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SAGE Furniture Restoration Workshop

Restore your furniture—while helping your community!

Do you need a chair caned or rushed? Does a table need a new leg? The volunteer craftspeople at our Furniture Repair Workshop can help.

Since 1961, the SAGE Furniture Restoration Workshop has offered the public fine-quality furniture restoration. The Workshop has earned a reputation for its fine reweaving of cane chairs. Pricing is reasonable, based upon the condition of the furniture item and the materials and labor necessary for its restoration. All funds received for Workshop services benefit the programs and services of SAGE.

The Workshop began as a place for older men who no longer had access to a home workbench. Today, most of the men and women who volunteer are former professionals including investment bankers, college professors, physicians and scientists. Many have never worked with their hands but have learned from each other caning, rushing and other restoration techniques. New volunteers with basic skills and a love of craftsmanship are always welcome—please visit!

CHAIR SEAT REPAIRS
Has the bottom fallen out of your chair? Is its caning no longer able? Don’t take it sitting down! Our expert craftspeople make fine repairs on beloved chairs!

Rushing
Two types of rushed seats are commercially available: natural and fiber rush. We use the more durable craft fiber rush, which is easier to work with and less costly than the natural.

Hand Caning
Because this craft is very time consuming, we are limited in how much work we can accept.

To determine whether your chair can be re-seated in a less costly machine cane, look at the pictures carefully. Note that the hand cane has a series of closely spaced holes at the material edge. Fine cane binds an edging material to the chair through each of the holes.

Machine Caning
Machine woven cane looks exactly like hand cane, however it has a continuous edging with no visible holes.

Splint Weaving
Home made country chairs in the early years were often finished with a bottom of thinly split hardwood strips woven into a simple pattern. We do re-seating today using splint from the inner core of the rattan plant. The result is a very durable and economical seat with a country look.

FURNITURE REPAIR
We will consider repair of almost any piece of furniture or other wooden item. We invite you to bring a piece in for evaluation. If you feel your job may be out of the ordinary, a phone call ahead would be in order.

There are occasions when we decline a job: if the work is beyond our capabilities, or if the piece is too valuable for handling other than by a highly qualified and insured professional furniture restorer.

Our typical repair job involves a wobbly chair with perhaps a broken or missing part.

The repair process for such an item involves:
Disassembly of the piece as far as is practical. Secure joints are not separated.
Old glue is removed from mating surfaces to ensure good adhesion of new glue.
Broken parts are re-assembled without glue to ensure a tight fit.
Parts are assembled with glue and then clamped.
After glue dries there is a light clean-up of the piece. Small nicks and scratches are covered by spot application of stain or stain pencil. With prior arrangement with the owner more extensive finishing would be done