A Rescue

I decided to take a quick walk around the block last night (garbage night), and I actually found a few awesome items, including this great Art Deco night stand:



It's in near perfect shape except that one of the drawer runners had come loose (easy fix), and the finish on it needs help (also an easy fix since it's the original shellac finish still on it). Check out that awesome original handle, too! I estimate just an hour or two on this and it will look awesome. The hardest part will be to remove the Mactac shelf liner, since it seems glued-on pretty well. It's not really my style, so I might end up selling it, but it was FREE.

Also not pictured, were two large window sashes (about 30" x 30", which I might only keep for the antique glass), and the three pieces of trim that went with them (not the casings, just the thin moulding with an ogee detail). Usually I wouldn't have bothered with the small trim, but it was in perfect shape and not butchered.

Quickie Update

Not much going on lately. I'm still working on the porch door (I need to go pick up some glass for it), and I'll hopefully be getting fabric for the Master Bedroom curtains thanks to a friend of mine who lives in Ottawa (she knows who she is, and she rocks!) The fabric is from Ikea and it's called "Stockholm" in the beige tint. Basically it's a leaf and berry pattern (line work) in white on a beige background.

Also, I've tested out my aniline dyes (samples) that I was thinking of using for the vanity and I wasn't that thrilled about how they turned out (considering all the extra work involved), so instead, I'll be using a regular oil based stain in a dark mahogany (reddish brown). The colour is a special mix called "Cherry on Maple" (I note this here mainly for my own references).

The only other bit of news that I don't think I mentioned yet is that last Friday I picked up some keys. I had the Yale "night" lock re-keyed on the antique door (the salvaged one that was complete and in good shape), and had 3 keys cut for it, and I also got an antique style (but generic) skeleton key fitted to the lock for the porch door. This was super fun, and since it's a universal key, it also happens to fit 3 more similar Corbin locks in my inventory. It almost works on several others, but not quite. They did have other styles/shapes of these universal keys available, so depending which locks I end up using, I can get keys for them.

"Stained Glass" First Piece Done

Alright, for my first attempt, and using only painted glass rather than the real thing, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

The part that I thought would be the easiest for me, was actually the part that gave me the most trouble: the soldering.

First off, I didn't have the right solder, and of course no one in Cornwall sells lead-bearing solder anymore, so I had to use old lead solder that I had on hand, but with rosin core (which I will NEVER use again for this). With the combination of heat and flux, I ended up getting a whole bunch of sputters of little bits of rosin, which left ugly brown spots everywhere. Some can be flaked off, but most are stuck in place pretty well. I tried a few solvents on them, but they don't really come off easily.

The other problem I had, was that I didn't have the right kind of tip on my iron, and the heat setting kept fluctuating on me randomly. This left me with ugly joints. I ended up cheating and using a mini-torch to make the joints flow nicely.

HOWEVER, using the torch is risky, and I ended up shattering one of my glass pieces. I had to re-cut, re-paint, and re-bake a new one. I also scorched the paint in one small spot.

In this close-up you can see the brown dots and a bit of residual rosin near the joints that I couldn't completely remove (after heavy cleaning):



Despite all the issues, the finished piece shows well.



In other related news, I was able to flatten-out the old stained glass panel, and take a tracing of it.



In the meantime, I've been working on the "shop hutch" some more.

Stained Glass Panel

Alright, I've been dying to photograph this and show you guys. Like I said, it's in terrible shape, but I am confident that I can fix this.

As usual with any new medium, I've been doing a whole lot of research about stained glass, methods, restoration techniques, and online videos, tutorials, tools, etc.

I should be able to fix this panel with a tool investment of under 100$, plus the stained glass, assuming I can find near perfect matches for each type that's missing.

At first glance, the panel looks rather simple, having only 3 colours, but each section and each colour has a different texture. The purple is bumpy, the yellow is kind of sandy, and in the clear, there are at least 4 textures. The circles are deep pitted squiggles, the exterior border is chip glass (which looks like frost), and then the interior leaves have a wavy pattern.

I LOVE the beveled glass in the centre.

Photos! All of these are photographed in "as found" condition, including all the dirt, grime, and bits falling out.



The entire panel looks like someone sat on it. It's caved-in so much that I'm pretty sure I won't be able to straighten it to take a rubbing/pattern from it.



I should note right now that to fix this panel, it has to be completely torn apart (tear out all the lead came), and each piece of glass needs to be cleaned or repaired, new pieces cut, and then the entire panel needs to be re-leaded from scratch, then soldered. After that's done, it also needs to be cemented, cleaned, and polished. I'm also going to need to make a completely new wooden frame since this one is badly rotted.



This photo shows all the pieces that are broken or missing. Some of these can be reglued, others are too badly damaged and need to be replaced. I count at least 28 broken/missing pieces. It looks like I missed one at the top, but I have that piece (it fell out).









The next post (in a few minutes) will show the vanity so far.

Stained Glass Find

I went to a few yard sales on foot this morning. Two of them were total junk, but on the way to the third, I spotted a gorgeous old stained glass panel being thrown out. It's in really rough shape, though. It has many broken pieces, and several missing ones too. The lead came is also very distorted, bent, torn, and all the cement in the joints is falling out. This means that the entire window would need to be completely disassembled, and all new lead installed. I've always wanted to try doing some stained glass, so it looks like I just might get my wish.

It's mostly clear glass in different frosted and textured patterns, but it has a light purpleish-pink border, and another band (and highlights) in a very pale lemon yellow. The centre piece is a very thick beveled glass in sort of a shield shape.

Again, if I had my camera, I'd share the pictures, so that will have to wait.

I'm really hoping that I can closely match some of the missing and broken pieces, but this won't be easy since there are no stained glass shops in town.