Modern Furniture Repair European specialists with worldwide clientele and reputation est. 1950





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MODERN FURNITURE REPAIR AND REUPHOLSTERY SERVICE FROM OLEK & LEJBZON
Furniture manufacturers and designers experimented with new materials and methods of construction. These experimental designs do not always last well in service. At Olek Lejbzon & Co., our goals are to repair broken or worn furniture:
•Repair so that you can tell it was repaired. •Repair to safely stand up through decades of use. •Repair non-traditional, experimental materials used in fabrication, such as metals, leather, rubber, plastic, fiberglass, glass, various adhesives, and fabric.
Modern Furniture Restoration Design Errors We have the benefit of hindsight to see mistakes in manufacturing techniques, and learn from the experience. Repair techniques that improve the strength or life of furniture, without changing the design intent or appearance, are incorporated into our repairs, if the Owner approves. We are familiar with all materials from an engineering standpoint. We prevent the mistakes of the past from being the burdens of the future.

These chairs had legs too close together, causing diners to tumble out of the chairs, and backs to break. A new design using bent plywood solved the back proble. Changing leg placement eliminated diners from tumbling.
Delaminating Bent Plywood Glues of questionable quality are today the source of delamination of bent furniture. Many people assume glues have improved over the centuries. This may be true, but they are not always used appropriately. Our experience is that bentwood Victorian furniture has far more stable laminations than mid-Century modern furniture, even though it is a century old.
Typical Modern Furniture Repairs Dining Table shattered by large oak tree falling through the roof:



Chair had broken leg, delicate design required replacement
Vladimir Kagan delamination of bent plywood- Plywood cannot be reglued, with new glue over old. Making new parts using moisture resistant glue is done in a custom three-dimensional caul to replicate parts.

Vladimir Kagan tri-legged chair leg, with splitting laminations	Newly replicated parts

tri-legged chair with caul to make replica laminated leg	Vladimir tri-legged chair

Repairing metal hardware or furniture parts -
Metal repairs are skillfully executed by metalworking operations in machine shop. Olek attains effective, stable repairs, or fabricates replacement elements indistinguishable from the original.
Hugh Acton Walnut Bench on Cast Bronze Legs- Broken Leg Repair

Bench before with broken leg

Acton Bench after	bronze leg repaired by silver soldering and internal dowels

Hugh Acton Bench stripped

Eero Aarnio Ball Chair Repair

Eero Aarnio Ball Chair with broken post	Eero Aarnio Ball Chair showing broken Post Construction
The Eero Aarnio Ball Chair occasionally falls off its pedestal after the 1 1/8" diameter steel post that the ball swivels on snaps. A new replica post is turned on a lathe to replace the original using a stronger alloy.
Mies van der Rohe - Barcelona Chair Repair Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chairs develop cracks in the Cerulean chromed steel legs at the crossing point require welding and plating to repair.
Herman Miller Eames Chair Shock Mount Repairs The Eames Lounge Chair #670 manufactured by Herman Miller and Vitra has a design flaw that leads to the chairs' destruction so we suggest an improvement for durability. The shock mounts attaching the back to the seat break typically in three to thirty years, due to inappropriate use of materials. The Eames LCW, LCM, DCW, and DCM chairs all have shock mounts that loosen. We have developed a proprietary solution for the Herman Miller shock mounts. These improvement are indistinguishable from the original designs.
Vladimir Kagan Dining Table Repair Furniture with MDF beneath veneer is delicate. MDF is soft, and prone to developing swelling fungal growths from humidity. The veneer chips off crushed MDF. Inlays of solid wood and veneer into damages can provide the solution.

Kagan Dining Table Leaf before	Dining Table damages

vladimir kagan dining table after	damaged copper inlays

Vladimir kagan dining table after	Vladimir Kagan

Olek Lejbzon & Co. – Quality Restoration since 1950 We employ the finest European craftsmen; cabinetmakers, metal machinists, carvers, upholsterers, and artists. They understand importance of maintaining the original design when repairing your furniture. We will not insert a dowel into a mortise-and-tenon joint that will compromise a tenon¡¯s. We will not inject glue into the joints of a loose doweled chair, when nothing short of complete disassembly, cutting off and drilling out of old dowels, and reinstallation of newer, larger dowels is necessary to obtain the original longevity of the chair joinery. No matter how complicated the repair or how poor the condition of the furniture, no repair is beyond our expert grasp. Our European cabinetmakers perform complicated, intricate restoration of missing marquetry, carvings, and joinery, on wood that is in good condition, or suffering from smoke or fire damage. Our mission is to restore your furniture so that you cannot tell that a repair was made. We repair furniture not only in the metropolitan NY area including NY, NJ, CT, and PA- but worldwide.