# Chicago area woodcarving repair sought



## Benboy (Mar 17, 2012)

So my wife's grandfather was a furniture builder in a factory in Chicago. His company built the furniture in the Queen of Heaven Cemetary mausoleum in suburban Chicago. He also did some woodworking for fun, including at least one carving of a horse. The horse now belongs to my brother-in-law, but he made the mistake of letting his kids touch the horse and it broke. He asked if I knew of any professional wood carvers who would be able to fix it. I told him I would post it here. Take a look at the pictures and let me know if you think you could fix it.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)

To me it looks like you might just try to re-glue it, maybe with an extra set of hands. Small spring clamps might help, but it would be awkward. Maybe try some plastic zip ties. Their are so many glues now, someone might chime in with the best one to use.

Boy I used to do a lot of antique repair over 20 years ago. I don't thing re-carving it would help. I'm assuming the base and subject are one piece. I can't tell from the pics.

Here's a very old German clock. The horns, ears and branch were missing.
A baby grand piano leg repair. I'm not sure why I used pine. Maybe it was going to be painted.


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## freddy1962 (Feb 27, 2014)




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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

I could fix it but it wouldn't be 100% perfect as the glue seams would still be faintly visible.

A repair like that would involve gluing the breaks back together. Any missing slivers of wood would have to be replaced and then touched up with pigments to match the original finish.

I'm an hour south of Chicago so not really close but if he's unable to locate anybody and wants to make the trip I may be willing to do the job. Shipping it doesn't look like a good idea since it's probably quite fragile.

As far as woodcarving goes, I'm not half as good as the guy who got me started (See Boris Kechoyan) but I do it well enough for people to pay for my services. This particular job shouldn't require carving though. Just someone good at assembling tricky joints and repairing damaged finishes.


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## Benboy (Mar 17, 2012)

Wow Jeff those are some great repair jobs. I don't think this will require and re-carving just someone skilled with re-gluing delicate parts. I would be willing to try to fix it, but I really don't have any expertise in that.

JAAune, you say you're an hour south of Chicago. Whereabouts? I wouldn't rule out my brother-in-law taking it to you or shipping it to you. Send me a direct message and maybe we can figure something out.

Thanks guys1


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## PLK (Feb 11, 2014)

Benboy,

I'm in chicago, humbolt park till July 10th then west town / ukranian village after that. I've been doing a bunch of antique refinishing lately. This project is on the smaller side of my skill set but not a daunting task. If you don't mind metal pins in all 4 legs I can get it done for you. (The pins wouldn't be visible.)

That said I'm booked pretty solid for approximately 3 weeks.

The big issue with this repair is pricing. I charge $55 an hour on projects which I don't quote up front or bid on. I'm willing to bet you can find cheaper pricing in the chicago land area but my clients keep coming back to me for a reason. Id like the believe that return customers validate the craftsmanship.

Paul


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