Monday, November 15, 1999
Naiser's restorations often better than new
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DAYTON, Ky. — The tradition of restoring and repairing fine furniture, brought to this country by European craftsmen, is alive and well in a converted 1870s-era church in this little river town.
Joe Naiser operates his furniture restoration business on McKinney Street, using new materials and Old World artistry to make old, broken furniture look as though it has just been built.
“We actually make some pieces better than new,” Mr. Naiser, a Fort Thomas native who lives in Highland Heights, said as he prepared to strip the old finish off some mahogany chairs. “In some cases the furniture is stronger and better finished than when it was first made.”
The shop is filled with tables, chairs, chests, armoires and other antique and collectible pieces. Some chairs hang from pegs high on the walls, awaiting Mr. Naiser's tender touch to retore their former beauty and function.
The building is a perfect setting for the hands-on work that hails to an earlier era. It began life in 1873 as St. John's Church, now located nearby on O'Fallon Avenue. At one point the structure was home to an auto repair shop.
While much of the original stained glass is gone, the shapes of the stone window frames are still visible along the walls. An original ornate stained-glass window still graces the front, but is visible only from inside the shop because it is covered on the outside by siding.
“Little by little, we're uncovering the walls,” Mr. Naiser said. “I bought the building in 1984 when I started the business.”
He was just three years out of Highlands High School then, but already an accomplished carpenter who had captured the 1981 Kentucky vocational school carpentry championship.
“Repairing and restoring old furniture is completely different from cabinet-making,” Mr. Naiser explained. “It requires a lot more ingenuity, especially in repairing very old pieces that have had considerable abuse over the years.”
The bulk of the work coming through the doors of the old church is restoration, usually of expensive older furniture and family heirlooms. Mr. Naiser also does a good bit of insurance work when furniture has been damaged in fires, floods or accidents.
“We do a high-quality, low-volume business,” he said. “My best work is repair, I believe, but I do a lot more finish restoration because that's what most people are looking for.”
Mr. Naiser employs skills handed down by woodworking artisans for centuries, such as repairing a broken table leg by drilling both broken pieces, inserting a wooden dowel and gluing the pieces. The finished product is actually stronger than the original; the fracture is impossible to detect.
When he restores and refinishes a piece of furniture, such as a table or a chair, he applies a finish to the underside as well as the top surface.
“Wood breathes on both sides,” he said. “I can be damaged on both sides by moisture or dryness. We finish the bottom of a piece, where in almost all cases, it is bare wood.”
Mr. Naiser's client list has grown to well more than 1,000, with jobs coming from all over Greater Cincinnati.
Downtown projects angle for state dollars
Hot time tonight for Backstreet Boys fans
Stargazers hope meteor shower will dazzle
Y2K-I-DO: Couples ring in millennium with wedding bells
What's the secret to living to 100?
Youths rally for Ten Commandments
Morality messenger blends old with new
'Nightline' to air historic tapes from Clifton Jewish archives
GET TO IT
Megadeth won't stray from heavy metal way
Democrat Lucas sides with GOP on many votes
Driver arrested after car chase, 2 accidents
Ideas flow for water system
Miss Glasgow crowned Miss Ky. USA
Naiser's restorations often better than new
Put college in your future, Ohio kids told at statehouse
TRISTATE DIGEST
Voinovich cuts own path from GOP line
Volunteers search for hidden homeless
