Keeping busy during covid19 Lockdown
Some five months into Covid 19, let us not dwell too much on what governments should have or should not have done. Rather let the focus be on the ‘new normal’. Every aspect of our lives will enter a phase of a ‘new normal’. This might already sound like a cliche nonetheless I am not going to re-invent a phrase that is self-explanatory. The initial stages of the lock-downs were about survival and essential commodity procurement, including cigarettes and alcohol. Yes, many of us have entered the illicit underworld of sourcing restricted items at exorbitant prices.
Social distancing is going to be and will remain very much part of this ‘new normal’ for a long time to come and as we come under threat from new viruses this is just going to become a way of life. We have all learned and are busy acquiring new skills. We are learning that an environment of lower consumption and therefore reduced production is already showing signs of a healthier world. We all need to learn to consume less and dispose of and dump less. We must find creative ways to put our time to good use.
In this and future articles I am going to share some of what I did during the lock-down to keep busy, keep sane and importantly keep healthy. I have a great deal of materials for projects I want to tackle but was limited in that I could not purchase the materials needed to complete anything. I had to make do with what was available. I had a piece of old painted furniture that needed restoration and re-purposing. I spent some time planning the process and then without any assistance, I used a bit of math, science and logic to unload this piece and got to work on modifying and restoring
There are different schools of thought about restoring antiques. Most importantly one must remember that less is more. Try to do the least possible to take it back closest to its original and historical self. Try not to tamper with the patina. Any repairs need to be made using original and matching materials and hardware.
Try to avoid modern oils and varnishes and stick to traditional wax maintenance. Also try as much as possible to limit electrical sanders and heat strippers. These damage the natural patina and structure of the wood. There was a period were many pieces were just painted to hide damages and blemishes and resulted in many coats of oil based coloured paints and primers. This was the case with the piece that I was about to tackle, and I had little choice but to resort to some extreme measures but also used the traditional stripping methods. A sharp wood-carving knife, a planer blade and broken pieces of glass with a little bit of heat go a long way to getting rid of the worst of the paint. Time and elbow grease are the most important ingredient of a project like this. Both we have in abundance during these times.
Enjoy your DIYing and above all…stay safe. Any comments and questions…just “Ask Dave”
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