Author Peter Follansbee (pictured above from a few years ago) is hosting this Saturday’s Open Wire here on the Lost Art Press blog. You can ask him, well, whatever you want. But you’ll get the best answers if you ask about 17th-century-style carving and joinery, birds and beard care.
Follansbee is author of “Joiner’s Work” and co-author (with Jennie Alexander) of “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree“; he also wrote an introduction to the third edition of Alexander’s book “Make a Chair from a Tree.” He recently completed a subscription video series, “Make a Jennie Chair with Peter Follansbee.” He’s now working on his second reproduction of a 1680s chest (his first one is shown below), and writing a book about it (due out from Lost Art Press when it’s done).
He also recently began writing on Substack – you’ll find him at “Follansbee’s Substack.”
I hope you will stop by this Saturday and ask him a few questions. (We’ve opened the Open Wire to our authors, and so you can look for more guest hosts in the coming weeks.)
Porritt, who works from a small red barn in upstate New York, has been at his trade for many decades, and his eye for color and patina is outstanding. We’ve seen many examples of his work, and it is impressive because you cannot tell that any repair or restoration has been done.
His techniques are simple and use (mostly) everyday objects and chemicals – a pot scrubber, a deer antler, vinegar and tea. How you apply these tools – with a wee bit of belligerence – is what’s important.
The book is lavishly illustrated with color photos that clearly explain the process. With the help of this book, you’ll be able to fool at least some of the people some of the time with your own “aged” finishes.
I have always loved pieces of country furniture that have come out of the hills – objects that have been touched by time with all its nuances but have never been cleaned or worked over. To my eye some of these pieces can possess a beauty not yet attained in a new, unfinished piece or one left with a simple paint, oil or wax finish.
Living in America, feeling somewhat cut off in the midst of the 2020-2022 pandemic, I found myself remembering and missing some of the things from the borderland of England and Wales, where I had my home. The light on the hills, the glorious landscape, the characters at the Welshpool Friday market.
And then Ian Anderson’s antique shop: there I would see, touch and enjoy some of the pieces he had bought at auction or come across by invitation throughout Mid Wales. Form, color and surface – he found some delightful things. I missed the joy of the old oak dressers, the tables and chairs with their marvelous well-worn surfaces. That is why I started playing with my chair finishes, to get some of that feeling into my newly made chairs. You see, I have no interest in making fake antiques. Instead, with my finishing techniques I strive to create chairs that I want to see, chairs that I cannot find or even if they were about, chairs that I couldn’t begin to afford.
In addition to the finish, texture and toolmarks are important to creating a chair with a magical old quality.
This book will take you through the steps and techniques I have used in my work as a chairmaker, and furniture and tool restorer, to simulate the textures, colors and the mellow glow that is prized in old work. It requires simple tools, such as a deer antler I found on a walk, some stones I picked up from a beach walk in Rhode Island and a chainmail burnisher/pot scrubber. Plus, some chemicals – some relatively harmless (cement dust) and some that require great caution (nitric acid).
Multiple layers of finish and wear create a believable surface.
These finishes also require a bit of “belligerence.” And by that, I mean mostly perseverance. Creating these finishes requires you to apply finish, wipe it off, burnish it, heat it or even gently burn it off (I definitely do not mean char it). Then stop to take a look at your progress. You may have to do it all again (and again) until all the parts of your chair are to your liking, and you have created a believable surface.
Like restoring furniture surfaces, this process is about “play” – working and reworking a surface until you get the desired result.
Should you feel somewhat nervous piling in with these techniques on a new chair, practice on small boards, chair legs and spindles. Using different woods, take notes of the effects you have come across and build yourself a parts library to refer to.
I do think these finishes are worth the work. I find that they inspire me and lift my spirits.
Last week an amazing thing happened a block away from the Anthe Building (the site of our new headquarters). Workers began removing the ugly brick cladding from a building at the corner of Fourth Street and Scott Boulevard. What was below the brick was a link to our family’s past.
Lucy’s family ran the chain of Grote Drugstores in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati in the 20th century. They had two stores in Covington. One was at the corner of Pike Street and Madison Ave., what is now The Hannaford, a trendy bar.
The other store was at Fourth Street and Scott Boulevard. But Jane May nee Grote (Lucy’s mom) couldn’t remember exactly which corner it was on – the area has changed a lot.
On Sunday, Lucy and I visited the construction site at Fourth and Scott. The work had revealed a gorgeous storefront that still had some intact glass. Two windows said “Prescriptions” and one said “Hy-Pure Drugs,” an old brand.
I showed Jane the photos and she confirmed that yup, that was the drugstore her father owned and ran. Jane said she worked the lunch counter there when she was 15 or 16 and would fill in for the employees who were on vacation. The lunch counter was inexpensive, close to the courthouse and a quick place to get a bite.
It also is one block from the Anthe Building. We are thrilled that the drugstore storefront is coming back to life and can’t wait to see what it will be in its next life.
The third floor with the not-to-code partitions taken down.
During the last few weeks there has been so much going on at the Anthe Building I don’t know where to start. We are now waiting on permits and inspections (we passed our first electrical inspection last week), so things are at a bit of a lull, which is frustrating and welcome.
Here are some highlights:
HVAC: On and running. I’ve installed humidity monitors throughout the building to get a sense of where we are. The building has never had air conditioning (OK, there was one window unit for all four floors). And we’ve sprayed hundreds of gallons of water to clean the walls and floors. So things are moist. Right now the relative humidity is at 45 percent. That’s OK, but I think/hope we will get it in the 30s, which will be the ideal environment for storing books.
Some adhesion testing going on.
The Floor: For the last couple weeks, the first floor looked like the LAP Chicken Ranch. Our contractor spread five garbage bags of planer shavings to continue soaking up any oil on the floor. It worked (though my neatnik urges were tingling). This week, Megan and I will apply a finish. I’ve been doing adhesion tests with shellac and oil-based varnish to see what combination of finishes will work best for us. Mostly, we’re trying to keep the small amount of remaining oil on the floor off of our shoes.
Electrical: The electrician removed all the unnecessary conduit and boxes that powered the lathes and mills. Plus they dismantled the dozen fluorescent light fixtures on the first floor from the 1980s. He replaced them with a handful of low-profile LED fixtures. Now we can see the lineshaft in all its glory.
The fulfillment center. Looking from the rear of the building toward the storefront (now covered in a blue tarp).
Looking toward the back of the fulfillment center. The flags mark areas that need repairs (we have a soft spot for flags).
Rough framing: We have some stud walls up for the bathroom and the partition between the storefront and the fulfillment area. But we are waiting for the county’s permission to add drywall (as a firebreak) then the beadboard. Speaking of beadboard, the painter has been painting and glazing ours off-site. We need a lot more beadboard than we salvaged, so the painters are matching the color and the grime from the existing walls.
Upstairs: While we wait for permits and inspections, the crew has dismantled some of the 1970s-era partitions on the second and third floors. This has opened up the space and given us views that are making my brain tick as we plan our future work there.
The elevator: No progress.
The timeline: If our permits and inspections come through this week, we hope to occupy the building in mid-July. That’s a bit optimistic, but that’s how we roll.
Joshua Klein. Photo from the Mortise & Tenon website.
Today for our Open Wire session we have Joshua Klein, the founder of Mortise & Tenon Magazine, as our host. Joshua and his crew are as hardworking as they come. And so we were surprised when he volunteered to spend a Saturday answering reader questions.
Here’s how it works. Ask your question in the comments below. And Josh will post his response.
The comments will close for this post about 5 p.m. Eastern.
