Woods Major

Friday, October 31, 2008

Victorian Furniture

Victorian Furniture

Some of the most spectacular furniture in the world is of the Victorian genre. There really no mystery here; the Victorian era gave us some of the biggest artistic advances in the history of the world, so naturally one would expect that a lot of stunning designs would be of the Victorian furniture type. Whether you are interested in Victorian bedroom furniture or any other type of Victorian style furniture, there is definitely a lot to go around. The good news is that the designers have not forgotten the roots of Victorian furniture and even today are able to create stunning masterpieces in the style of the greatest pieces of antique Victorian furniture.
The Good Points
Victorian reproduction furniture is created in the style of original Victorian furniture but tends to be more cost effective. The reason for this is that in reproduction, Victorian furniture pieces are not subject to the same use of expensive materials. Kimball Victorian furniture, for example, can either be genuine or reproductive and the price will vary accordingly. This makes it very easy on the pocketbook to purchase Victorian reproductions. Furniture pieces are available for all over the house, including Victorian built-in furniture that can be assembled as is once you get it into your house; this serves to make things more convenient for both the consumer and the deliverer.
Unfinished Victorian living room furniture is perhaps the most popular type of Victorian furniture purchased today not only because of the beautiful and dignified Victorian look, but also because the unfinished element gives it a more rustic appearance and this tends to appeal more to consumers than normal Victorian living room furniture. Victorian garden furniture is another example of popular Victorian furniture as it can be used with an actual flower planting scheme to give the whole garden itself a look of sheer royalty; something that is appealing to a vast number of people.
The Cost
Depending on the type of furniture you are after, the Victorian stuff can either be very cheap or very expensive. If you buy from a private dealer that does custom work then you might be able to get the normal stuff at a cheaper price than other Victorian furniture. Woodworking plans for custom designs however, are going to cost more money. Cheap Victorian furniture tends to be of the reproduction variety and while it looks the same it is not authentic Victorian material that is being used. This doesn’t bother most people looking for living room furniture, Victorian designs being very popular. If you don’t mind getting a reproduction rather than an authentic, then Victorian furniture can definitely be purchased cheaply.



This useful data was coppied from

http://woodsmajor.com/victorian_furniture.php

Types of Furniture

Types of Furniture



There are many different types of furniture in the world today. From the one of kind baby furniture that you find in custom dealerships to the mass-produced sunroom or wicker type furniture you can find in every major furniture store there are a great number of furniture types. It is important to be able to differentiate between the different types of furniture so that you know exactly what you need to buy when the time comes for you to update your furniture repertoire.
Kitchen
The kitchen is one place where you will find different styles and types of furniture; just like you would in any other room in the house. Different types of furniture such as cabinets and tiling tend to be the major decisions made in the kitchen and based on those decisions then the different appliances (fridge, stove etc.) are purchased. A table is also usually a big part of the kitchen design and different types of furniture wood should be looked at before a final decision is made.
Living Room
The living room tends to be the major decorative part of the house as it is the room that people use most often to entertain. This also makes it the most varied in terms of types of furniture used. Different types of leather furniture can be popular in the living room depending on the mood the person wants to set. Leather furniture can be difficult to maintain however so look into the different types of furniture stripper in order to help properly maintain and strip down leather furniture when necessary. Many types of leather furniture can be used in the living room or in other areas and this versatility tends to make them quite popular.
Bedroom
A lot of one of a kind furniture is available for the bedroom and people tend to show their softer and more artistic side with bedroom design. One of a kind children furniture is a place where this artistic outlet can quite often manifest itself as parents go all out to design the room of their child before that child is born. Many different types of furniture can be utilized in the bedroom and if you are interested in redecorating there is definitely a lot out there for you to look at.
Den
Depending on what the den is used for, many major furniture types can be used here including a lot of leather types. Furniture stores tend to sell a wide variety of items for the den because different families will use it in different ways. People that want to use it in a contemporary way will look for the old type of furniture whilst others might look for super comfort in different types of hotel furniture that are now on sale at many stores.



This useful data was coppied from

http://woodsmajor.com/types_furniture.php

Kitchen Furniture

Kitchen Furniture

Many people that purchase kitchen furniture nowadays seem to be in a bit of a conundrum. They are looking for discount kitchen furniture prices in order to save money on the furniture they buy but at the same time are looking for some cozy kitchen and dining room furniture in order to really make their kitchen look nice. Many people think that it is impossible for find cheap kitchen furniture that is at the same time high quality along the lines of nice contemporary kitchen furniture. It is not impossible and those are not mutually exclusive ideas. You just need to understand where to look and how to look. The idea is to find furniture kitchen renovators would like at prices you can afford.
Knowing Where To Look
The search for good kitchen furniture at decent prices starts at specialty stores. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, the average kitchen pantry furniture item at a specialty store will be of a higher quality than a similar piece of kitchen storage furniture at a big retailer and this in turn allows you to get better quality. Secondly, you are more likely to get wholesale kitchen furniture prices if you purchase whole sets at a specialty store than at a mainstream store. So always start your search at a specialty retailer and then work your way out from there.
Knowing What To Look For
Part of getting good deals knows what you want. Whether you are looking for some cozy country kitchen furniture or are looking for something with more of a foreign influence like Amish kitchen furniture, you need to understand exactly what it is you are looking for. There is nothing wrong with browsing, but browsing with no idea whatsoever is a waste of time at best and might force you into an impulse buy at worst. Browsing might result in you making the wrong choice between modern kitchen furniture and retro 50รข€™s kitchen furniture or might force you into buying wrought iron kitchen furniture on impulse that you don’t really want. There is nothing wrong with antique kitchen furniture, but if that is what you want, you need to know so beforehand so that you can save yourself a lot of time and money.
Knowing What To Pay
Market research is the only way to know for sure. When you purchase kitchen island furniture (for the island counters many kitchens have), the price should fall in a certain range depending on the style and the quality of construction. Knowing that price will allow you to know whether you are getting a bargain or not. Kitchen furniture is made by different companies and those different companies have different standards and prices. Knowing the standards and prices of different kitchen furniture companies will quickly turn you from a rookie into a savvy consumer.

This useful article is copied from

http://woodsmajor.com/kitchen_furniture.php

Friday, October 24, 2008

Office Furniture

Office Furniture

Whether you have an office at work or an office at home, it is important that the office furniture that you purchase for your office serve two functions. First and foremost, you want the office furniture to be functional in a way that allows you to accomplish your work with ease. This means that you should not have any distracting commercial office furniture, but rather styles like modular office furniture that offer a high level of functionality. In addition to functionality, you also want your executive office furniture to be comfortable. You are going to be working in your office for eight hours a day on average and whether you choose OFS office furniture or any other kind, you want it to be comfortable for you.
Units
There are many different things you need in an office; this is true whether you are after medical office furniture or else New York office furniture that would go well in an executive broker’s office. Furniture layout plans usually call for a desk, three or four chairs to go around that desk and a number of accessories like trash cans and storage spaces. There are companies that do office furniture installations that can actually build the desk right into the office, and you can also search office furniture online to find the styles and types that are good for you.
Types
Office furniture companies tend to be similar in the prices and quality they offer, but there are a few that are worth checking out specifically. Hon office furniture is known for being very cost effective, as well as very functional. Functionality is very important in office furniture, and Hon definitely delivers. ABCO office furniture also has a good reputation in providing good service for a long time and also offers frequent discount office furniture prices. These are not the only companies, but they are definitely two to check out.
When making your purchases, consider the types of office furniture you want and then go out to buy it as cheaply as possible. There is a big market for used office furniture. Houston, Texas, to Detroit, Michigan and everywhere else around the country has a number of stores that sell used office furniture. If you do your due diligence and make sure you shop around a number of office furniture outlets, you will be able to find cheap office furniture that at the same time is also good quality office furniture.
This useful article from:

Salon Furniture

Salon Furniture

You can either open a salon giving eight-dollar haircuts, or you can open a salon and charge a hundred dollars or more per cut. The difference may be a little bit about the products that you use, and you need to have the skills to make people look great, but the rest is all image, and the right salon furniture is what you need to start selling your salon profitably.
How Much?
Saloon furniture or beauty salon furniture can be very expensive. You can easily spend 50 000 dollars or more just outfitting a small salon. But the money you spend now is an investment in the future of your business, and it doesn’t make sense to limit your profit potential by buying substandard hair salon furniture.
When people walk into a salon, they notice things like the nail salon furniture and the salon furniture and equipment. Visiting the beauty salon is more than just about getting your hair cut or your nails done; at its best it's a relaxing experience that can transport your clients away from the cares of their busy lives for a few hours each month. If you can offer them that, they'll pay a high price to continue using your services.
It Needs To Feel As Good As It Looks
Salon equipment and furniture need to more than look good, it should also be very comfortable, salon spa furniture should leave your clients reluctant to leave the comfortable sanctuary of your salon. You need to achieve a delicate balance. Your salon furniture should be beautiful, and it should also offer unparalleled comfort. Get those two things right and you're well on your way to a successful salon business venture
If you’re opening on a budget, be on the lookout for salon furniture discount opportunities or used salon furniture. Get the help of a decorator to help you mange the disparate look of used salon furniture.
Pink salon furniture's and furniture and equipment for salons in other feminine colors can look great, but be careful as you don't want the cheap look of a bubble gum cute salon.
Used nail salon furniture is really French parlor transformed into home salon furniture. This is a classic look and can be quite elegant and stylish if put together well. If you don't have a strong design sense it is well worth the investment to seek the advice of a professional, after all, your look will make or break you in this competitive business.

This useful article from:
http://www.woodsmajor.com/salon_furniture.php

Sunday, October 12, 2008

CRAMPING OF RISEN TABLE TOP VENEER

CRAMPING OF RISEN TABLE TOP VENEER
By Michael Barrington


We were asked to deal with very large 30ft dining table on five four-legged platform pedestals with a top of seven leaves 6ft wide, the centre leaf measured 6ft square, two were 5ft, two 4ft and two 3ft. The leaves were veneered in rosewood on 1 inch ply and the rosewood had patinated to an attractive pale colour. A wide crossbanded kingwood, ebony, box border surrounded the table top and a vertically banded frieze with gilt 2 dee moulding hind below the leaves. The table surface had suffered considerable light damage in that the so far unidentified finish had crazed along the grain over its entire surface area and there were something like 60 places where the veneer had risen in small areas of not more than 1inch in diameter.
The table appeared to have been made in the 1930s and bore the maker's brass name plates under the leaves and on the pedestals. We had between 4 and 5 weeks to complete the project.
I needed to know what adhesive had been used to put down the veneers so phoned the maker who said they did not hold records of their furniture over three years old but that if I was right about the date, and there was no way that I could be certain, the veneer would have been put down with hide glue. I went ahead on that basis which turned out to be right or at least compatible.
Putting down the bubbles was the first job and had to be done without altering the consistently pale colour of the rosewood. The first thing we did was a trial run on bubbles close enough to the edge to enable us to use standard bar cramps. MDF 22mm cauls of various sizes, faced with melamine were made. These will not stick to the surface and MDF and melamine are good heat sinks. Some of the bubbles went straight down after a cramping time of about three hours, while others were obstinate and took two ‘goes'. More obstinate ones had to have the bubbles split with a very sharp craft knife, hot glue was puddled on and a hot caul cramped to drive in the glue. We also encouraged the molten glue to penetrate by bouncing a plastic car window squeegee on the surface like a drain plunger. The squeegees can be bought in motor accessory shops in packets of four; they were popular at the time of England's disastrous efforts in the World football for supporting St George flags on vehicles. The whole operation of putting down the bubbled veneers lasted two weeks with cutting back and re-polishing being done in tandem as each leaf was finished.
Because of the hard use this table experiences, table-top polish and its solvent, applied conventionally with a rubber was used and this was compatible with the former/original layers. The owners were warned of this in advance but had no concerns and were enthusiastic that a hard and more ring resistant type of finish was to be used. The centre areas of the five inner leaves showed signs about 2ft wide of having carried heavy silver centre pieces and candelabra, in that they bore a multitude of score marks and indentations. But such is the quality of the plywood substrate, this damage, except for one small area was veneer deep only and was easily concealed during polishing.
The majority of the bubbled areas were outside the reach of even the deepest throated cramps, so we had to make special bridges. In any case whatever cramping method we used had to cater for multiple areas of simultaneous cramping because time was not on our side. I bought a mixture of a dozen single and double cramp heads and made up two steel bridges of 6ft and 8ft. These could be cramped to the edges of the leaves at almost any angle to carry cramp heads. The cramps themselves were almost certainly of Far Eastern origin, strong but badly made in that their slots were not machined but cast with rounded throats, which prevented the cramps from standing vertically under the bridge bars. All the cramp slots had to be machined accurately in a milling machine which took some hours but was successful.

The steel bridge bars were of 40mm x 10mm black mild steel with double angle-iron "T" stands bolted to each end. One stand on each bar could be repositioned wherever it was needed. The stands were riveted together and the undersides were faced with cork and goat skin to protect the table. They were cramped to the table edges with a pair of G cramps with the bars at angles convenient to position cramps over the damaged areas. We used up to four cramps on a bridge bar at a time.

Page Coppied from
http://www.bafra.org.uk/html_pages/articles_crampingtable.html

CRAMPING OF RISEN TABLE TOP VENEER

CRAMPING OF RISEN TABLE TOP VENEER
By Michael Barrington


We were asked to deal with very large 30ft dining table on five four-legged platform pedestals with a top of seven leaves 6ft wide, the centre leaf measured 6ft square, two were 5ft, two 4ft and two 3ft. The leaves were veneered in rosewood on 1 inch ply and the rosewood had patinated to an attractive pale colour. A wide crossbanded kingwood, ebony, box border surrounded the table top and a vertically banded frieze with gilt 2 dee moulding hind below the leaves. The table surface had suffered considerable light damage in that the so far unidentified finish had crazed along the grain over its entire surface area and there were something like 60 places where the veneer had risen in small areas of not more than 1inch in diameter.
The table appeared to have been made in the 1930s and bore the maker's brass name plates under the leaves and on the pedestals. We had between 4 and 5 weeks to complete the project.
I needed to know what adhesive had been used to put down the veneers so phoned the maker who said they did not hold records of their furniture over three years old but that if I was right about the date, and there was no way that I could be certain, the veneer would have been put down with hide glue. I went ahead on that basis which turned out to be right or at least compatible.
Putting down the bubbles was the first job and had to be done without altering the consistently pale colour of the rosewood. The first thing we did was a trial run on bubbles close enough to the edge to enable us to use standard bar cramps. MDF 22mm cauls of various sizes, faced with melamine were made. These will not stick to the surface and MDF and melamine are good heat sinks. Some of the bubbles went straight down after a cramping time of about three hours, while others were obstinate and took two ‘goes'. More obstinate ones had to have the bubbles split with a very sharp craft knife, hot glue was puddled on and a hot caul cramped to drive in the glue. We also encouraged the molten glue to penetrate by bouncing a plastic car window squeegee on the surface like a drain plunger. The squeegees can be bought in motor accessory shops in packets of four; they were popular at the time of England's disastrous efforts in the World football for supporting St George flags on vehicles. The whole operation of putting down the bubbled veneers lasted two weeks with cutting back and re-polishing being done in tandem as each leaf was finished.
Because of the hard use this table experiences, table-top polish and its solvent, applied conventionally with a rubber was used and this was compatible with the former/original layers. The owners were warned of this in advance but had no concerns and were enthusiastic that a hard and more ring resistant type of finish was to be used. The centre areas of the five inner leaves showed signs about 2ft wide of having carried heavy silver centre pieces and candelabra, in that they bore a multitude of score marks and indentations. But such is the quality of the plywood substrate, this damage, except for one small area was veneer deep only and was easily concealed during polishing.
The majority of the bubbled areas were outside the reach of even the deepest throated cramps, so we had to make special bridges. In any case whatever cramping method we used had to cater for multiple areas of simultaneous cramping because time was not on our side. I bought a mixture of a dozen single and double cramp heads and made up two steel bridges of 6ft and 8ft. These could be cramped to the edges of the leaves at almost any angle to carry cramp heads. The cramps themselves were almost certainly of Far Eastern origin, strong but badly made in that their slots were not machined but cast with rounded throats, which prevented the cramps from standing vertically under the bridge bars. All the cramp slots had to be machined accurately in a milling machine which took some hours but was successful.

The steel bridge bars were of 40mm x 10mm black mild steel with double angle-iron "T" stands bolted to each end. One stand on each bar could be repositioned wherever it was needed. The stands were riveted together and the undersides were faced with cork and goat skin to protect the table. They were cramped to the table edges with a pair of G cramps with the bars at angles convenient to position cramps over the damaged areas. We used up to four cramps on a bridge bar at a time.

Page Coppied from
http://www.bafra.org.uk/html_pages/articles_crampingtable.html