02x02 - Les Arcs Chairs

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Welcome to The Repair Shop where
cherished family heirlooms

are brought back to life.

This is the workshop of dreams.

Home to furniture restorer,
Jay Blades.

Nowadays, everybody spends a fortune
on stuff that, once it's broken,

they just bin it.

But everybody has something that
means too much to be

thrown away and that's where we come
in.

Working alongside Jay will be some
of the country's leading
craftspeople.

Every piece has its own story.

It's amazing to think that some of
my work becomes part of that story.

I've always played with things, I've
always repaired things,

and I just love it.

There is a real pleasure in bringing
people's pieces

back to life again.

Each with their own unique set of
skills...

I can't wait to get started.

..they will resurrect...

..revive...

What a man!

..and rejuvenate...

..treasured possessions and
irreplaceable pieces of family
history.

Wow!

Bringing both the objects...

She's fantastic!

That's just taken me back 50 years.

..and the memories that they
hold...

Oh, yes!

..back to life.
Oh, my God!

MUSIC PLAYS

In The Repair Shop today, a risky
fix for Steve as he renovates an

85-year-old steam roller...

I've blown the burner out.

I'm hoping it's something simple.

I don't know what it is at the
moment without taking it apart.

..and the delicate art of cutting
glass...

..with master craftsman, Matt.

Just felt that go in my fingers.

It's all going to come apart. It's
all breaking.

Hello. Hello.

The first visitor today is
Jane Moore....

You all right? Aah!

What do we have here?

..with something for saddle
maker, Suzie Fletcher.

Jane's dropping off some design
classics.

A gift from her mother.

So, tell me about these, then.

Where have they come from?

Probably about 35 years ago my uncle
found them in the streets,

dumped with a load of rubbish.

Really? Yeah, absolutely.

In Kensington, Liverpool. OK.

And Mum loved them and he gave them
to my mum who had them for years.

They are Les Arcs chairs that were
designed for a very exclusive

French ski lodge. Yeah.

But, as you can see, they've been a
little bit loved and well used...

Yeah, they've been well used.

..and are much in need of a bit of a
restoration.

So does your mum know
you're going to get these restored?

Yeah, Mum, over the last eight years
has been on a dementia journey.

So she's in a nursing home now.

She'd be delighted that we're
restoring them...

OK. ..because they brought her joy.
Yeah.

They certainly brought us a lot of
joy in our home. Yeah.

I just think having them back to
their former glory,

she'll be made up to think that one
of her treasures was being restored.

What do you reckon, Suzie? Very
excited to get going on them
actually.

I think resew all the seams.

OK. And all of them are in a similar
state.

So it's going to take a little while
to get them all finished

and get them back into regular use.

Does that sound all right?
It sounds perfect.

Thank you for bringing these along.
Pleasure. Thank you very much.

Thanks very much,
Jane, nice to meet you. Thank you.

These distinctive chairs were
created in the 1960s

and used to furnish the stylish
Les Arcs ski resort in France.

The chair is heralded as an
important example

of modernist design and is highly
prized when in good condition.

The nice thing about a project like
this is you have to figure out how

it was all put together so you do
the reverse to take it all apart.

And my feeling is the last thing
they did was rivet the leather on so

that's the first place I'm going to
start.

Next into the workshop is German
born engineer, Dieter,

with a precious family heirloom that
might test the skills

of horologist, Steve Fletcher.

Hi, Dieter, I'm Steve.

Hi, Steve, nice to meet you.
Come over here. Thank you.

Right, what have we got?

We've got a steam roller.

That's fantastic. There it is.

It's been in our family for about 85
years.

It was given to my dad when he was
probably 12-years-old.

Oh, right, OK.

And, you know, he's given that to me
when I was about 18-years-old.

He was an engineer and I was going
to study engineering

and so he felt it was right to give
it to me. Yes.

Rather than giving to
any of my three brothers!

My intention, actually, is now to do
exactly the same.

I've got three kids and my son is an
engineer too

which makes me proud and I'd like to
give it to him. That's lovely.

But the last time I've seen it in
operation has been in the '70s.

OK. Did you ever think about having
a go at getting it working yourself?

No, I didn't. I didn't really.

This is almost more fine mechanics
and this is not really what I did!

OK. So you say that it's
going to go on to your son?

Yes. So it'll be nice for him to see
it actually working.

It would be fantastic because he has
never seen it working.

OK. This is a lovely piece and I
look forward to getting it working

for you and polished up. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye, now.
Bye-bye.

The steam roller was made
by German toy manufacturer Bing,

the largest toy company in the world
in the early 20th century.

It was best known for its model
trains and steam engines.

This is going to be quite an
interesting project.

It's been soldered and repaired in
the past because there's quite a lot

of solder that's run down onto the
main tank, there.

I'm really not sure at the moment
about the main mechanics,

but once I've taken it apart and
looked at all that,

I'll be able to then tell what sort
of condition it's in.

Over at Suzie's bench, she's started
rejuvenating the dried,

parched leather from the three
designer chairs.

How are you doing?

Hello. Having fun?

I am, I'm really having fun here.

It's one of my most favourite things
to do.

I'm absolutely thrilled with how
this has come out

because I wasn't sure
if I'd be able to get them...

It's brought a smile to your face?

It really has brought a smile to my
face!

And now it's not like cardboard.

You feel that, it's just beautiful.

Yeah. It's like leather now, isn't
it?

It is like leather. So that's the
seat, and this is the back.

So this hasn't been worked on? This
hasn't been worked on at all.

You feel how dry that is?

It just shows that you can bring
leather back to life.

OK. So I can have a go?

I can start one level on this?

Absolutely, yes, yes.

The key is, don't make it too wet so
rinse it out.

This is warm water, you're going to
rub it on to the saddle soap block

and then you're going to go over
very quickly, quick, quick, quick,

and then start a circular motion
because we don't want to get any
lines.

So like I'm waxing a car then?
Like you're waxing a car, yes. OK.

Is that all right, squeeze that
out? Yep.

Rub it on the block.

And now you're going to whiz, whiz,
whiz.

Whiz, whiz, whiz. Boom, boom,
boom. Yes, yes, yes.

Oh, yeah.

You're doing a great job there.
I told you, I've been watching you!

So how do I know I've got enough on
there?

Because that, to me, looks all
right. It's looking really nice.

We're going to be aiming to get it
down to this tone.

We're going to let it sit and dry
and then do another coat.

OK. I can leave you with that, then?

Yes, you can. Thank you.
I hope you enjoyed yourself.

I did, immensely.

All right. See you. See you later.
Bye-bye.

MUSIC PLAYS

A new visitor for The Repair Shop,

Canadian born Truusje Balcombe who
now lives in Suffolk.

Hi, there. Truusje has something
very delicate made by her late
father

that needs the attention of master
craftsman, Matt Nichols.

Wow, so what have we got here?

So this is my father's stained-glass
window.

Wow, so this is a beautiful piece.

It's been a bit beaten up
unfortunately on a move from house.

I can see that. It's quite
broken everywhere.

But it's very special.
So I'm hoping you'll fix it.

So what inspired your dad to start
making stained-glass?

We used to live in a house in the
city and it had beautiful

views over downtown Calgary, but on
the side and at the back,

it overlooked other houses and my
dad didn't like that.

So he went and took a leaded glass
window-making course

and made this huge window to cover
up this view so that he didn't have

to look at the neighbour's
house any more.

And then he really
got the bug and he would make many,

many, many stained-glass windows!

Really? Yes. So by the time he died
in 1988,

the house was covered in
stained-glass windows everywhere.

I can already picture that, just a
really colourful and lovely view.

Dad and I did a bit of the piece
together,

picked the colours way back when.
Right.

I remember him drying this and I
really liked it because of the
boats,

so we did the colours together.

The colours that you chose are
really vibrant, really nice.

Yes. Pretty sure when you've got
natural light coming from it...

Yeah, it's very pretty.

And all of his work was really
vibrant.

So whereabouts is this going to go?

So we have a cottage in Suffolk and
it has an annexe which is actually

where my mum stays when she comes to
visit. Ah!

And she is actually over at the
moment.

OK. So what we're hoping is that we
can kind of surprise her

and put this glass window up in the
annexe so she can wake up every

morning and look at it. That's
brilliant.

It's quite emotional really because
when I look at it,

I just remember how happy he was
when he was making them.

I'd like it to look like Daddy's
stained-glass window again.

Leave it with me and I'll see what I
can do. Excellent.

Matt wants to salvage as much of the
original lead work as possible.

That means reshaping any bent metal
to safely hold the glass in place.

Right, in order to push this lead
that way again,

I think I'm going to try
to take some of this putty out.

You can really see how the lead is
like moving around and the glass is

moving around but there's definitely
a lot of play in it.

It's not... It's not a quick
process.

If Matt can't get the original lead
to bend back into place,

he'll have to re-lead from scratch.

Right, so let's have another look.

So in order to get this in, I'm
going to actually cut a tiny bit of

the glass out.

There we go. A tiny bit out.

So, hopefully...

..it's more likely to go in.

Very close, isn't it?

There we go.

To be honest, that was the most
difficult part there.

Now I can push it back like that,

so it's nice and comfortable in
there and then we roll down

the edge of the lead like that.

Steve is getting to grips with the
toy steam roller that has neither

steamed nor rolled for 40 years.

He's working on one of the engine's
most vital components, the safety
valve.

The nut that holds the spring seems
to be quite loose.

And this is supposed to then just
slip straight out

and it's absolutely corroded up.

So I'm going to try tapping it in
the vice to see if I can

just release it now.

That's come out very well.

I've got to clean it all up,
make sure that it slides really

easily and also I've got to put a
new rubber washer in, there, which

will, when that springs down, it
will then form a seal and then the

steam won't release unless it's too
high a pressure and then it will
release.

Now Steve's eased up the valve,
he must carefully clean the engine

and the rest of the steam roller's
components.

After several hours of cleaning and
reassembling,

the steam roller is finally ready
for a trial run.

I've just filled it with water.

I'm going to put two of these
paraffin tablets that burn

and going to light it up.

This hasn't worked for donkey's
years, so...

It's...

It's quite interesting to see
whether it's going to work now!

I hope it will.

I've cleaned all the mechanical
parts and the piston

was completely seized up.

I'm sure that was one of the reasons
why it wasn't working.

I can hear some steam.

That's the whistle, here.

WHISTLE BLOWS

While the whistle's working,

the steam seems no closer to making
the steam roller move.

I've blown the burner out.

I think it should have started going
there, so I'm going to let it cool

down and I'm going to take it apart
again and have a look and see why it

wasn't turning.

But there was certainly enough
pressure there built up to run it.

I'm hoping it's something simple.

I don't know what it is at the
moment without taking it apart.

MUSIC PLAYS

Suzie has been restoring a set of
well loved,

but well-worn design icons.

All the leather panels are
rejuvenated,

and the chrome frames are shining.

Now, she's reuniting them to create
three complete chairs once again.

Hey, Jay? Hello? Are you free? I'm
always free for you, girl.

Is there a chance you could come and
help me with this job, please? OK.

What I've got to do is to rivet
these tags on around this chair.

So, would you be kind enough to...
Of course. ..hold it? Lovely.

The final leather panel is ready to
be secured to its frame.

So, the key here is not to move the
chair.

Oh, I just moved it, didn't I?

Are you up for this? I'm very up for
this!

Are you?

If we don't get this right,
when you sit on it...

It's going to break. It'll break.

All right, let's have a look and
see what we've got going on under
there.

Looking good. What about...? You go
test it out.

Can you sit on it? Go ahead.

All right. Gently, though.

OK. Just don't jump on it.

No, I'll just sit on it.

Here we go.

That's all right. I needed somebody
to test it.

I wasn't sure that anyone would want
to.

Owner, Jane, is back to see the
chairs that mean so much to her and
her mother.

Hello, hello. Hello.

Good to see you. So excited.

I'm a little bit nervous, a bit
excited.

Yeah? Why are you nervous?

Just hoping they come through as
well as I expect it.

There's no pressure, there.
No pressure at all.

Shall we? Shall we? OK.

Are you ready? I'd love to see.
All right.

Wow! They just look brand-new.

That is amazing.

Stunned at how different they look
and how amazing.

cos they really were in a totally,
very sorry state.

My mum would be over the moon.

And, my mum is in a nursing home
now - dementia.

I mean, she won't recognise... I
hope she'll recognises them,

but I know that they're restored and

she'd be absolutely tickled pink
that they're back in use.

Bless ya. Come here, girl.

Thank you.

You'll make me cry. It's good to
see, it's good to see.

She will be absolutely overjoyed.

Yeah? I promised I wouldn't cry.

You know, it's something I'll always
keep and always have because it's

part of her.

I'm pleased that you feel so
deeply...

Yeah. ..about the chairs.

Yeah. It makes what I was able to
do, worth that much more for you.

Yeah. It's incredible, it really is.
Yeah. What a lucky find.

Absolutely. Thank you for bringing
these in.

All right. Thank you. Thank you so
much. I can't thank you enough.

Such a pleasure.

MUSIC PLAYS

Suzie might have delivered her
repair safe and sound,

but Matt is all at sea with a
stained-glass window.

He's attempting to replace the
broken sail.

One of the issues I've got with
this,

is I don't actually have the
exact colour for the sail.

So, I've got another piece of glass
here,

which is a fairly good match.

It's a very good match for the inner
part like there,

but it's not a good match for that.

However, if I put two layers of this
on,

I've got pretty much the exact
match, which is absolutely perfect.

It involves widening the lead,
as much as I can,

just to
accommodate two bits of glass.

As Truusje and her father both came
up with the colour scheme to this in
the design,

this is one part that I really,
really want to get right.

I can really imagine Truusje
watching her father cut,

and I learnt from my father as
well, so...

I've definitely got a similar
experience to her.

So, I've scored the top of it, and
tapping underneath,

just really releases it,

and it causes the crack to go
through the whole of the glass.

So I'm just doing this, to the
underside of it,

and I think that's gone all the way
through, so I'm just going to, yeah,

there you go. It's all going to come
apart.

All broken. I'm just going to take
this bit,

and hopefully it's all going to slot
in.

Move this.

Here, just checking. Going over the
top there, yeah.

That looks perfect.

There we go. The second piece,
hopefully, it's going to be all
right.

I'm a bit concerned because when
you're kind of pushing glass,

that's got a thin end to it, you're
always worried about breaking it,
so...

So here, I'm just going to mould the
lead over.

Very happy with the way it's come
out.

Across the workshop,

Steve has been struggling to get the
vintage toy steam-roller moving.

After some careful tweaking, he's
ready to try firing it up again.

This is the second test of the steam
roller and I'm hoping it's going to

work this time.

I've tightened and adjusted some of
the seals and valves.

I've come outside because it does
make a lot of smoke and steam.

This time the engine flickers into
life...

..but not for long.

I'm trying to work out at the moment
why, when I spin it,

it will start going, and start going
really quickly,

and then it slows down again.

I think what's happening is, is that
it builds up a head of steam,

runs and uses up that energy, and
then that dissipates,

and then it slows down and stops
again.

An hour of tinkering later, Steve
comes to a difficult realisation.

This 85-year-old mechanism is no
longer powerful enough to move the
toy.

I probably could get this going but
it means taking all the old

parts off and renewing them.

And I'm not happy about that.

I think it's more important to keep
this in original condition.

And, because it looks lovely like
this.

And I'd be really, really
happy to have this up on my shelf.

The steam roller has passed down
the owner's family line for 85
years.

And with plans to keep passing it
on,

Dieter is back to collect his
treasured heirloom.

Hello, Steve. How are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

Good. And how are you? I'm very
well, thank you. Good, good.

I've really enjoyed working on your
steam roller.

And, let's have a look at it.

Wow, wow!

You've done some magic with it.

Thank you. See this, you know.

When we, when I first came, you
said, well, you're trying to

maintain the ageing of it...

Yes. ..that you can see and you've
done that.

Thank you. But it's fantastic, you
know.

I don't know how you've done it,
but, yes.

What would your father think of this
now,

and you looking after it the way
you've looked after it?

I think, you know, he would be
really, really proud that I looked

after it, and that I'm also
trying to pass it on,

that I want to pass it on to my son,
to kind of create this tradition.

I do hope, I can only say I do hope
he will treasure it as much as I
did,

and my dad did.

So, I have worked on
the mechanical parts of this.

Yeah? And I have fired it up a few
times...

OK? We've had a few issues with it,
though.

Oh, really? It does run to an
extent...

Yeah, yeah? It doesn't actually
drive along, but this spins around.

Yeah. At the end of the day, this
was, this was, you know, I mean,

it was intended to be fired up, I
mean,

I would be fine trying to fire it up
and see what happens.

I'm really up for it.

OK. Yeah. Right.

When was the last time you saw it
fired up?

It's probably, 40 years, you know I
feel I'm too old.

But you know, it probably is.

Hey!

That's fantastic.

That is really fantastic.

Isn't that amazing?

Absolutely, absolutely.

God, thank you.

Very welcome.

Thank you, that's really good.

You've done a brilliant job, thank
you very much.

MUSIC PLAYS

Stained glass craftsman, Matt, has
been overhauling a nautical window

steeped in family history.

The glass has all been cemented into
place and Matt is giving the piece a

final polish.

I'm absolutely
ecstatic how this has come out.

Just the vibrancy of colour, it's so
bright and happy and kind of joyous.

It's really magical, actually.

Glass is a fantastic medium to be
working with.

The window is carefully transported
to Suffolk

where Truusje is awaiting its
arrival.

Today is a particularly poignant day
for us to look at the restored
window.

It's the anniversary of my mum and
dad's wedding, but also, very sadly,

the anniversary of my dad's death.

So, it's...

..it's a pretty special day in many
ways and a very sad day

but I'm hoping for both my mum
and I, it'll mean so much more

to be able to look at Dad's work
again looking beautiful.

Truusje has kept the restoration
a complete secret from her mum,
Ruth.

What is she going to get? I don't
know.

You're not in on this either?
No.

Oh, my goodness!

What have you got? This is the big
secret.

Mummy... What is it?

They've fixed Daddy's window!

Wow!

Unbelievable.

Wow. Look at it!

Oh, my gosh!

Isn't that incredible?

Oh, it looks beautiful.

Doesn't it?

Wow, look at that.

Look how beautiful. Isn't that
gorgeous?

We were married for 35 years.

To have this as a legacy from my
husband, you know, it was a broken
piece.

And now it's a beautifully restored
piece of stained glass done by my
husband.

And I get to see it on my
wedding anniversary.

Amazing. I can't believe it's
happened on this day,

because it feels like I'm giving you
something to celebrate rather than

feel really sad about it.

Love you. Love you too.

Thank you. Grandpa's work, Ollie,
what do you think?

Really good. Isn't it amazing?

What could be a really, really sad,
sad, hard day for her I think has

turned into quite a celebration of
my dad's life.

And particularly his work.

And it was just so lovely to see her
face light up.

She's so pleased and I think she
feels like Dad's right next to her
at the moment.

Look how the light
shines through it.

Isn't it beautiful?

Look. I hope somehow your dad knows.

I'm sure he does.

Join us next time as more precious
pieces are rescued...

I love it. ..and their cherished
memories restored...

Wow!

..in The Repair Shop.