A Broken Foot

While picking up an antique piece to be restored for a client, Gorg picked up some extra restoration work from one of the antique dealers. One of their oak chairs had a badly broken, carved, trifid foot. It's not the type of thing that can just be replaced with a simple catalog order. After finding out that he does restoration work, Gorg was asked to carve a new piece to match the remaining front foot. Here is a photo of the original foot which he was to replicate.

original foot

The first step was to knock out the damaged wood of the other foot and glue new oak onto the undamaged section, saving as much of the original wood as possible.

 After allowing it to dry overnight, he began to carve out the new foot by hand. How he does this while just looking at the original never ceases to amaze me. As I was watching, and about halfway through the carving, it occurred to me that I should have just video-ed the whole process. Maybe next time I'll use a little more forethought...Well, there's always a first time, isn't there?

 After applying his own secret cocktail of finishes to match the old foot and re-attaching the castors, this is the result.

original foot in the foreground

restored foot in the foreground

                                         

Original Foot

Restored Foot

Restored Foot

Original Foot

                             

Amazing, isn't it? They are almost identical. This is the way a restoration should look!