Welcome to The Repair Shop,
where cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life...
This is the workshop of dreams.
..home to furniture restorer Jay Blades.
Nowadays, everybody spends a fortune on stuff, but once it's broken,
they just bin it. But everybody has something that means too much
to be thrown away. And that's where we come in.
Working alongside Jay
will be some of the country's leading craftspeople...
Every piece has its own story.
It's amazing to think that some of my work becomes part of that story.
I've always played with things, I've always repaired things,
and I just love it.
There is a real pleasure in bringing people's pieces
back to life again.
..each with their own unique set of skills.
Right tools for the right job.
They will resurrect,
revive... What a man!
..and rejuvenate
treasured possessions and irreplaceable pieces
of family history.
Wow. He's fantastic!
Bringing both the objects...
This is what I remember.
..and the memories that they hold...
Wow. ..back to life.
Oh, my God!
In The Repair Shop today,
clockmaker Steve's expertise is called on to get
a clock striking sweetly again...
CLOCK CHIMES DULLY AND STEVE LAUGHS
That sounds awful.
..while a beloved childhood toy
gets a much-needed overhaul.
I've only got remnants to go by,
so I'm really having to go freehand with this.
This morning, The Repair Shop has taken delivery of a mystery item.
It's the oldest piece that has ever come into the workshop,
and furniture aficionado Will is itching
to get his hands on the goods.
It seems quite small. Usually, it's, like, a massive...
It's good it's small, so you can get the job done and dusted.
Yeah? Are you already giving me grief before I've even seen it?
Well, let's wait and see.
The proud owners are Nicola and Roger Mackay from Somerset.
Hello. Hello, there. How are we doing? Are you all right?
Yeah, thank you. I'm Jay. I'm Nicki. All right, Nicki? I'm Roger.
So, what do we have here, then?
It's a desk. It's a lovely piece.
I presume it's early Georgian, 1700s?
It's been in the family from new.
BOTH: From new?! 300 years, this has been in the family?
It's been passed down the female line,
so it came to me from my mother
and to her from her mother.
And so on and so on? And so on back.
So, who was this going to go to, then?
We only had a son, so it will go to his elder daughter,
our older granddaughter, and her name's Charlotte. Oh, brilliant.
How old is Charlotte now? She will be nine next month,
so it will be a long time, I hope, before she gets it.
Yeah, a very long time. But I'd like her to have it looking
like a cherished old lady,
not like a brand-new piece because it's not
and it shouldn't look like that,
but like it's been cared for, rather than knocked about.
A bit of TLC. Yeah. A bit of TLC.
But for 300 years old, this has done really well.
It's really nice that it's a piece of furniture that's actually been used.
Mm. I see so many pieces where everybody's afraid to touch it.
You can see ink stains...
Yes, scratches. All sorts of scratches and everything else.
A lot of those. I can see someone hasn't been using a coffee coaster.
Not pointing any fingers, I'm just saying, you know?
Well, thank you for bringing it along.
If you leave it with us, as soon as Will's worked his magic,
we will get back to you. Thank you. OK. Bye-bye. Bye.
This will be a nice job. So, what are you going to do?
This is going to be my main problem, here. The woodworm.
I think I might actually replace that entire corner there.
Cool. Give it a good old clean and then a polish, but not too shiny.
All right. So you can take this to your desk.
What, me? Of course you can.
A big boy like you.
The Georgian desk, like much of the furniture of this era,
has been embellished with a wafer-thin layer of exotic wood.
It's this decorative veneer that needs to be replaced.
It's a case of just going around to test what's soft, what's rotten,
what's chewed up and what can and can't be used,
so I actually use my fingernail just to tap around the edges
of the veneer. So, that sound there,
that would suggest that that piece of veneer is loose.
After treating and then filling wood rotted by woodworm,
Will fits the new veneers.
Now, all he's got to do is keep them there while they dry.
It would be really hard to get a clamp on the end there,
so I've held them in place with some wood glue
and a bit of masking tape.
So, there's a lot of work to do here, but once I've finished,
you won't see the patches that I've replaced.
Next into The Repair Shop,
Pam Edwards with a jumbo challenge
for toy and teddy restoration duo Julie and Amanda.
Isn't he gorgeous?
Would you like to tell us a bit about him?
My dad bought him for me when I was about two or three, I understand.
I'd never seen an elephant. We hadn't got television.
And when my father brought him in, I said, "Oh, Daddy, what a big mouse."
Oh, wow. Sorry. No, that's wonderful.
And so, Pam, what memories do you have of him?
Loads. But I do remember on a Thursday afternoon,
when we went to tea at my Auntie Alice's,
insisting on taking this with us.
Her house was the other side of our small town,
but I insisted on taking this, with my mother pulling,
not really wanting to.
But he's had such a rough time.
He's been played with outside, on his side, upside down.
I think, possibly, my mother did a re-cover job here.
Did he ever have ears when you had him?
He had ears when I had him.
A couple of elephant ears.
Yes! Oh, that's amazing! So, you haven't got to make new ears.
Look! Fantastic.
Which way round they go, I don't know.
Don't worry, we'll work it out. We'll sort that out.
I've been afraid to have him restored.
I thought he might end up looking too new.
Yes. Just needs a bit of...
TLC. Yes. He's very bald here because he's been sat on.
We don't want to put new fur back on him
because it wouldn't suit him in... You know, of his age.
Thank you for leaving him with us.
We will do our best to make a wonderful job of him for you...
I'm sure you will. ..and you will be proud of him.
Don't worry, we'll look after him. Thank you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
I'm feeling quite emotional about it,
and remembering happy days when I played with the elephant.
Isn't he lovely? He is, and I can't wait to get started on him.
I think, for his sake, and mine,
it would be wonderful to see him come to life again.
We should give him a name.
OK. What do you think?
Let's call him Mouse.
That's adorable. Come on. Come on, Mouse.
Julie and Amanda have got a mammoth job on their hands,
starting with removing the elephant's existing
moth-eaten felt accessories.
Let me just show you this that I found.
OK. He might have had a bell hanging down here. Yeah.
This thread is suggesting it was there. Yeah, yeah.
And maybe something in the middle of his forehead. It would be really good if we could find something.
A little bell. That would look lovely, wouldn't it? I have seen them.
The original saddle was stuck straight onto the elephant's back,
and to remove it, they risk removing its fur, too.
So, it's slow and meticulous work, picking it off, thread by thread.
How are you getting on? Yeah, it's painstaking.
It's literally, well, like you, tiny, tiny little nicks,
you know, at a time, so not to damage anything underneath there.
And hopefully, once we get it all off and clean it,
it will give you a nice surface to put the new...
The new saddle on.
And there we go.
Meanwhile, the youngest member of the team
is tackling The Repair Shop's oldest ever assignment -
the 300-year-old desk.
Having fallen foul of some very hungry woodworm,
Will's had to completely rebuild one corner.
Instead of using, like, a filler to pack it out then shape it in,
I thought it would be really nice to use some solid walnut,
glue it back on.
So, that's the new corner there and that's the old one there.
Would you mind giving me a hand... No worries.
..sticking the table down there? OK? That's it.
With a solid corner in place,
Will now has to replicate the original shape, carving it by hand.
Next, time to unveil his repaired veneers.
I've glued all the missing bits of veneer back,
so I'm just checking the masking tape now
to make sure everything's dried properly.
The aim is to make the veneer repairs invisible,
so just one bit of wayward gluing could spell disaster.
That looks really good. It's all really solid.
Really happy.
The next item to arrive at the workshop
belongs to Robert and Tess from Sussex.
This job calls for the expert eye and hands
of resident horologist Steve.
Right, OK. Let's have a look at this.
It's rather nice. It is, it is.
It's very nice. So, tell me, who does this belong to?
Originally, it was my grandmother's and then when she died,
my mother inherited it.
And then when Mother died in 2000, I inherited it.
And, I mean, Mother's cherished it all her life.
You know, it's one of her things that really meant a lot to her.
Right. So, you know, I couldn't part with it.
This is a reproduction made in Victorian times
of a Louis XVI clock.
So, what's your earliest memory of the clock?
I can remember as a small child when I used to go and visit Granny,
bearing in mind a very Victorian lady...
Right. ..where small children should be seen and not heard,
being told to sort of stand away and look at it
and not to touch it in case you damage it.
So, consequently, I've always been a little bit wary of it.
But, I mean, it used to have a lovely chime.
Has it been working all that time? No, no.
My mother did get it working in the mid-60s,
but unfortunately, I think it got overwound.
It's never worked since.
OK. People always think there's such a thing as overwinding a clock,
but there's not, unless you were to really force the last click
at it and break the mainspring.
So, whoever it was that wound it,
they're off the hook, they haven't overwound it.
Oh, well, that's all right. That's a relief, anyhow.
CLOCK CHIMES DULLY
So, there is some life there, which is good. Yes.
If you'd like to leave it with us, I'll overhaul the movement,
get it all looking absolutely beautiful for you.
I will polish that up
and then I will put a coating of shellac lacquer on it
and that will just protect it.
Like the nail varnish shellac?
I don't know anything about nail varnish, sorry.
THEY LAUGH
It's going to be lovely to have it back in pride of place again.
Excellent. Thank you very much for bringing it in.
Well, thank you. Thank you.
This means an awful lot to me, the clock, because, I mean,
it's something that, as I say, I've grown up with all my life.
It's going to be absolutely brilliant to have it again,
working and everything.
It means too much to me.
What I'm going to do now is just pop the mechanism out.
With the clock job broken down into two parts,
the mechanism and the outer case,
Steve can turn his attention to the ornate marquetry,
known as Boulle work,
which is achieved by layering and inlaying brass over tortoiseshell.
Late Victorian clocks were built at a time
when the craftsmen were just amazing.
All this Boulle work is absolutely superb.
I feel honoured that I'm working on bits that real craftsmen have worked
on in the past.
There's the timekeeper.
How are we doing, Steve? This brass work here has dulled down, and the
whole thing should be shining.
They look great when they are all done up.
This is the clock that goes in it.
Wow. Now, look at that.
That is heavy, though, isn't it?
Yeah, there's a lot to it. You need to do your magic on there as well,
don't you? Yeah, the clock, I need to strip that down,
give it a complete overhaul.
Once I've done that, the movement will look great as well.
So you will have this done by lunch time, yeah, do you reckon?
You've got a lot to get on with.
A cup of tea. I know. You've got to finish your tea.
I'll go and make myself one.
Over on Amanda and Julie's workbench...
This fiddly bit.
..they are getting to grips with a much-loved toy.
Julie's task is to make faithful copies of the elephant's threadbare
accessories. There we go.
Starting with the headdress.
Meanwhile, Amanda's got her hands full with the elephant's rear end.
His tail's been crudely stitched on, from a previous repair,
and this part of it here is really weak, so I've got to really,
really carefully snip it...
..to get it off. But it will look much better when I've finished.
There you go.
There's his tail, and this is the piece...
..that we need to repair.
There's a lot of sewing to do.
Then after a good hoovering, the pamper sessions continue,
reviving the elephant's fur.
Once dry, Amanda can turn her attention
to reconstructing the trunk.
This piece is going to slide on here like so.
So the inside here will be all red,
and this part will be the rest of his trunk,
which kind of curls around,
where they catch their peanuts.
The saddle, I've only got remnants to go by,
so I'm really having to go freehand with this, and I'm using the same
style and hopefully the two will look quite good next to each other.
I'm really pleased with the colouration.
I think we've managed to not have it looking too bright, too new.
It's going to look really good when it's all put back together.
Having repaired 300 years' worth of wear and tear on the Georgian desk,
it's time for Will to bring the wood back to its former glory.
The surface is pretty dirty,
and what a difference just cleaning it with this rag has made.
And I'm not actually using an abrasive material,
it's just a cloth with a bit of white spirit
and a bit of turpentine.
That's come up really well.
Once it is polished, it's going to look wonderful.
I'm sure Nicola's going to be so pleased with this.
Steve's been renovating a Victorian Boulle clock
that hasn't ticked for over 15 years.
So I'm just going to take out these taper pins.
He's going to break the clock mechanism
down to its hundreds of components.
I have to check every single tooth...
..of the clock to make sure that none of them are bent.
Just one tiny tooth can halt the whole mechanism.
You get quite used to doing this,
and identifying even the slightest bend in teeth.
One hour later, Steve hits the jackpot.
I've actually found a bent tooth.
It would have had a major effect on the working of the strike mechanism.
Just got to straighten it up, and that will help the mechanism hugely.
Troublesome cog fixed,
Steve can begin to rebuild the hundreds of components.
I've just got to a point now where I can get the mechanism together.
I've cleaned all the clock up,
done it all by hand, I oil it,
and then it should be absolutely fine then for a good ten years.
And all the wheels are turning nicely.
It's the first time this clock has ticked for over 15 years.
That's all set up beautifully,
so I can now proceed in getting
the rest of the clock back together.
Bear repair team Julie and Amanda have had their hands full
restoring a 20th-century toy back to its former glory.
Ready? Yeah. Go. There we go.
I'll call Will about the wheels.
Will? That looks amazing.
Thank you. That really looks amazing.
The wheel on that side, on Amanda's side, keeps popping off.
Something to do with the metal?
If Steve can get the wheel back on, I can wax it.
Fab. I heard my name.
Hello. Hi, Steve.
Ears burning. We need your help.
Go on. We've lost a wheel, basically.
We haven't lost it, it's just come off.
Right. But I think this needs to be flanged out here.
Sorry? Flanged out? Flanged?
Going like that. Yeah.
Ah! Isn't it? Yeah?
Flanged out sounds good to me.
Yeah. Get oil in the wheels as well.
Then I'll just wax them. OK.
Will you make a wheelie good job of them?
Wheelie good job. Wheelie good, yeah.
One swift service later, and Mouse is roadworthy again.
Amanda and Julie have got a final little surprise up their sleeve.
It looks amazing.
What about... ? Is there any other detail that you particularly like
about him? Oh, right, you're looking for a compliment?
Well, you know, just have a little look and see if there's anything...
Oh, wow. Really, is that a peanut?
THEY LAUGH
It is a peanut, isn't it?
Got a peanut in him.
Now, that's a nice touch.
He didn't have a peanut, though, did he? No. No. All right.
Just a bit of fun. That is cool. I do like that.
Let's hope that elephant's added accessories
meet the approval of owner Pam...
All right at the front?
Yeah, absolutely perfect.
..who has arrived to be reunited with her childhood companion.
Hi, Pam. Welcome back.
How are you? I'm all right, thank you.
Good, good. Getting a bit excited.
Are you? I was going to say, excited, maybe a bit nervous?
Hugely nervous. Oh, bless you.
What's under that cover? Ready?
I think I'm ready. Yes.
Look at you! Look at you.
Sorry. It's all right, it's OK.
It's lovely. He's got tusks.
He's got tusks!
And ears. You all right?
He's wonderful.
Obviously, he's got some new eyes.
They are actually some vintage eyes.
Doesn't it give him character?
Yes. As soon as you put those eyes in, he comes alive.
Looking at you. I think everyone here has fallen in love with him.
You can't have him. He looks proud again, doesn't he?
And he's got a little something to take home with him.
SHE LAUGHS
You lucky elephant!
I don't know what to say.
I'm just overwhelmed.
It's just so...
It's beautiful.
There you go. I could not believe what they've done to him.
They truly are wonderful women.
He's still the 1910 elephant we think he is,
but he's just glorious.
He's been restored, but he hasn't been spoiled.
Resident horologist Steve has been working on the ornate case
on a Victorian Boulle clock
which has been dulled through years of dust and dirt.
So, I've cleaned all this Boulle work up
with cotton wool and a brass-cleaning fluid,
and I've lacquered the whole of the case now
with a shellac-based lacquer.
Don't want to break this glass, cos that's a real pain to get it cut
the right size.
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
I really like this part.
And I've just got to line up the...
..the movement.
Need to...just hang the pendulum on,
see if it is ticking nice and evenly.
Perfect. The pendulum will actually regulate the speed of the tick.
That's why a pendulum is critical to a clock, because it actually does
regulate the speed of the clock.
So I've just got to pop the gong on now, make sure that's all set up,
and then it's all done.
Apart from testing it.
The final job, making sure the evocative sound of the strike
has been brought faithfully back to life.
VIBRATING RINGING
HE LAUGHS Does sound awful.
There's something vibrating.
I'll have to suss why that's doing that.
Just going to...move the gong block slightly.
Hopefully, that's going to stop that noise from happening.
But time is ticking away for Steve.
Owner Robert is on his way to collect
his mother's cherished clock.
This is Tessa. How are you doing, Tessa?
Hello. Good. Thank you. Come for your clock, right?
Yes. In you come, then.
Darling. Steve.
Have you got the clock? I have.
Ooh...
There we go.
Right. Do you remember what it looked like before?
It had lacked its lustre on the outside.
Right. It wasn't working.
It wasn't working? OK. Let's have a look what you've done, Steve.
SHE GASPS
Oh, my God. How's that? It's beautiful.
Oh, my goodness!
Hasn't it come up well? That's exquisite.
It's got a lovely shine to it.
It's wonderful. It must have taken you hours.
It took me a fair while. HE LAUGHS
Yeah. It's absolutely fantastic.
So, what would Mum think of this now, then?
Mum would be absolutely lost for words, completely.
She'd have loved to have seen this.
So, the strike, that means it's going to make a noise? It is.
Robert last heard this chime over 15 years ago.
CHIMES TUNEFULLY
That's lovely. Oh.
It's got a lovely tone.
Can we have a look at the back?
Of course you can.
Look!
- Oh, my. - Look at that.
Looks almost as if it's brand-new, Steve.
You're fantastic.
Words can't say how pleased I am.
Do you know, it makes what I do so worthwhile
when people like yourselves appreciate what I've done.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much for bringing it in.
That was a real pleasure to do.
Don't go and drop it now, will you?
It'd be typical! THEY LAUGH
My thoughts are really how much Mother would appreciate
how beautiful it looks, cos,
I mean, she would have never seen it like that,
in all her life, as she knew it.
Steve's work may be done for the day,
but Will's still toiling away on the 300-year-old desk.
That's looking good. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?
Yeah. It's ready to go.
Nicola's going to be here any minute.
What about the escutcheon that's hanging off there?
Hold on. Let me get... Better hurry up. I'll get some pins.
Back for their desk, Roger and Nicola.
It'll be very exciting
because I've never seen it looking like it should.
I wanted very much to pass it on to the next generation...
..looking loved, rather than knocked about.
Hi. Hello.
Lovely to see you again. Nice to see you again.
Hi, how are you? Nice to see you again.
Come in. Ready for this? Oh, yes.
Excited. Yes. In you go.
Is that it, hiding under there?
Ready?
Wow.
Oh, my goodness. That's wonderful.
The colours, it's so much richer, so much deeper.
Yeah.
I don't believe it!
The top was so dead, and you've got the colour back.
And I've replaced that corner with solid walnut.
I can't believe...
..that it's the same desk.
I can't get over how good it is,
how good it feels.
It's beautiful.
You've done an amazing job.
I can't tell you how pleased I am.
Well done, Will.
So, what would Mum think of it in its current state now, then?
What do you think? I don't think she'd recognise it.
And most importantly,
we will be passing it down the family in a better state
than when it came to us. When it came to you. Thank you ever so much.
Thank you. It's all Will. Will did all the work. Thank you.
Bye-bye.
I'm amazed at how wonderfully it has come up.
The result that Will managed to get
is quite beyond what I'd ever imagined.
You'd never know anything had ever been wrong with it.
I'm absolutely over the moon with it.
Join us next time as more items are given a new lease of life...
Wow! ..in The Repair Shop.