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Decorative Woodwork Restoration

Bob and Patty Hettich strip paint from decorative woodwork, then make rubber molds to create new detail in a Federal style home in Charleston, South Carolina.

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Decorative Woodwork Restoration

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Patty, hi. I thought you were making a mold for us?"

" I am. I'm waiting on it to dry and while I'm waiting I'm in the process of picking these layers of paint off of this plaster-- "

" -That has got to be about the most tedious job in the world. Bob, you're starting out with many, many layers of built up paint over these rosettes on the over mantle and what you're getting to is this beautiful, original detail. Look at the sharpness in there. Can't you just use some sort of stripper on this plaster? "

" No, the only safe way of removing the paint from this plaster is by dry picking it."

" And you're using a dentist tool?"

" Yes a dental pick?"

" Yes. And just popping it out."

" Yes."

" Tedious. How long do you figure it'll take you to do this whole thing?"

" About a week."

" Yes? Well, let me interrupt you coz I really wanna learn how you make the molds for the, the missing pieces on the, on the fireplace mantle. The, the dental molding and well this is one of the, is this one of the originals?"

" Yes this is an original piece that I've taken down off of the mantle--"

" -Which is a acanthus leaf and an acorn that kind of repeats, yes. And what are you working on now?"

" We are going to pour the mold for this piece here--"

" -Now are you using the same composites that the Addams brothers would have used?"

" No. Actually we're using a 2-part urethane rubber mixture."

" Ah. What was the original made out of?"

" This is made out of Animal Hide Glue, Rabbit Hide Glue and Gilder's whiting and Linseed Oil."

" Why not go that route?"

" Because of the temperature here. There's so much humidity right here in Charleston that, it's, you're better off using a different product."

" Modern methods."

" Yes."

" Ok so how do you do it?"

" Ok. First of all we have soaked the piece so the urethane rubber will release easily--"

" -Yes."

" -I'll be putting the piece in this clay dam that I've built."

" That's just Play Doh huh?"

" Yes."

" Ok."

" And then we'll be taking the 2-part urethane mixture. The A and B mixture will be mixed together."

" Ok so now you just pour it over the, the original piece there?"

" Yes."

" It's a little bit like working in the kitchen huh? How come you do it on the top of this piece of marble?"

" It releases well from, the rubber releases well from it."

" As opposed to right on the plywood. Ok. Now are any of these already done? This looks like it's dry--"

" -Yes this one is finished. It's dry. Removing the clay. And these are original pieces from the mantle also--"

" -So you wanna be careful with these. Yes these are the dentals which are flanked by these little, I'm not sure what they are. They look like pineapples. And of course these are the positives but what you've created now is a negative, which is in fact a mold and from this can you just pour forever and ever?"

" Yes. You can get several hundred molds from this one piece here."

" Wonderful. Well it looks like a lot of fun but could I try a little bit of the dry picking with the--"

" -Sure help yourself--"

" -the dental tools? Let's go. Yes. Home owner Betsy Johnson is taking a few lessons from Patty and she's been doing some of this work herself. Hey I'm gonna interrupt you in a minute. This is a simpler detail here and that there's no composite material. It's just the wood that's been carved into these circles that continue all the way along. And Betsy you're really doing nice work there. Tell me something. Do you enjoy it?"

" Oh I do Bob and, and it shows, give me a lot of gratification."

" Yes."

" It's very painstaking--"

" -Yes--"

" -and it takes a long time."

" And you're doing using all of this just using that dental tool huh?"

" On this level I do--"

" -Let me take a look at it--"

" -Yes--"

" -coz all there is here is just kind of a flat point and you're scraping away with it."

" I generally use this tool on this level--"

" -These--"

" -on these upper level I--"

" -These other paint scrapers are good especially this one where you've got OG's to remove the paint from. And any tips to using that heat gun?"

" Well the main one is don't stay in one place too long."

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