Restoring an Antique Federal Secretary - Thomas Johnson Antique Furniture Restoration 

Mr Johnson’s videos should be part of the treatment plan for people suffering from anxiety and stress. Not only will it relax them but also show the value of patience and calmness. Truly phenomenal work. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Fifty four minutes twenty seven seconds of shear joy, you had me mesmerised from the beginning to the end. I can’t think of anyone but you that could make such a long restoration video and keep it so fascinating all the way through. Watching you create the mouldings with hand chisels reinforced the fact we are watching a master at work. Thank you very much indeed.

Tom, Absolutely an amazing restoration. This has to be one of the best restoration videos you have produced...patience on parade. Thanks

Tom, you are a national treasure. I can't imagine the proud owners reaction to seeing their desk restored to its' former glory. Your attention to detail is beyond belief. Bravo!!!

Lovely job. The most important lesson I've learned from your efforts is...don't move antique furniture!

That was absolutely spectacular. There's nothing more that I can say. Thank you for what you do and for sharing your work with us.

It is always a pleasure watching a master craftsman do their magic.

People complain when quality work costs a lot of money, but when you hear 115 hours for a restoration, it makes a lot more sense. Beautiful, authentic work Tom. You saved a destroyed piece of history.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson for these awesome videos. It's always a pleasure to watch you work. It calmes me down and gives me some inner peace. I don't know much about working with wood, but I enjoy how it comes back together and these beautiful pieces of furniture come back to life.

Nearly a full hour of sheer bliss! It is an honor to receive such valuable instruction from a true master. Thank you!

Hey thanks for the ending shot in situ. Looks especially great in that lovely house.

If they ever decide to award an Emmy for these types of videos you are a shoe in to win. Great work.

An hour (almost) of Tom Johnson!!! Whoopee!!!!! Keep ‘em coming. These videos just make my day, you are such a pleasure to watch!

You are the master of your domain and I envy that. Nobody leaves piles of stuff, moves your tools, ruins your edges... Count your blessings, sir.

Appreciate the sound quality of this video. No music, just the sounds of a craftsman at work.

A masterclass in furniture restoration Tom, thank you!

Oh my goodness what a wonderful treat I woke up to today! 😊 This was an awesome video! I enjoyed this immensely! You are wonderful, such great talent sir! This was pure pleasure to watch. .. I absolutely love these longer videos! You are the best on RU-vid hands down! I'm sure I say that on every video you post! But I just can't say it enough! Take care Tom, and see you on the next video you post! 😊 💕 👍👍👍

Here is another masterpiece of videography and patient restoration of past excellence. This one is unrestrained by time so detail can preside. One more delight from a favorite master of wood. I wonder how the original creator would view this renewal and its respect for first efforts. It would be a joy to hear his thoughts as he watched.

Outstanding work! I am slowly restoring an oak dining set with sideboard from 1910. I hope it makes my great grandparents proud. Your work and attention to detail is my inspiration. Thank you.

absolutely first rate editing and pacing of this video.....the restoration was fun to watch....no excess of talk or any kind of showboating.....the excellent craftsmanship spoke for itself and was the star of the show..........well done all around.

It is marvelous to watch a true craftsman at work. Thank you. Beautiful work.

That may have been the most impressive restoration I have seen, Well done Thomas.

Masterful. Could watch you all day. Please do more of these, especially with eighteenth century pieces.

I LOVE what you do! I believe you hold the world record on the number of clamps owned !

Beautiful ... Amazing .... Impossible..... ....... ........ ........ You are gifted with patience , I am really impressed.

Wow! such a great work - wish that all your footage were this detailed and long. Yes, I know it's insane. Thanks a lot for sharing - Greetings from São Paulo - Brazil.

If anyone ever complains why restoring antique furniture is expensive have them look at this hehe, all the patience, attention to details, reproducing the shape and color as well as using the right materials, etc... and the long waits between the glue sets up and all. Hehe what an amazing work! Not many people would have the patience :)

I was thinking in the Middle Ages you would have been the farrior that fixed the hooves on the King's horses. Where one little file off and his horse would be lame. All of the knights would beg you to look at their horses before the joust or crusade. You would also have had time to invent the piano hinge or something in your blacksmithing area. In more modern times a heart or brain surgeon. What ever time it takes to do it right, you would do what you could for the patient and also be a mentor to your residents. You would go around everyday and tell your patients a joke of the day. But I think you are happiest as a restorer of special items that mean so much to other people. The fact that you can explain it to me and it makes total sense is miraculous. Luckily you have a video recording of your talent for us to enjoy. I keep coming back to your channel.

I so appreciate your skill and taking the time to clearly video record the sequence and techniques involved in your work. There are many of us out here with much if not all of the same tools working at being better in their use.

Thank you for that extended treat! A tour de force of craftsmanship (and tons of video editing, too, I'm sure).

I was so mesmerized by you and your detailed work on this Antique Cabinet. You Restore this Beautiful Piece to perfection. Simply AMAZING! Thank You for your Work and Sharing it with the rest of Us.

Fantastic job Tom. Great craftmanship. Thanks for taking me along. You show great patience and skill with this piece. Quite an undertaking!

looks pretty good …… dude it looks magnificent do not sell yourself short its a triumph, you have a serious talent sir and you should rightly stand up and take a bow superb

You did a beautiful job! It seems like the most complicated and time consuming piece I have seen you do. I'm glad you mentioned the hours it took. I was wondering and thinking it must be very valuable to put that much time into it. It certainly looked gorgeous adjacent to the stairway. Very well done!

Imagine the panic in the eyes of the owner when those doors crashed and shattered. Another master class by the expert! Great video Tom; really enjoyed it.

I had forgotten what the Secretary's Desk looks like. I haven't seen one in years. Thank you for sharing your work with us. Merry Christmas.

As ever Tom, amazing workmanship...Thanks for posting... Dave

Absolutely amazing workmanship ,I never get tired of watching you working..!..!

It is a nice touch to explain the number of hours that went into this project. The delivery of the finished product helps too. I can only imagine how happy that owner is today after the horrible feeling of seeing that secretary top all in bits and pieces after the crash. Thanks for a delightful hour, interrupted by only one phone call.

Those doors - what a finicky, jigsaw puzzle nightmare. I think of the craftsmen in their shops making this furniture only with hand tools. They would be happy to see such meticulous and respectful restorations done. Just stunning.

Well that was simply wonderful , What a great job you have prolonging the life and rejuvenating these wonderful pieces of human history . If only they could speak imagine the tales they could tell . Great video again thank you from France .

It is my good luck to see the real life lesson of persist-ency .You are real hero .

Hey Tom.Greetings from another Tom.I have been making stained glass for the last 26 years and had my share of damaged doors to deal with.I have never seen old putty removed with a heat gun.We use a hack out knife, a thick bladed knife that you can bash on the back of,like a chisel.As long as you go with the grain,old putty just flakes off in big sections...usually.With heat you risk thermally cracking the glass.When glass cutting, also get a jar lid, cut a piece of cloth, and soak it in WD-40 or machine oil.Dip your glass cutter in the oil before each score.It makes a huge difference in glass cutting cleanly.I love the fact that you often have band-aids on your fingers.Welcome to the club.My work day usually only really begins when the first blood is drawn.Love your videos.I am learning new stuff all the time.

Wow I never get enough of your restorations.

WOW!! That is gorgeous!!! Love your work!!!

Sir, as always a great and beautiful job!! It's so satisfying to see you working, how you aproache all the different issues and fix them. Thank you for sharing your art!! 👍👍

You don't overlook any detail and it took you around 115 hours of work to finish this. No way that you got paid what the job is actually worth. But for us it isn't the money. It's the passion. To take an old beaten piece and bring it back to it's former glory is compensation in itself. Thanks for posting. You are a true master of the art.

It was great meeting you in person today in downtown Norway. You are as patient with strangers approaching you in public as you are with your repairs. Thanks for all the great videos! I now have a life supply of oxalic acid in my shop.

Another excellent video Tom. I always learn something new with every piece I repair, your knowledge and skill has helped me a lot, thank you...

I love your work, I love restoration work. It's saving history. I watch a lot of art restoration videos too. I also think it's wonderful that you salvage stuff and reuse it. Such as with the glass.

I didn't skip one second and I'll watch it again for sure! great video, it's always a pleasure to see a master at work

Every vid I watch….it’s magic! I’m binge watching, but in no particular order!

Thomas, you are a genius. Fantastic video with an enormeous educational value. Thanks for sharing. A nice weekend and rgds from Germany, Robert

Woooooow it's a lot of work but you always do an excellent job 👌👌👌👌👌👌👌👌

I don't think you'll ever succeed in boring us, no matter how long you make your video. I had to wait for friday night so I could sit in front of a fire and watch the whole thing but enjoyed ever minute.

You broke down the repairs to a thousand small jobs. each one a skilled learned over time by a true Master Craftsman. Bravo Sir.

Great work Young Thomas!

Really nice job. You do interesting work. Thank you for your time in producing the video. I'm glad I subscribed to your channel. Take care and God bless.

Incredibly exacting and painstaking work, Tom. You must've long ago acquired the confidence that there is no restoration challenge you cannot rise to meet. Watching you work inspires confidence.

wow.. this was definitely one of the best restoration video's Mr. Johnson has put out..

Did I detect a poor paw? This has to be a huge labour of love, the original builder had a much easier time than you! 115 hours!!!!!

I love how you have those chunks of amazing close grain mahogany just laying around the shop. Do you disassemble old/unsavable pieces as a source for these?

My aunt had that very secretary desk. She in inherited from my grandmother. You restored it beautifully! There was no eagle though. That was a knob the shape of the top piece cut outs. Thanks for the memories! I got into all kinds of trouble for playing with Hummels in that cabinet, and playing with all the secret cubbies in the desk!

Hard to argue with that. First class work. The easier you make it look, the more difficult it probably is. Great job.

RESCUE 911 - “Is the patient still breathing?” CALLER - “Yes but barely- Better call Thomas Johnson”

Bandsaw is subtitled as [music].

Tom such a joy to watch you restore these priceless furniture. You are a rare kind!! Thank you for sharing your generations of experience with us!!

Yes I am going back into the archives so this post comes well past when you completed it. I want to comment how amazing the work was on this book case. There was a lot of damage, missing parts, broken glass, you name it. I learn a lot by watching these videos and your videography and comments are excellent.

Tom what can I say that hasn't been said below? Masterchraftsmanship at it's best. patience ,persistence , I love it when you encounter a problem ,and reach into your memory bag of experience and tricks to pull out a solution. and it always seems to work, and work well. Your respect for the builder and his work shows. and I am eternally grate full for the knowledge and pleasure you have given me and all who watch Thank you.

After completing my PhD, i will come to meet you.

Wow - three months - that really doesn't surprise me for the amount of finite work that you accomplished. Again, Excellent!

Master craftsmanship is always a joy to behold ...

Such exquisite craftsmanship! And another beautiful piece restored. Not one boring second in the whole video!

Tom you make me smile every time you say at the end it looks pretty good. It Don't look pretty good it looks bloody marvelous

Great job Tom , I noticed that you needed a vast array of skills to accomplish this repair . This is where years of experience comes into play , well done and thanks for sharing.

It's simply amazing how you bring back the beauty to a damaged antique.

No words, just words of admiration , bravo!👏👏👏👏👍👍👍

I agree with Mark Harris outstanding job I love watching you do you magic. Inspired craftsmanship is a joy to behold. Thank you

Thank you. I have learned so much. You strike a very good balance between narration and just watching your work with tools.

All the kings horses and all the kings men could have put that back together. Thank You for making it even harder by doing video at the same time! With much respect Jim

I love watching you work. Such patience and detail.

Simply amazing restauration! I wish I could sit in the corner of this man's workshop to watch and learn!

Couldn't believe it when I saw the video's duration. What a gem to watch.

You never cease to amaze me! Your meticulous working to be envied. Thank you for another great video!

You are the Bob Ross of furniture. I can have your videos on in the background all day, and when I am actively watching the video I am learning something new every minute. You are a master of your art, thanks for videographing your work for all of us to enjoy and learn about your craftsmanship!

I love watching your videos and the seeing the quality of your restorations. You are very informative, as well. It's not very often that I would feel like sitting through an hour long RU-vid video, but there's never a moment of boredom.

I'm fairly certain that if Tom Johnson narrated an hour long video on The Art of Watching Glue Dry, thousands of us would sit enthralled, taking in every word of wisdom. Another fascinating video, thanks for sharing. I've decided that "looks pretty good" is the same as, here in England, we would say "looks bloody amazing".

WOW! Fabulous job! What a beautiful piece. I would've loved to have seen the owner's reaction when you delivered it.

A true master at work! Dude, you are amazing

It's a thing of beauty Tom! Just love watching your skillfulness, thank you for sharing!

What an amazing job , well done . Thank you for sharing your expertise and years of experience so readily , much appreciated . 45 dislikes ,very confusing what planet are they from .

Just wow! You literally gave the piece back its life. Very nice job and excellent instructional documentation!

What a gorgeous piece of furniture there in the last shot. Fantastic episode. Lots of problems to solve. Thanks!

It is a pleasure to follow all the restoration videos that are on your channel ... you are a great artist in your work ... congratulations

So happy to see your video notification. Another fine restoration you did here. First time I ever noticed your planer, that's a fine machine. 2 things I knew would happen was that I'd learn something and it would look...pretty good!

I think it looks pretty good ! You are amazing with the work you do. Please make more videos as I learn so much from you. Thanks so much.

I usually enjoy these videos, reveling in the calm, the skill and the artistry, but this one had me feeling really fricken anxious! It was so broken, so many parts, so much that could have gone disastrously wrong. DUDE! Wonderful job. Who'd have thought a restoration video could give a man an adrenalin rush 😆

Hi Thomas, good morning. I am José de Lisbon Portugal and I am completely addicted to your videos. I am passionate about restoring wood and in my free time I like to recover furniture and old chairs. I'm sorry I'm not close to you, I think I'd spend the days at your side to learn your great art. I wanted to hug him and wish him the most success. I learn every day with you. Greetings from Lisbon. Jose Carlos

Agree with Dan. Some of your best work. Love the detail you provided. I have learned so much from you. Thank you.

Love watching your table saw setups using the good piece to create the replacement pieces.