Case Studies

Our Customer's Challenge

A customer brought in a very unusual quarter sawn oak server with a mirror that needed to be fully restored. He had received the piece from his mother when he was in his late teens in very poor condition. To his credit he didn’t try to “restore” it himself and had the foresight to hold onto the piece to have it properly restored someday. The piece had some major problems - the quarter sawn oak veneer on the server top along with large pieces of veneer on the mirror frame were missing, as well as a number of areas where the veneer had delaminated. Fortunately, many of the parts were still in good condition, such as the case, the curved doors, and the very detailed carvings on the large bottom drawer and legs.

The Solution

Restoring this piece required a considerable amount of work to make it presentable and usable again. A new quarter sawn oak veneer skin was obtained and glued to the top along with the mirror frame to replace what was missing. The veneer work on these parts was quite involved, but a process we had the experience to handle. There was also a significant amount of loose veneer that had to be glued back down on the drawer fronts and other areas. The mirror frame also needed to be rebuilt and proper back support sticks made to secure it.

The Results

The customer was thrilled to see this very unique piece of furniture restored back to the highly detailed and finely crafted piece of furniture it had been. Normally, a server of this size is much simpler in design and doesn't have the ornate caliber of work involved that this piece had. The case, top, drawer fronts, and doors had a very tight grain and heavy ray flake pattern to the quarter sawn oak making this a standout piece. The curved doors and detail on the large bottom drawer are quite unusual – it’s a beautiful and artfully crafted piece of furniture. The piece evoked a special memory for the customer of his mother’s gift and he was very happy he waited for the right time and place to have it restored. The server was unlike any piece we had seen before, but it was truly a treat be able to restore such a beautiful piece.