A military couple had traveled all around the world with this backgammon set.
When they retired they finally wanted the worn board restored.
Simple in some ways, it had to be accurate and smooth.
We excavated the old, conserved the old finish (which had layers of shellac applied — possibly marine varnish), and included a rarely used checkerboard.
Once the base was complete, Mitchell created the new gaming table top.
The set is ready for another 30 years of use!
Thursday Throwback may be images that I took long ago and never used,
before we had the blog… or items that technically we were not documenting.
It took me awhile to get used to a digital camera and so excuse the bad photos!
©MPF Conservation. May be printed for your own use.
May be reposted if our url + copyright is used as reference.
Very nicely done!
Thanks, Dan! It was such a pleasure to perform the restoration on this piece. It was filled with positive spirit fr4om their travels and partnership. Funny, those triangles were difficult to execute. They were made from goat-skin and as my sewing machine pressure foot traveled along the edges, in order to top-stitch the leather to the woolen baize, the triangles kept elongating and distorting. Sheesh! I settled the score however, by placing a thin heat activated scrim between the two mediums then adding a bit of heat and pressure. Worked like a charm! Thanks for you kind words and interest!
I’m amazed at the need (and your ability) to constantly improvise,
Never say never… well, rarely say never!