Here at Foley Restoration we have over 30 years experience in all types of furniture and antique restoration, in this time we have mastered the skill of French polishing, a 16th century process made famous by a French cabinet maker in 1820. The process involves coating the wood with a solution of shellac dissolved in alcohol, using a cloth rubber instead of a brush. The alcohol evaporates, leaving the shellac deposited on the wood. When applied correctly it produces one of the finest wood finishes for furniture. We still make all our own French polishes, waxes and most of our colours in the same way it was in the 1800 using only the best raw materials, as we say "only the best will give you the best", and that is why we are the best in our field by far.

Other services:

Carving
Carving is another one of our specialities and an essential part of antique restoring in the replacement of broken or missing pieces exactly as they were

Wood turning
This is another service that we offer all types of wood turning , copying and replacement. All our wood turning is done by hand (and a good eye).

Inlay veneering and marquetry
We can replace repair or remake new inlays, missing veneers, marquetry and even parquetry (anything to do with wood we can do it).

Leather skivers
We can replace all leather skivers (Thin skin of leather used as a writing surface on desks and in boxes etc) all of which have a gold tooling and the skivers can be in any colour.

Gilt frames

Gesso
(a composition of plaster of Paris and size which was applied to a wooden frame and carved before gilding.)

Gilding
A process of gold plating with very thin pieces called gold leaf . All these process are carried out in our workshop

Please contact:
David or Kay.
French Polishing

Antique Restoration - Carving replacement ear for clock  Antique Restoration - Replacement inlay

Antique restoration - Woodcarving

Gilding

Gilding