Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: Class of 2010 visits HOM Furniture

Once again, NIWF Students got to take a behind the scenes tour of HOM Furniture's Distribution Center. And like in years past, they got to work side by side with the Techs at HOM doing spot repair, upholstery repair, leather & vinyl touch up, wood fills, burn-ins and many other techniques the students already learned.



Working out in the real world gives the students a first hand view of what they might face on a day to day basis once they leave DCTC. Some of the Employees at HOM are past graduates of the program so they speak the same language of wood finishing. This unique experience helps to shape the students knowledge of some of the careers that may be opening up to them as graduates of the National Institute of Wood Finishing.

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: NIWF Does Conservation Work at Historic Fort Snelling Chapel

On our 1st of many field trips, the students got to roll up their sleeves and put to good use the knowledge they have already acquired. The Fort Snelling Veterans Memorial Chapel, built in 1927. Fort Snelling was deactivated as a military post in 1947, leaving the chapel sitting unused until it narrowly escaped a scheduled demolition for the highway system in the mid 60's. It is alive and well today serving many facets of the state's population through such programs as: weekend open houses for tourists to the historic Fort Snelling; rehearsals and weddings of all faith groups; funerals of all denominations; general community meetings; and weekly Sunday non-denominational services.



Our goals were to clean and conserve the pews, kneelers and surrounding wood. Each student dug in with a few pews each, using mild cleaning solution, replacing worn finish where needed, spot repair as needed, and finally padding shellac to give an authentic, original look, feel and lustre to that well worn interior.


We were guided by past NIWF grad, Travis Beard, who volunteers on the Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel Foundation, and has been working in the chapel for a while, cleaning and restoring the woodwork, carvings and wooden statues.

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: DCTC visits Schniederman's Furniture

NIWF students went on a field trip to Schniederman's Furniture warehouse and meet some of the graduates of the NIWF program. Kathy Morse (in the green shirt), a past graduate and now employee of Schniedermans gave us a tour of the warehouse and demonstrated some repair techniques as well. There were opportunities for the students to try these new techniques with the Master Technicians.

A Master Leather Technician at Schniederman's shows the students real world leather repair techniques on furniture that is soon to hit the showroom floor.

Students get lots of opportunities to see professionals working, it is crucial that they see the hows and whys of the entire process. To go out and see masters making a living using the same skills that they are learning at the National Institute of Wood Finishing in invaluable!

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: DCTC Vists HOM Furniture

HOM Furniture employs several NIWF graduates. Today we are going on a working field trip to learn about the life of Spot Repair Technitions in the warehouse. The day was full of learning new techniques and the students having a chance to use their new skills of wood, leather and vinyl repair.

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: Graduates returning to teach the new students

Graduates continually return to DCTC to share their knowledge. Wilfried Hien and Josh Boyer are back sharing their new skills learned since leaving school. Both Wil and Josh are employed by HOM Furniture.

Hom Furniture has hired several graduates from the Wood Finishing Program. Here you see Rosendo Delgadillo, Delivery Prep Manager from HOM Furniture addressing the new students about employment possibilities.

And don't think it's just lecture and discussion, we get to see these pro's in action!

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: Upholstery Repair

Along with repairing damaged wood, this class also involves minor upholstery repairs. The photo on the top photo shows Joe Renchin, a Wood Finishing Advisory Board Member, sharing his knowledge of 35 years of upholstery.

Wood 1019 Spot Repair II: Large Damage to Wood

Wood 1019 Spot Repair:

This class instucts students how to repair large damaged areas of wood. Polyester fills are one of many methods of returning the damaged areas to their original shape. They must then have a faux finish applied which color matching and inpainting.

Wood 1015 Spot Repair I: Nick, dent and scratch repair

The second class of the year is Wood 1015 Spot Repair I. The students are learning the art of scratch, nick and dent repair. Several different methods of achieving the repair of small damaged wood and coatings. Each student will purchase their own repair kit and repair several different species of wood. One method of repair is using the traditional "burn in". method. It involves a hot knife and melting a colored plastic stick into the scratch. Once the excess stick is removed, in-painting is needed. This involves painting in fine lines to recreate the grain pattern of the wood that is missing.