Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

it is possible to share some facilities. The workshop
described assumes that the upholstery
conservator is working with no access to a textile
conservation facility.
The space required is determined, to a
degree, by the largest piece of upholstered furniture
it is envisaged that the workshop is
likely to undertake; if beds and hangings are to
be treated, height will be a priority. There
should be sufficient access to the object to
approach it from all angles for treatment. The
doors and work spaces should be large enough
for easy manoeuvrability of the objects. Some
consideration should be given to the necessity
of treating suites of furniture rather than pieces
in isolation. Sufficient space for essential
equipment and materials storage should be
allowed since upholstery materials are often
bulky. Frames may also require storage and
dust covering while upholstery elements are
being treated. As a guide, 75 square metres
(approximately 800 square feet) has been
found to be sufficient for two full-time upholstery
conservators with occasional student projects
being included in the space. Equipment
should be as versatile as possible to keep the
space fluid and adaptable to purpose. Floors
should be tiled throughout with a solventresistant,
non-slip material. Lighting requirements
are discussed below.
The dust area Work undertaken in this area
includes all dust-creating operations:
• Preliminary investigation of objects before
treatment
• Removal of covers
• Vacuum cleaning of covers and upholstery
under-structures
• Conservation of existing upholstery understructure
and complete re-upholstery
• Preparation of substructures (e.g. machine
tooling expanded polyethylene forms,
wood sub-frames).
The area should be partitioned off and have a
separate entrance from the adjacent areas. A
suitable dust extraction system will reduce the
risk of dust migration into clean areas.
The clean area This area is primarily used for
the conservation of extant upholstery removed
from its frame and ‘top cover’ work. Work
undertaken in this area includes:
Conservation preliminaries 413
• Preparation of removed materials for wet
and dry cleaning treatments, e.g. dye and
fibre tests, sandwiching textiles in net and
making templates of covers.
• Actual conservation work of removed textiles,
e.g. re-attaching loose areas.
• Re-applying conserved covers to the prepared
upholstery.
• Preparing documentation reports and photography.
• Storage of conservation materials and tools.
The wet area This area to be used for the wet
cleaning and drying of covers, foundation
materials and fillings and for cane and rush
seating. An isolated area with fume/moisture
extraction is needed for dyeing support fabrics
and threads. It is also useful for scouring fabrics
used in conservation (support fabrics or
replacement/additional upholstery layers). If
no access to a laboratory is available, space
within this area may be reserved for wet chemical
work.
Metalworking area
It is possible to get away with very small
amounts of work on non-ferrous metals in the
environment described for woodwork but it is
inadvisable and unsafe to undertake more than
this amount of work unless a separate metalworking
area is available. In particular, ferrous
metalwork and woodwork do not mix well.
Sparks from metalworking operations and from
metal swarf may ignite wood dusts and the two
are not permitted to share extraction facilities.
Finely divided iron and steel interact with some
timbers to stain them a blue–black colour.
Metalworking activities that may be required
in support of furniture conservation include
tool-making and repair or replacement of furniture
fixtures and fittings. A forge for soldering,
brazing, annealing and tempering metal
items is needed if this kind of work is to be
undertaken. An acid bath will also be needed
for removal of fire scale. A metal-turning lathe,
drill press, grindstone and buffing wheel are
also very commonly used items of equipment
that should be accommodated. For sheet
metalwork, a range of dollies and stakes and a
firm bench in which to fix them is desirable.
Metal casting is a more specialist activity that is
nevertheless undertaken by a few furniture
conservators who have found it worthwhile to