Ben Hoops
Author's posts
Reviving A 150-year-old Family Heirloom For A New Chapter!
We often forget to take photos of antiques that we work on in our excitement. This time, we remembered to photograph the process and are so proud to share it with you. We were almost as ecstatic as the customer when we showed them the big reveal! This is how it used to look. It …
Acoustic Wood Guitar restoration
Cherishing old wood: a guitar restoration story – UPDATED 7 Replies UPDATE: After I posted this piece I shared it on a couple of Facebook guitar groups. On the Parlor Acoustic Guitar Lovers Group one of the members, Mario Burgani, suggested that in fact the guitar might be Italian, made in Catania in Sicily. I’ve done …
Do you own an Antique? Identifying 6 types of Wood and How to Treat.
Furniture makers will choose different types of wood based on their various qualities. With a myriad of ways to cut and stain wood, it can sometimes be difficult to determine the type of wood used in antique furniture and trace it to a specific period. There are additional variations within each wood type, such as …
Restoring Your Furniture in 10 Steps
Professional furniture restorers and hobbyists alike all have one thing in common: the desire to pluck a piece of furniture off the side of the road and restore it to its former glory. What’s not to like? You’re saving something from a landfill and breathing new life into a forgotten item. The former owner only saw a …
Fix It – If Your Furniture is Broke
Today’s post is a great article that was in some US versions of the Wall Street Journal on February 25th, 2012 When a piece of furniture goes to pieces, you don’t have to. Take it to one of the repair shops trusted by top decorators It might not be a 15th-century Renaissance terra-cotta relief, …
Preserve Your Furniture
I recently came across while researching a piece of furniture that was appraised in the 70’s for over $30,000 an article that the conservation staff at The Henry Ford put together on the care & preservation of of furniture in particular antiques and collectibles. If you have any antiques (over 100 years old) take note …
DYI: Fun and Professional Finishing Tips You Probably Didn’t Know
Today’s post is a great article that I found in Popular Woodworking. Enjoy! Furniture finishing doesn’t have to be complicated or mysterious. That’s not to say that even experienced finishers don’t run into problems from time to time; everybody does. But there are ways to make the outcome of your project finishing a lot more predictable …