This Fox has your fix

Carmen and Edward Fox are experts at restoring and repairing heirloom and antique

Edward Fox has learned from three decades of practice, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

At his Fox Wood Works near Morrisville, has made a name for himself restoring and repairing antique and family heirloom furniture. In addition to fixing just about any wood furniture, Fox is one of few artisans that still practices chair caning, rushing and splinting.

“I handle everything from generational treasures to what you’d almost call junk,” Fox says. “Valuable to not so valuable. But everything has a story, and I like restoring the story.”

When Fox was a boy, he built model airplanes, crashed them and repaired them himself. “It was a challenge to fix them,” he says. “I don’t know if that translated into repairing furniture. I thought I would grow up to be a mechanic.”

Try DIY before calling in the pros • An unsteady wooden chair

furniture.

means one thing: Joints between the legs, chair back or rungs have broken free.

If you can see that it’s just one rung, it’s a relatively easy fix. Grab a syringe and some wood glue. Pull the rung out as much as possible and gently sand away old glue. Run your sandpaper inside the female end of the joint, too. Reinsert the rung and plunge the syringe in, inserting glue until is bubbles out the end. Clamp firmly for at least 24 hours.

If there are multiple joints with issues, save time and avoid frustration by disassembling the entire chair. Label each piece, and use a deadblow hammer to tap apart wood pieces. Not just one—severassemble the legs and reglue them. • Table wobble: Step away from the matchbook and go for a permanent fix. Verify it’s not a wavy older floor making your dining table unsteady. If you determine the table legs are uneven, put glides under each table leg, adding washers under the shorter leg to add thickness until the table loses the wobble.

• Nicks and scratches on any

wood furniture: Complete restoration is a big job, but for small blemishes, there are many DIY tricks to try first. Lemon juice plus vegetable oil can erase some scratches, as can rubbing a cut nut (walnut, almond, pecan). Coffee grounds can darken a

Is your table stable?

Edward Fox is one of a few modern furniture restorers who’s experienced in a variety of recaning methods.

scratch deep enough to expose raw, unfinished wood, as can tea bags. An eyebrow pencil is easy to control and can be used to draw over (and in) a light scratch; so can a dark crayon – both have the benefit of leaving a bit of waxy residue that actually fills the void, and both can easily be removed if you think it doesn’t suit.

A dab of iodine colors many scratches; add a dash of denatured alcohol if your wood is light-colored. Liquid shoe polish also works, and if it is that minor, just find a closely hued Sharpie or other permanent marker (if you don’t have an official wood refinishing marker) and carefully draw over the blemish.

The team at Fox Wood Works can find out (and they can fix it)

al. The only fix is to completely dis18 FALL 2020

Fox apprenticed under master craftsman Peter Grycotis in Fredericksburg to learn the trade. He opened Fox Wood Works in 1990. Fox Wood Works is in a building that housed the old Morrisville Normal Training School until 1919. He rents from the adjacent Morrisville United Methodist Church.

He laughs when asked if it could be just as well be called “The Last Resort.” “People bring me things that they’ve lived with, broken or messed up, for years,” he says. “But it’s usually some family furniture that they don’t want to throw away, so, finally, they bring it to me.”

And Fox fixes it.

Sometimes it doesn’t stay fixed.

“I almost never say no, I can’t fix your furniture, because usually I can,” he says. “Though I had this couple one time. I repaired their kitchen chair, but I had to fix it again after she hit him over the head with it.

“That was a story to tell.”

Depending on the repair, a piece goes through many stages to go from broken to fixed. Fox and Carmen Fox helps out with sanding, and more, at the Morrisville shop.

wife Carmen work to strip, sand, glue, stain, paint and lacquer. Turnaround is two weeks to three months, based on the complexity of the job. “I like helping people keep their history,” Fox says.