Furniture restoration

[MorrisWoodman12]

I've inherited an old long case clock in need of some TLC. The mechanism has gone to a horologist (not a urologist as the predictive text suggests ) and while it's away I want to see to the case. Can anyone recommend good books or You Tubers to follow or even a course?

On the same subject the case looks as though it's made out of old discarded pallet wood though veneered nicely outside. Horizontally across the bottom of the front are three 'planks' (5/8" x 7.5" x 17", 5/8" x 4" x 17" & 5/8" x 4" x 17") that have started to cup. Any suggestions as to how to deal with this? It's starting to crease rather than crack the veneer but obviously needs attention. Should I glue some vertical braces across them inside to hold them in flat though the grain of the brace will be at right angles to the 'planks'?

Thanks
Martin

 

[Bod]

Photos will help greatly.

Bod

 

[TheTiddles]

Much old furniture is burr walnut on what appears to be fencepost, thankfully they don’t make it like they use to. Usefully the glue they used can be steamed off and then you can replace the substrate, but it’s a lot of work

 

[Dee J]

Generally trying to 'brace' cupping planks just shifts the cupping forces elsewhere and creates splits. Why has it cupped after all this time? Radical change in environment? Don't think there are simple answers.

 

[Illy]

Thomas Johnson Furniture Restoration on You Tube did some work on a long case clock a while back. He uses proper methods in his work so happy to recommend a viewing.

 

[profchris]

Generally trying to 'brace' cupping planks just shifts the cupping forces elsewhere and creates splits. Why has it cupped after all this time? Radical change in environment? Don't think there are simple answers.

Almost certainly the clock is now in a lower humidity environment than it previously spent its life, most likely a move to a (better) centrally heated house. One thing worth trying is to restore some humidity - a dish of water (or, better, a dish containing a wet sponge, just in case it gets knocked over) in the bottom of the case would be worth trying. Keep wetting the sponge and monitor the cupping. If it flattens out after a week or two you have won - the challenge now is finding how often to top up the sponge to keep it stable. Guitar owners in places where the humidity changes dramatically do this, using humidifiers inside their guitar cases. Their home brew fix (commercial products are available) is a damp sponge inside a perforated container.

Bracing to pull the "planks" back might work temporarily if they are thin enough, but creates the risk of splits as Dee J has pointed out.

I suspect (though this is just a guess) that a high level restoration would remove the veneer, level the carcass, and then re-attach the veneer. That requires skills which few possess, and even then the carcass will move if humidity changes.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

@Bod At last photos! Once I put the rule against the front I realised the warping is more than I expected.

@profchris I have moved several times since I inherited the clock. I've tried to keep the clock out of the main living areas - somewhere it could be a little cooler - but sometimes the house has been centrally heated and sometimes not so I guess the humidity has been all over the please. I will try your sponge trick. Thanks.


Thanks to everyone for your advice.
Martin.

 

[profchris]

Ooh, that's a lot of cupping! Where did it live before, somewhere really humid like the seaside?

One problem you face is hysteresis - the wood moves, then moves back, as humidity changes. Each time it moves it then moves back a little less.

I'd get a good big sponge in there, like a car cleaning sponge, and keep it pretty wet for a couple of weeks. If the cupping reduces, continue the treatment (but watch out for signs of mould or mildew inside the case). Also, I don't know what extra humidity will do to the clock movement, so keep an eye on that.

You haven't said how thick the carcass substrate for the veneer is. I'm guessing something like 1/4 inch, in which case it might move enough to notice in that fortnight. And if you have 1/4 inch boards, then once it has flattened enough to be liveable with you could consider bracing it on the inside - something like spruce battens 6mm x 12mm glued on across the grain, glueing on the 6mm side. But if you do that you'll want to keep an eye on it - if the cupping starts to increase, more humidification or something will give way!

I doubt you will flatten it completely, but maybe enough to be less noticeable.

Where the veneer is lifting, some hide glue (ideally hot hide glue) worked in would be the best for glueing it back down. This is what it was almost certainly glued with, unless it's a modern clock, and the old glue will play nicely with the new.

BUT, bear in mind that I build instruments using 2mm thick wood, which is why I have some ideas about humidity. Clocks - no experience at all, so what I'm suggesting is my best guess at something which might help.