MPF Conservation assessed the Jantzen Beach Carousel in 2018, and subsequently treated three horses and several decorative objects from the carousel.
This is page one on the carousel restoration treatment for “White Patriotic Corn Jumper XL” (hereafter called Patriotic) from the Jantzen Beach Carousel.
Note: Throughout MPFC may switch from flash to non-flash images,
because we are trying to show the best image of the treatment.
Videos to recap the processes are located at the bottom of this page, and on Vimeo.
Tail-to-Rear Romance Leg
The tail (and romance rear leg) had several issues, shown above:
- The tail was broken in half;
- The tail to rump connection (both the joint and rot);
- The tail to romance rear leg connection (break and rot in tail and leg)
- The romance rear leg had a break below the knee.
The tail was designed by Parker to be easily removed; a screw was inserted into the rump and through the tail mortise, shown in the previous images. It was never to be glued.
However, the tenon was difficult to remove because nails were toe-nailed though both mortise and tenon in inappropriate way to keep it intact. The huge 16 and 20 penny construction nails damaged the mortise and tenon, shown above.
MPFC removed the nails in tenon and mortise. We filled all holes with hard dowels and picks, which restored the strength of the tenon.
Note the debris and rot in the mortise in image one, above.
The mortise was restored and fitted for the new tenon. Debris and rot was cleaned from the mortise, and a hardwood dowel with shims was inserted and glued using gap filling PVA. This was allowed to cure for 48 hours before reboring.
The mortise was then rebored to accept the new tenon for the tail, taking care the trajectory of the fresh bore matched the original angle, otherwise the historic tail would not sit back into proper position.
The screw hole was also restored in a similar manner, and ready for a new screw when assembly began.
The broken tail had a crack straight across in the middle, and a compromised rotting tip, shown above.
When the tail as opened, many holes were present, none original. MPFC bored proper holes and set dowels to strengthen the break. The two steel rods were original to the tail, shown above. Below, the missing slice was carved and added.
The broken tail had a horizontal crack across the middle, and a compromised rotting tip, shown above top.
When the mid-section tail was opened, many rusted nails, screws, and two angled wooden dowels were present from past repairs, as well as the two steel rods which were original to the tail and should have been enough. Mitchell removed all but the steel rods as none were effective.
This left a disparity of odd-sized rusted holes, and Mitchell drilled clean holes properly sized for hard dowels in a compatible wood to the original.
Mitchell inserted hard dowels into the newly drilled holes to fill and strengthen the tail using warm hide glue, and allowed them to cure within a glue jig. When cured, he leveled them flat to the joinery surface.
There was a slice missing from the middle; MPFC had no idea how that happened. A spline filler created from the tail’s original wood species was created to bridge the gap, and drilled to accept the steel rods. Hide glue secures each side to the tail, and again was allowed to cure while setting in a glue jig, shown left. After curing, the filler was carved, shown right, so that the tail had a seamless flow, shown bottom of the page.
The spline filler (and all bare wood repairs) was shellacked to seal and prevent excessive shrinkage during the painting process.
The tip of the tail, which is also the tail to leg connection, is shown above. This piece was rotting from poor repairs, paint loss, and water sitting in the crevice. Mitchell removed the screw, created a new tip from the same wood species, and again carved the tip of the tail so the connection would not be visible. Once the leg was repaired, below, the screw could again be inserted.
The leg connection was a complicated repair. Soft rotting areas were removed. The soft tulip poplar issues extended down into the front of the joint. As has been described, damaged or weak, compromised areas were replaced, and carved to look as if they had never been repaired.
The tail to leg connection was ready for reassembly, and above is a short video wrap up about the process. We have dozens of videos on Patriotic’s restorative processes on Vimeo; feel free to browse!
The repaired tail tenon was inserted into the mortise, while the tail tip was attached to the leg, both using warm hide glue.
While the glue was still warm, Mitchell drilled the screw bore through the tail tenon and inserted the original screw.
He then drilled the new bore through the conserved tail and romance leg and attached the screw through that through.
The romance leg to tail connection was completed, shown left after gesso was applied.
The test of the quality of the repair the broken tail was the inability to see the break at this stage, and we were happy with the result.
We have dozens of videos on Patriotic’s restorative
processes on Vimeo; click to browse!
To continue with pages on the repairs:
