The Black Sheep are finished!

The Black Sheep are now sold and living happily in Raglan.  However - read on!  We can do the same for your suite, or supply one for you...

If you scroll down (and down, and down...) you can find the ongoing story of the black sheep.  Well, they are finished, and here they are.

These guys started as dumpster refugees and have become a great example of what can be done with a bit of hard work.  OK, six months of varying degrees of application and then three weeks of concentrated effort.

As a reminder, here's how the used to look (those easily frightened should avert their eyes at this point...)

Anyway, the black sheep became an experiment - a test bed for various techniques as we trialled the ways to refinish the timberwork.  We think we have got it right with this suite - its a combination of special paint stripper, lots of sanding, hand-rubbed danish oil and a finishing polish (twice actually).

This is all done with the pieces completely dismantled - every single piece is individually refinished and then the whole unit is reassembled.




This means we had to learn how to properly reglue all those joints.  Clue for starters - PVA is not the product of choice.  We eventually learnt that you can't avoid using relatively high cost professional products ful of nasty chemicals.  In this case, Resorcinol glue.  This is a two-pack product that is commonly used by boat-builders and furniture makers - for good reason.  Its waterproof, and sticks like the proverbial devil's dumplings to the nocturnal furniture cover...

You need a LOT of sash clamps as well!

We've also learned that in almost all cases - replace the hardware.  Its thirty years old after all.  So new spring hangers and eyes go onto everything.

Now we can do the upholstery.  All the fabric we use is upholstery weight - not curtain fabric not heavy apparel stuff, real upholstery.  Every piece is overlocked to bind the edges against any fraying, and then machined to individually fit the cushion foams.  The result is a great fit and long life.

Less swearing too eh Jos...

And here is the result...