I'm watching this whilst my wife watches Strictly Come Dancing on the TV. Thank gawd for all these generous craftsmen who generously post their videos. This channel is brilliant! Right now it's the only barrier to gibbering insanity!
I cannot see how anyone can give Tom a thumbs down. He is the absolute best on RU-vid for furniture restoration. He also is an amazing videographer and narrator of his work. Thanks Tom for all your efforts.
Who knew "🍒 cherry " could look so stunning? The grains on the drawer fronts are to die for! Love this piece and the details that you restored so beautifully. Thanks for this today, Tom
An absolute delight watching you perform your magic Tom. Such care and consideration to every piece you conserve is pure joy to watch. Thank you so much Tom.
Magic Tom. Was a much-loved character on kid’s TV growing up near Montreal in the 60’s. Thanks for the memories! Also kudos to this Magic Tom and all the transformations we see step by step. If only we could match his work !
I discovered your UTube channel about a year ago. You remind me of my Dad with your methodical and meticulous approach to your restorations. Dad would always tell me that if I was going to do something, do it right the first time. He was ahead of his time. In the early 1950's, he wanted to build a house for our family. He had no extensive formal education having to leave school after the 8th grade to support the family; but, he was a reader! Popular Mechanics and Popular Science were his go-to material. He built that house with cutting edge additions such as Circuit Breaker panels and copper plumbing. It was made of concrete block and stands today. He taught me woodworking, plumbing, engine repair electrical, whatever. I really enjoy watching your restorations. Keep up the outstanding videos and lessons to those aspire to being restorers.
Not only is this a Masterpiece of skilled restoration, Tom... but it is a quietly stunning piece of furniture design and use of the grain. Your in-situ photos are lovely, and dear Ella is as sweet as ever. The birds are always the cherries on top! TEN STARS ... Barry
You have respect for wood and patience for details to recover the beauty dimmed by time and circumstance. I enjoy seeing the grain and color revealed-it looks like a mini miracle. 🤩
The skill and patience that you gave to the detail of the repairs are remarkable both in technique and final result. Your finishing processes allow the beautiful grain to lend its WOW once again to the finished piece. Another beautiful creation of the artist's eye and the craftsman's hand! Thanks!
I find your videos so rewarding. I learn a little tidbit every time and all those tidbits really start to accumulate. I specifically like it when you change your mind like deciding to redo the tape and then move to the corner. It seems trivial, but that sort of inner monologue decisions are where the real knowledge can come from. Basically any time you make a choice to not use a specific material, product, or technique and you say why that's when my ears perk up to listen closely. It's just as valuable if not more valuable to me than when you talk about the thing you end up choosing. Anyway, thank you for this trove of knowledge as well as just a soothing experience.
Hey Tom, I so much appreciate you answering my comments. My last comment you said you consider your work more of a trade than an art. Watching you refinish this project has more than not convinced me that you are an ARTIST at your Trade. The care of detail that you put into grain matching, stain matching, shape and look, and EVERYTHING else you do convinces me you are an artist at your trade. I learn so much watching you and appreciate your attention to detail. However, I do not think anyone could replicate what you do. All the best, Ben Scott
@@debkeyworth8429 it's called "Can Tom find a match" or something very close to that. If you click on his name next to where it says "subscribe" above it takes you to his page on the channel and its the second video down. Hope this helps, I'm a bit of a techno-ignoramus so I don't know how to provide an actual link 😂
The missing lower pieces and especially the way you fixed that half knob was so enlightening. Thank you Master Tom for the continues education you give to us !!!
@@janetdupree6353 I believe I have watched all of Master Toms videos and still every time there's something new in them... thanks for the recommendation Janet
I come back to this channel from time to time. I think i ve seen all the episodes but i like to rewatch them as well. This is a dying trade in this era of electronics and virtual living ! Love the man, the knowledge, the patience and the slow rate. Thank you Sir for sharing your passion.
Where would we be with out RU-vid?. Learning at the dinner table behind our laptops ( me in Beijing China) and thinking about the ways it is done by a professional furniture restaurateur who is explaining us that it is a 150 grid gold sand paper and handing furniture like no mover can ever do with out braking it. Incredible things happen on the internet. Thomas Johnson , thank you for all the beautiful weekends specially in dark times like this.
@@DaleDix We must be roughly the same age then. I respectfully disagree. The same kind of human nonsense has been going on for centuries, it's just that now we can find out about it so much more quickly. I've found all kinds of positive communities and things to learn/be involved in/make that I never would have found without the web. My life is definitely the richer for it.
I love your work and videos so much, thanks to you I was able to fix some scratches on my brand new couch, and NOBODY has been able to find the spots I fixed, I mixed different stains and everything, thank you so so much! 😊
I love watching you work. So much of what you do is similar to what I have done in my 50 yrs of woodworking. Some of your tools are even the same. Think carefully about how to structure your retirement. I had to downside and that caused me to loose my shop. I miss it a lot. Thanks again, you are a true master.
Beautiful job. By the way, showing the finished furniture in a home setting, rather than simply in the workshop, really shows them off in the best possible way.
Another great repair/restoration. one of the things that impressed me was how well the double sided tape held under the pressure of being rasped, filed and sanded. it always impresses me how well all of your tape "hinges" hold up, and under protection during glue ups between pieces of wood etc. I keep waiting to hear "uh oh" but never seem to hear that . once again Tom great job on the chest. and above al in video setups it would all be for naught, if we could not see up close the camera work that gives us the insight to what is going on well done. and thanks for sharing.
You're welcome! I appreciate you viewing and commenting all these years. And yes, I have even double-sticked pieces together and turned them on the lathe!
Thank you so much for this video. My coffee got completely cold while I watched it, the video was so entrancing. You show such respect for these old pieces.
I love your channel and only think I would change is at the end to show the beginning compared to the end result. It’s been to long since I saw what it looked like when you received it. You are amazing and patient!!
Yuppers,Anne. I kind of need the before and afters, not just a long shot, but also of the biggest repair spots. Most people thinkrestoration is just a"little sanding then slap on a coat of varnish". He shows us nothing could be further from the truth. Lots of work
I've seen other restoration in other channels but they don't come near to the real restoratios that you graciously show us. Your style is beyond compare. Ella looks beautiful next to this piece. 😍
What a beautiful chest. Sorry about the dowels not being stained first. That was my fault. I tried to warn you but evidently I didn't yell at my TV loudly enough for you to hear me.
I love the practical perfectionist you are. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience in your head and your “clever hands”. Thank you so much for sharing!
Beauty of the wood grain shows up at the end. I watch most of your videos twice and learn a ton. Love the wild life snippets and ALWAYS love seeing Ella lounging about. Thanks Tom!
Your commitment to slowing down, paying attention to detail, and doing it right make your videos a necessity for anyone under the age of 50, in any field!
I just wanted to let you know how things are going since I completed my five dining room chairs. I am trying my best to be as calm and patient as you when working on my projects. Not at the level of doing a video just yet due to language issues but doing better. My husband is no longer wearing ear plugs anyways. I'm trying the " I'll let that sit over night to dry" technique as that seems to work for you. I have decided possibly my issue is I don't start a project with a cup of coffee. Maybe tomorrow I'll do that and add a bit of "Bailey's" for luck. If that doesn't work I might be relegated to getting a black dog to hang out with. On the plus side I did have success repairing three pieces of veneer on an old china cabinet door I found needing a home just to see if I could do it. It needs to dry overnight about four days before I attempt to match the stain. Making progress!!!
Hey Sammy Jo**† I need that fast cup in the morning too. Due to tremors, making it was getting to be Too difficult. Look up JAVY coffee essence. Now I just run the water through pot and add 2teaspoons and TaDum!! Coffee, so I can do some serious video watching. It's foolproof and tasty. ! Keep watching!!😊😊😊
I’m watching on my iPad. At 36:17 I wanted to pause the video, then drew my hand back in horror, as I honestly thought I’d left my fingerprints in the varnish 😂 Good job as usual, Tom. I’m in awe, as always.
What a transformation you are the master just curious how many hours in that piece my guess is 100 , thank you so much I learn a bunch every time I watch !!
The grain on the drawers specifically is absolutely beautiful. Lovely piece of furniture. I’ve learnt so much about wood etc. watching your videos. Particularly just how much veneer was used, how the construction may have been far better and more solid than modern stuff, but the inside wood was actually anything but nice! A bit like wearing a ratty old house dress under a fur coat!!! Antiques cost thousands in the UK, but I think you pay for the workmanship rather than the materials. Hugs to Ella.
"the inside wood was actually anything but nice" Horses for courses. The inside structure provides strength - it has to be straight grained and joined solidly. The outside veneer provides beauty - the curlier the better. And since the veneer covers the outside and that's all anyone sees... who cares what the inside looks like! If you want to see really 'nasty' wood, look at the backs of 18th century and earlier pieces: since their only function was to add a little bit of structural strength and to keep dust out, they'd never be seen and they didn't need joining as they would be nailed on... pretty much anything would do! "you pay for the workmanship rather than the materials." You pay for both - wood of good constructional quality was quite expensive as rough lumber, but only a fraction of the cost of showy veneers or exotic species.
.....I just cannot get over the transformation. It's the drawer fronts. The wood is so beautiful and the patches on the case so carefully blended in they're unnoticeable. Another beauty restored!
As someone who really enjoys your videos for the excellent, quality work you do, I have to say, please drop the click-baity thumbnails. Your tribe will follow you without them, and in my opinion they cheapen your videos. Such gimmicky phrases like "Wait...what?" risk putting your videos in the same category as any other woodworking or restoration channel, and you are definitely not just any woodworker. Forget the algorithm and just keep doing what you do best and we'll keep tuning in!
Thanks! You are right and that would be my preference. But keep in mind that we make these videos to be seen, and the "clickbait" thumbnails have doubled my viewership. Go figure
@@johnsonrestoration well, I suppose it is a small price to pay for the sake of sharing what is undoubtably some of the best restoration woodworking on RU-vid. Thanks for being honest and keep up the great work - you are a treasure!
That bookmatched veneer!!! ::swoon:: I love that some of it's history is still evident. I recently scored a1930s mahogany sewing cabinet and have restored it to use with what I've learned from you. (it didn't need anywhere near the work this chest did!) At some point someone traced off a sewing pattern with a dressmaker's wheel on top of the cabinet. I probably could have sanded out those marks, but chose to leave them since they show that it was a working cabinet, not just a display piece. I can't thank you enough for sharing your art with us!
Well done - both on the restoration (we need more recycle and re-use!) and on leaving the marks: they are part of the history and totally relevant to the original use!
Great project and your knob/string discovery has solved a problem I have! I have an 18th century primitive candle stand with a stripped wooden height adjustment peg that now works, and I didn't have to damage or alter it in any way, so thank you! What a great job you did on that dresser, stunning!
Terrific channel and one example after another for why your craft is so special. Great to see the, ‘Ole Girl’ check in during each episode. She looks so proud next to those beautiful pieces of art you turn out.
Beautiful. You have to use every skill set in your large tool chest. What a complicated project. Thanks so much for sharing and also letting us see it in the owner's house. Always look forward to your postings.
I spent my entire working life doing everything in a rush and it's wonderful to see a true craftsman working in a such a refreshingly different way - with such care, skill and patience. A joy to watch and such a pleasure to see the beauty of the wood revealed.
