogists/historians:
http://mimgc.org/LOM.html
http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazsh/gazsh-0034.htm
http://http//www.mla.lib.mi.us/node/1027

If you are a resident of the State of Michigan, please take the time to let the governor know how you feel about this at this link: http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168-21995-65331--,00.html

Sorry for all the links, but this is an important issue and I wanted to cover all the bases.

A Little Reconstruction, Fini

Had a few days of rain and/or wind over the weekend, and, as I was doing this outside I had to wait. Finally got the chair finished yesterday. I had some Formby's "Tung Oil Finish" here so tried that and it looks great. Got some clear shoe polish for the leather seat, put on two coats and it's nice and shiny. Worn and beat up, but hey, it's old. I'd had to remove some ugly paint splotches from it already.



My mother offered me another chair just like it, but not broken--just in need of some TLC so I'm taking it. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it's solid oak with a leather seat, so it will look nice no matter where I put it.


A little dark, but I didn't feel like hauling it back outside.
Now I need to finish the sideboard. . . .

A Little Reconstruction, Part Tres

I ran into a little snag today with my router. I have had it for a long time, but haven't used it very often, but want to get more proficient with it. I know it's bottom-of-the-line, but should work ok for what I want to do with it. I just had to make one of these:

They hold the seat on. First off, I couldn't find the owner's manual for the router. I always like to check them out before I operate any of the machines I have around here because I don't use them all that often. Looked in all the places it should have been. Don't remember seeing it for a long time, so the ex must have put it somewhere. So I went online and found one in 15 minutes. I love the internet! Printed it out for free and figured out how to get the cutter on and off.

I cut up a piece of the right thickness of wood and started trying to set the height of the cutter. Another problem. The thing you're supposed to turn to raise and lower the cutter got jammed up by my weak girly hands and I had to take the stupid thing apart to re-align it. Got that done and then the stupid fences kept moving no matter how tight I turned the thumb-screws. I even hit them with a hammer and they still moved. So the piece I ended up with is not pretty but very functional.


Got them glued and hammered into place. By this time it was 8:00 at night and I wasted all afternoon on it. But hey! I'm unemployed and have nothing else to do. Still haven't checked to see if I have any poly for tomorrow . . .

A Little Reconstruction, Part Dos

I cleaned up the dried glue around the pegs and dry-fitted some of the pieces together. While I had some pieces clamped I was working by the compost bin on the other side of the garage and heard something happening high over my head. A dead branch broke off (probably a fat squirrel) and fell right where I had been standing a few minutes before. I rushed over to see if my chair was ok and had it cleaned up before I thought to take a picture.


Here is the tree. I put everything away because storm clouds were rolling in.

And here are the pieces of the limb.



Scary how you can get hurt just standing under a tree with no wind blowing. Anyway . . .

I went back outside after I was certain it was not going to rain after all and I got the chair glued together and clamped.





Tomorrow I will clean up the stain some more and put some poly on it if I have some. I have to fabricate a small screwing block for the seat, too. It's amazing the trust we put in a few little pegs and some glue that's all that's between our butts and the floor.

A Little Reconstruction

Thought I'd tackle one of the many "projects" I have sitting around the house. This is one sad chair I got from my mother. I don't know what happened to it--maybe someone dropped something heavy on it--anyway, some of the pegs were broken off and it fell apart.


I had to really work to get all the broken pieces off the chair and ended up cutting through some of the pegs with a coping saw. The plan is to drill out and replace the pegs and glue it back together and refinish it. I have already used Formby's Refinisher on it and removed a lot of the darkened shellac and finish. It's solid oak and sort of Mission-style and will go nicely with the Mission-style desk my father gave me.



On the left is one of the stringers. Unfortunately, the dowel ends, which were integral with the stringer have broken off. I will have to drill them out and put in pegs. They will not be as strong, but will hopefully stay together. On the right is one of the pieces of the seat frame.

Here are the steps I took to remove the glued-in old pegs.


I clamp the piece to a horse, padding it with a washcloth and get my biggest drill bit and drill through the center of the pegs.


Then I get a skinny wood chisel and a hammer and start tapping and prying out the rest of the glue and dowel. It doesn't look pretty and the edges get a little ragged, but they will be covered up when I'm done.


I can't take a picture of that step because I don't have another hand.





I got these nifty tools the other day. I could really do some damage with these puppies!

I cleaned up the holes with the appropriate size spade bit.


Then I glued in the pegs and glued and clamped some cracks and let it dry overnight.