March 2008 Workshop - Case Restoration

The Chapter had a wood restoration workshop in March with a guest speaker from Howard Products Australia demonstrating their wares. There were plenty of clock cases brought along by the 25 or so attendees to practice on. The most impressive product was Howard Restor-a Finish, a liquid which penetrates and amalgamates with most existing finishes, melts and then hardens. It is designed to blend out most minor scratches, heat rings and watermarks.

Greg Kelly demonstrated the products he uses for wood and marble restoration.

Doug Minty guided a hands-on session to produce marbled effects on wood which produced many interesting creations

Held at Doug's place with about 25 attendees who all enjoyed the day and fare put on by the ladies	Greg has been restoring timber for decades and his experience invaluable to the group	Greg starts off with the gentlest of trials first with cream wax , then moving up slowly with more aggressive products	With Marble cases he uses Singer sewing machine oil and 1000 wet and dry. A long process, allowing the oil to dry between applications then finish with beeswax	A lot of elbow work is needed on the American Ogee case
The boss of Howard Products shows us the way	Marbling by dipping a painted wooden shape into oil paints floating on top of water