With Michael Mascelli

This presentation will explain and illustrate techniques for the repair of worn and damaged wooden upholstery frame components so that they can be reused successfully with the use of modern non-reversible materials. This method is an alternative to minimally intrusive treatments which are appropriate for museum and historic pieces and provides a cost-effective way of saving the countless wooden frame members that are too damaged to hold new tacks or staples. Slides of three projects showing variations of the method will be shown along with a short demonstration of a typical frame repair.

MIKE MASCELLI has been a student and practitioner of the upholstery trade for nearly 50 years and divides his time between the worlds of classic cars and classic furniture. He has provided upholstery for national champion cars and furniture that is on display at the US House of Representatives and numerous historic homes and private collections. He is also the longtime Director of the Professional Refinisher’s Group an organization of professionals in the conservation and restoration trades, from whom he has learned much of the science, art and craft of wood finishing. Mike actively lectures and teaches, and has instructed hundreds of students in basic and advanced upholstery techniques as well as the fundamentals of wood finishing at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, and numerous other schools and organizations both in person and online in both America and England.

He contributed an essay on 18th century upholstery techniques for Roubo on Furniture by Don Williams (Lost Art Press). Mike has also published a number of articles on various aspects of historic upholstery in the Journal of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) and on modern upholstery for Fine Woodworking. He has also completed several instructional videos on upholstery and finishing for Popular Woodworking, and Fine Woodworking, and was a presenter at the “Working Wood in the 18th c.” conference at Williamsburg VA. In the summer of 2024 Fine Woodworking released an online course: Foundations of Furniture Finishing” presented by Mike.

In addition to driving some classic cars, Mike and his wife are the very proud grandparents of two small boys who are the main focus of semi-retirement.

threadclips@juno.com 518-618-5699