03x08 - Smoke Stained Clock

[bunniefuu]

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...

Come on, 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!

In the Repair Shop today,

silversmith Brenton restores
a precious piece

that's testament to
a lifetime of love.

My father-in-law and mother-in-law
passed away within a day of

each other,
having been married for 60 years.

Furniture restorers Will and
Rachael unite on a project

where time is of the essence.

Obviously, I want to
try and get it done

because we've got a baby on the way.

Have we?!

First through the doors
today is Kelly Bishop

with a possession that's
very close to her heart.

I'm Jay. Hi. Kelly.
All right, Kelly?

Oh, it's in bits. What is this?

Well, this is a clock that my
grandfather left me

when he passed away last year.

OK. Steve, if you
don't mind joining me.

Hello, I'm Steve. Hi. Kelly.
Nice to meet you. Hi, Kelly.

Let's have a look.

Right, what do you
know about the clock?

My grandad had it from his mother

and, before that, it was his
grandfather's and before that

we just don't know. It's a German
clock. I can see that straight away.

It's probably made around about
the turn of the century

so, yeah, a good,
sort of, 100 years old.

I can just stand it up, like that.

So, this would go on top
in the slot, like that.

And then the horse...

..goes in the little hole
at the top, like that.

I see it's got a tail missing.

Yeah, we don't know
what happened to it.

It's never had a tail as long as
anyone can remember. Right, OK.

And you'd like us to pop another
tail on? Erm, I don't mind.

I quite like it without the tail.
OK.

You've never known it with a tail.

Yeah, it'd look strange.
What would it be? Yeah.

A lot of these horses aren't
original. Oh, really?

Most of these clocks had an
eagle on top. Oh, right.

But during the w*r, because of the
association with the Germans... Oh!

..they put the horses on top.

They changed them for the horse.
Oh, right.

Was your grandad an important part
of your life? Hmm-mm, yeah.

So, my mum brought us up
pretty much on her own.

My grandparents were really
supportive and then,

when I was a bit older,
I lived with my nan and grandad

so, my grandad, he
was a good friend.

Yeah. That's nice. Yeah.

Who was the smoker? My grandad.

Because this is absolutely
yellow from nicotine.

Yes, he used to smoke
a lot of rollies.

In the same room as where
the clock was? In every room.

Oh, in every room. He was a smoker.

When my nan and grandad used to go
on holiday when I was 16,

they used to say,
"You can have a few friends over,

"but the rule is,
'Don't touch the clocks',"

because my grandad liked his clocks.

Anyway, so they went away,
had a few people round.

They were all crashing so I thought,

"I'm going to take all the clocks
off the wall, turn off the chimes,

"hang them back up and,

"you know, turn them all back on
before my grandparents get home."

Nobody knows, except for I forgot
to turn the chimes back on

and so I got into
quite a lot of trouble,

not because I had a party,

not because we'd
drunk all the tequila,

but because we hadn't turned
the chimes back on the clocks.

That sounds like something
that you would do. Never!

If I were to get this clock working
and striking,

would that be an annoyance to you?
No, I would love to hear it.

You'd love to hear it strike?

I would really love to hear it

because you'd go
round my grandparents'

and you hear it every
half hour and, at the time,

"For goodness' sake!"

But now I'd really
like to hear it again.

And that sound would
evoke memories... Yeah.

..of your grandparents? Yeah.

So, can we do something with it?

At first glance, it looks as
though this hasn't been serviced

for donkey's years.

I would suggest at least
since my great-grandad died.

Right. And that was early '80s. OK.

It's probably extremely worn
and I hope it's not REALLY worn.

But we can look into that. Yeah.
And we can get it sorted if it is.

Yeah.

This is so important to you, it's
going to give me a great pleasure

to get it working again for you,

and get it striking
and sounding good again.

So, thank you for bringing it in.
Thank you.

We'll let you know once it's all
sorted. Thank you very much.

OK, you take care now. Bye-bye now.

The chime always meant something
like bedtime or dinner time.

If I can hopefully get
the clock working again

and I could hear it chiming,
my son could hear it chiming...

That was in my house all the time.

It's just exactly
my grandad, really.

Right. We'll have a look
at the movement now. Yeah.

This is the important bit.

Voila!

As I suspected,
absolutely filthy dirty. Yeah.

It's no wonder it wasn't working.

It's very poor condition.

There's a fair bit of wear
there in the holes. Yeah.

The teeth are slightly worn
but not too bad, actually.

I might have to tidy
some of them up.

So, you've got to take
that all apart... Yeah.

..have a look at the teeth. Yeah.

Definitely got to clean that window.

That's just like yellow, isn't it?

In this case... Yeah. ..we don't
need to make this super-perfect.

She doesn't want a tail. I know.

I can completely understand why she
doesn't want a tail on it. Yeah.

Because it's never had a tail as
long as she's known it. Yeah.

So, it wouldn't be her grandfather's
clock if it had a tail on it.

If it had a tail, yeah.

Well, I'll leave you to it.
Okey dokey.

Pop the case over there
and get started.

This is quite a good
quality German clock.

I think actually in my 45 years
of doing clock repairs,

I've probably done getting
on for a thousand of these.

Looking at this, it's a typical
clock that's been left for a long,

long time without any
work being done to it.

The build-up of dirt is incredible.

How this clock was ever
working, I don't know.

So, I've got to strip it down,
rectify any of the wear,

put it all back together
and, all being well,

it should be OK and Kelly
can have her working clock.

The Repair Shop restores
many heirlooms

to be passed on to
future generations.

Hi. Hi, there. Hi, there.

Could you give me a hand, please?
Yeah, sure. Thanks.

But not many of them
are in need of fixing

as urgently as the one that
Helen Sage is delivering.

Right, if you'd follow me.

Right.

I see you have some caning
work here. Quite a lot of it.

I think I'm just the person. Fab.

Rachael, I've got
something here for you.

As well as furniture restorer,
Will, this delicate cradle calls

for the expert help of upholsterer
and cane specialist Rachael South.

Hi. Hello. Hi, there. Hi.

Oh, I see, some of the
caning's gone through here.

This is absolutely stunning,
though, isn't it? It's lovely.

It's a bit of a family heirloom.
It's much-loved. Yeah.

Been well used. Yeah.

I was so shocked
when we unwrapped it. Ah.

We kept it in a very cool, dry place

and, when I unwrapped it,
I found this.

Just completely gone. Ah.

I'm heartbroken really at the sight
of it. It's a beautiful piece.

It's unbelievable.
It's really something very special.

How did you come by this?

Well, this, we believe, was given
to my, I refer to her as my

Great-Aunt Clarice but she's really
my Great-Great Aunt Clarice. Yeah.

She was lady's maid to the
Duchess of Portland. Hmm!

That's really how her and
Horace met, her husband,

because he was a gentleman's
outfitter for the Duke.

After Clarice and Horace got
married, when they were having

a baby, this was a present from
the Duchess of Portland to them

and this cradle has come down
through the generations of

the family to be mine and now I'm
feeling the weighty responsibility

of actually owning it.

Is this going to go back into action
once it's been restored?

That's the hope.

My daughter and her wife are
due to have a baby in the next

couple of months, so I'd really
love to be able to let them use it

in the same way I was
allowed to use it.

So, looking at the cane here,
it's particularly fine, this cane,

so it's a Victorian piece, isn't it?
Yes, it is.

Gothic style with this
lovely shape here.

So, what would you like us
to do to it then?

It would be really lovely if it was
restored to its former glory.

If the panels were checked
and back without holes.

It's lost parts of it. It used
to have finials just on the top.

I don't know where they've gone.

I really don't know
where they've gone.

Do you remember roughly what
they looked like? Yes, I do.

Quite similar to what's on the top
of the base. They sort of matched.

Sort of about that size of it. Yeah.

There were two on
the top at one time.

It sounds like a huge shopping list

and baby's due in two
months' time, so...

Right.

Well, on that note, Rachael,

you'd better get it
back to your bench now.

Yes, I think so.
Thank you for coming down.

Thank you very much indeed.

It's been a pleasure to meet you
and we'll let you know when it's

ready to be picked up. Brilliant.
Exciting. Thanks so much.

Thanks so much.
Thank you very much. Bye-bye.

Lots of work.

Yeah, I'm going to have to get
some of my really fine tools out,

but I absolutely love this and the
whole story that goes with it.

It's a really unusual piece of
furniture to have lasted this long.

You're going to re-cane the entire
panel, are you? I am, yeah.

I'm going to take the whole panel
out and obviously I want to

try and get it done because
we've got baby on the way.

Have we?!

There's a baby on the way,
yeah. What about you?

So, the finials would be handy.

The finials would have had
a cord attached to them,

so that Mum gets to sit down and
have a rest and she can just

use the cord to rock the baby.
So clever. It's lovely, yeah.

Seems like we've both got a
lot of work to do... Exactly.

..so better get rocking.

Come on, I'll give you a
hand over to your bench.

Thanks very much, Will. Cheers.

Rachael's first job is to remove
all of the damaged canework

from the side panel.

I'm just going to begin to cut
through and you can actually

see how dry and brittle that
is because I'm hardly putting

any pressure on it, at all, and it's
literally just breaking away there.

That is actually come
off quite nicely.

It always looks a
bit brutal, I think,

sort of cutting
into the whole panel.

Right.

So, next thing I'm going
to cut these little loops.

Then you can begin to see
underneath are the holes

and that's where the canes are
actually woven into the frame.

I feel a little bit apprehensive
cos when you're sort of taking

everything off I'm really aware of
the rest of the piece of furniture.

With things like this,

I don't want to run any
risk of doing any damage,

but I think once I've sort of
got everything cleared out and

it's all cleaned up, then I'll
begin to feel really excited.

Next into the Repair Shop,
Jo Everett with a treasured memento

that plays a part
in a romantic love story.

Hi, there. Hello. I'm Jo.
Hi, I'm Brenton. Hello, Brenton.

What have you brought me?

It's a powder compact in the
shape of a small grand piano.

Oh, we'll need a small piano
player to play that, won't we?

Very small. This is a lovely piece.

How have you come to own it?
Tell me about it.

So, we found it in my
parents-in-laws' home

after they passed away... Right.
..and we were clearing the house.

OK.

Both Carrie and Sam,
my father-in-law and mother-in-law,

passed away within a day
of each other... Oh, dear.

..having been married for 60 years.

Carrie passed away in hospital

and then Sam passed away
the following day at home,

we suspect of a broken heart.

He just didn't really
want to go on without her.

But we found it in with a bunch of
cards that Sam had given to Carrie,

anniversary cards
and birthday cards.

So, it would have been a gift
almost certainly from him to her?

Yes, I think so.

I think the fact that it's
broken and she kept it...

So what's wrong with it? Well, it's
quite dirty on the outside... OK.

..but inside this little
clasp is broken... OK.

..and the mirror is missing.

And then is there another thing
that goes on there for the...

There should have been a little
powder sponge really that

would have gone in there...
OK. ..which is missing.

I'm not au-fait with
powder, I'm afraid.

SHE LAUGHS

Unfortunately I am!

What's really nice about it
is it would have sat on your

dressing table, or if you were
out of the night you would be

able to put that down and
then apply your powder.

That's amazing and then you
just fold the legs back up and pop

it in your bag. Fold it back up
and pop it away. Brilliant.

So, we need to make a
mirror for it... Hmm-mm.

..and make that so it stays down on
its own? Yes. Lovely. Hopefully.

And I'd like to get it
repaired for my daughter,

who is the youngest of
their eight grandchildren.

So, she was only six when
they passed away... Right.

..and we thought it might be a
nice memento to give to Charlotte

to remember her nanna and grandad
and the love that they had.

So, this would be really nice

if this was in tip-top
condition for her...

Absolutely.
..to remember them by? Yes.

The piano's got a great amount
of sentimental value to us

because my father-in-law would
have given it to my mother-in-law

and it sort of signifies the
special relationship that they had

and the fact that they
were married for 60 years.

But it's also a testament to
how much they loved each other.

What a lovely piece this is and
what a lovely story, as well.

I've got to establish whether

this is brass or white
metal first of all.

Secondly, I've got to get a
magnifying glass and see why

this little clasp isn't working here

and make a template for the mirror,
cut a mirror, fit a new mirror.

That's the easiest part of it.

And then maybe put some powder
in it and powder my head,

stop that shining.

Outside in the metalwork shed,

Brenton starts by doing a careful
test clean on the delicate object.

It's a nice piece in good condition.
It's just had a bit too much love.

Very, very, very gentle polishing
should bring this back to

a nice gold colour, fingers crossed.

So, the little bit I've
polished up there looks OK.

Until I've got it all done,
I won't know.

The Repair Shop is caring for
a 100-year-old clock that was

crying out for a little time
with horologist Steve.

It was so tired and dirty that it
had completely given up the ghost.

A real build-up of
thick, gooey dirt.

The mechanism is now free of
all the clogging oil and dust

and Steve can begin
turning back time.

For the next stages, I'm going to go
through it and check and see exactly

where all the wear is

and then I can start
working on rectifying.

I've got one wheel here
that's got worn trundles,

which are the teeth the
main wheels run into.

Basically, in clockwork, the teeth
are supposed to roll round each

other and if you get excessive wear,

then the teeth will
then rub on each other.

Not only does that
create a lot of friction,

but also it creates a
lot of wear, as well,

and that's why it's important to
have a clock overhauled regularly.

It's not just the wheels
that need a service.

This pivot goes into this hole here

and that hole is basically
worn across the plate like that

and I need to bring it back
to that point by rebushing,

and that's putting a plug of brass
into the right position so that

that pivot will be nice and snug,

and work properly in
the right position.

Just got to measure up the pivot

and then put the correct
bush in for the job.

There's a whole array
of different sizes.

One of these bushes.

I'm now going to use the bushing
tool. Just pop it in there.

Now we have the bush in place.

There we go and this wheel
fits in there beautifully.

There are over 100 intricate
working parts to this clock,

most of which need renovation.

So, I've just got to replace
all of these bars now

and, once I've done that,
I'll seal the end,

and it will be as good as new.

That should run now
for hundreds of years.

Over at her bench,

cane expert Rachael is working on
a piece of Victorian history.

This cradle was originally a gift
from the Duchess of Portland

and Rachael must now attempt
to replicate the original

intricate canework.

I've got this super-fine cane.

It's 1.7 mill because I want it
to match the rest of the panels.

It's quite important that everything
is exactly the same as the

other panels,
but it is very fragile.

Hopefully when it's complete,
Helen won't know which panel has

been re-caned.

So, just to start, cane's
gone through the hole there,

down into the
corresponding hole here

and then it loops back through.

I've got to fill in
the whole of this panel

and then I'm going
to be on to stage two.

So, off to a good start.

Following in her father's
and grandfather's footsteps,

Rachael is the third
generation of her family

skilled in the caning craft.

She's going to have to call on
all of her years of experience

for this job.

Things really slow down at this
stage and it's really quite fiddly

to begin to put this weave in.

I'm trying carefully to
keep my verticals straight

and the horizontals straight

but, actually, it's really lovely
at this stage

because you can begin to see this
small intersection here

of all four strands and that is one
of the main characteristics

of this traditional
six-way cane pattern.

When all the weave actually comes
together, it's really satisfying.

It may be that you would think,
with a small baby, you know,

putting its fingers in here
and picking at the cane,

it might not be that practical
but, actually, it's really tough.

While Rachael continues
to weave her magic,

Will is puzzling over a tricky
new addition to the cradle.

Helen did mention that it did used
to have two finials on the top.

What I've done is,
after doing a bit of research,

finding out what it
originally looked like,

I've come up with a drawing
of what I'm going to make.

Finials are small decorative
ornaments placed on the tops

or ends of furniture.

Will must craft the new ones from
scratch on the wood-turning lathe.

So...

..slowly trying to get into
more of a cylindrical shape.

What I'm trying to do is get
it closer to the maximum width

of my new finial and once I get
to that size,

then I can start marking off the
other bits of detail

that I need to start carving in.

So, hopefully, those different
sections there will end up

looking like those different
sections there.

It's really tricky because, if
the wood is quite brittle,

you have to be really careful
when you're turning it

to quite fine pieces because any
sudden pressure in the wrong area

and it can split.

I have rounded off the squared edges
on the wood, carved in the detail

and now I'm using some sandpaper
just to smooth it all in.

The smoother the surface,
the better the polish.

That looks pretty good.

I'm pretty chuffed
with that, actually.

A century-old German wall clock has
been keeping Steve very busy,

but now the end is in sight.

So, the last job I've got to do on
this clock is to re-hole this main

spring because it's ripping out.

You can see how it's
ripped here and here.

Basically, that's the broken
end of a main spring that could

cause a lot of damage to the
clock if that goes with a bang.

I'm just going to
snip off the broken end.

Going to heat it up to red-hot

and then I'm going to draw
the heat away very, very slowly

and that's basically
softening the steel.

If I were to leave it
hard and brittle,

it's likely to break off at the end.

There we are. Now the clock is all
ready to go back together again.

Will and Rachael have been working
in tandem to repair and restore

the Victorian cradle.

Its owner Helen is due to welcome
the arrival of a grandchild

in just a few weeks' time,

and keen to keep things on track
is repair foreman Jay.

Getting broody yet?

Getting broody!

Look at the amazing job that
Rachael's done on the side.

Rachael has done a blinding job
but she's going to stain it up,

as well, to marry it all
into the rest. Yeah. OK.

So, I've made up the missing finials

that would have been
originally on the top.

Cos we think of everything, don't
we, and I like that? Well done.

Jay, would you do me the honour
of gluing them on for me?

So, if you pop a bit of glue
in there... Teamwork. In there?

Yeah, just a tiny bit in there.

That's one.
Was that slow-moving glue?

Cor blimey!

That's it.

Lovely. Beautiful.

A real team effort.

That is a real team effort.
Rachael, myself and now you.

That's nice, though.
It finishes it off well, don't it?

It takes your focus to the top,

but really what you're going to be
looking at is the baby in there.

The baby.

Silversmith Brenton is repairing
the metalwork

of a beautiful vintage
powder compact

but, to bring it back
to full working order,

he needs a little help from soft
toy restorers Julie and Amanda.

All right, ladies? Hello. I've got
this little powder compact... Wow!

Gosh, that's adorable.

..and it's missing its puff,
which goes in there.

I believe that you're quite
good with a needle and thread.

Who told you that?

Well, a rumour got out and
it's way beyond my skill set,

so do you think that's
something you could do?

Absolutely.

The little sifter inside is pink,

so if we can go for the same sort of
colour as that... Can I have a look?

Of course. Cos that's got
velvet edging, I think.

Would you like it velvet?

I'll take your advice on that. OK.

It's amazing, isn't it...
Yeah. ..that it's all still...

Still there 60 years later.
That's still in there.

So if I made a template the
same size as the sifter...

Yeah, definitely. That's no problem.
We'll do that for you.

I'll make you a template. Thank you
very much. Thanks a lot. OK.

As well as making a template for the
powder puff, Brenton has also made

one for the missing mirror that once
lived in the lid of the compact.

The mirror has been
cut to fit the piano.

It now...copies my template I made.

However, the edge of the mirror is
sharp and the edge of the mirror

on this piano should be bevelled.

Bevelling is cutting a
small 45-degree on there.

So, the reason we need
to bevel is, one,

it takes the sharp edge off and,
two, it actually looks really nice.

That extra 45-degree
cutting round the edge

just makes the mirror
look really pretty.

Now there is a
machine that does this.

However, because it's such
a small piece of mirror,

I'm doing it by hand.

I'm using wet and dry paper
and slowly working away at it.

Once I've got all the way round

I can fit the mirror
back into the piano.

Inside the workshop, Amanda has
volunteered for powder puff duty.

I've never actually had to make
a grand piano-shaped compact

puff before, but there's always
a first time for everything.

I'm using really nice cotton
velvet that is this lovely pale

powder pink.

It looks kind of faded so it looks
a little bit aged, so I think

it's quite nice cos it will sit
well with the age of the compact.

From what Brenton was saying,

I think it's a good job
that he's handed this over.

We do most of the sewing

and he's not confident
in the sewing department.

He needs a little bit
of help on this one.

Outside in the metalwork shop,

Brenton's addressing
a minor malfunction.

So Jo's asked me to make
the little clip inside work.

The clip isn't catching.

Looking at the edge here,
there's a slight bend up on it

where it's been pressed
down against this clip.

Ideally, the clip needs to be pulled
back before the lid's pushed down

and what's happened is someone's
pushed it down and it's bent

this little tiny edge of the lid,

so all I need to do is see where
it's just slightly going up and,

with my parallel pliers,
just gently straighten it.

And now that should
clip together nicely.

And that's it. Perfect.
That's closed now.

Steve has taken a German
wall clock under his wing.

He has spent hours transforming
the filthy worn mechanism,

but although the clock
workings may now be tip-top,

the same can't be said
for the rest of it.

This case is so nicotine-covered.

All I'm going to do is polish the
case, fit a finial on so it's

tighter, and polish the glass up

and it's going to make
so much difference.

It's very,
very yellow at the moment.

I'm using wire wool and I'm
just going to clean it up.

I can see the water is
turning yellow already.

Squeaky clean.

I'm just going to pop
the mechanism back in,

then I can hang it up and test
it to see if it works right.

So, I've got to go
and hang it on the wall.

And the tail-less horse.

There. Good.

Kelly's going to be
so pleased with this.

Kelly and her sister Claire lost
their much-loved grandad last year

and the clock he was so
proud of came to Kelly.

The clock was in quite
a bad way, I would say.

It didn't work, which was a bit of
a shame. Didn't chime, didn't tick.

It was a little bit yellow.

My grandad was quite a heavy smoker.

Smoking rollies.

Nobody was allowed to touch the
clocks

so my nan was not even
allowed to clean it -

which annoyed her somewhat, I'd say.

Ooh!

Now every cog, pivot and spring
has been lovingly refurbished...

Oh, wow!

..it will be a constant reminder of
the man who meant so much to Kelly.

It goes in here.

Me and my grandad were pretty
good friends, I would say.

It's not your typical grandfather
granddaughter relationship.

We used to have good chats

and I used to ring him up
and ask him for advice.

I thought my grandad was awesome.

I'm excited to get
it on the wall now.

There we go. It's on. Wow.

Looks a lot better? It does.
It looks a lot better, doesn't it?

It looks just like I remember it.

Oh, I should wind it up, really.

SHE WINDS CLOCK

CLOCK TICKS

There you go, that's good.
A good sign.

It's cool, right? Like it?

Happy? Really happy.
Wait for the chime.

CLOCK CHIMES

There we go.

Oh, my goodness, it's just like
being at nan and grandad's.

Happy? Yeah, I love it.

Grandad would love it.
He'd be so pleased.

How do you feel having
it up on the wall,

having that memory of
grandad in the house?

Such an important
one, as well, to him.

It's really nice, it's really nice.

I get to sit on the sofa
and the clock will be there.

I'll wake up in the morning and
the first thing I'll see when

I come down the stairs is the clock.

It's chiming and it looks fabulous.

It's nice to have a piece
of my grandad in the house.

Over the moon.

Back at the workshop, Rachael is
putting the final touches

to the restoration of
the Victorian cradle.

The last part of this
restoration of this cane crib

is to actually reproduce
the colour of that panel

that was there originally.

It's quite important because it
needs to match these existing

panels which, as well as being dyed
originally, have also, over time,

got their own patina
to them, as well.

The cane will need many layers of
colour to match the existing panels.

This coat that's going
on is an umber pigment

and I think it's really bringing out
this lovely rich quality,

this rich colour,
that really ties in

with the existing
panels on the cradle.

So, I'm quite excited at this stage,

just to get this last
little bit of colour on here.

Once the final layer has dried, the
cradle is ready to be reassembled.

Right.

OK. Careful. Carefully ascend.

Don't want to knock that canework.

Easy. That's it.

Ooh!

THEY LAUGH

Ooh, look at that. Oh, look!

That is SO nice.
Such a smooth rock, as well.

The cradle has been passed
down through five generations

and is now restored and
ready to welcome the sixth.

Now owner Helen is
back to collect it.

It was a very sad item, the cradle.

It was in complete disrepair.

It wasn't functional any more,
but looking forward to seeing

just the work that Rachael
and Will have both done.

Hello, Will. Hello, Rachel.
Good to see you again.

Nice to see you. Hi, Helen.
Lovely to see you. Gosh!

This is quite
frightening, actually...

Oh! Really? ..cos I'm really
excited to see what you've done,

cos it was quite a job, wasn't it?

You've had your work cut out.
Yeah. We have indeed.

Let's show you what we've
been up to. Fabulous.

Oh, wow!

Gosh, that's just amazing!

That's wonderful. Thank you so much.

It's beautiful again.

What can I say, you've just
done some amazing work on it

and I haven't seen
it look like this,

I truly haven't seen
it look like this.

It's a real rebirth for this
piece of family history for us.

How long has it been since
you've seen it rocking?

I suppose, when Sarah herself was
born - and that's 30 years ago now.

It's the last time it truly
rocked properly as it does now.

It's just such a long time,
but it's magnificent really.

Do you remember which panel
it was that had the hole?

I think it was this one here.
It was, yeah.

You can't actually see there
was ever a hole there. No.

This panel, I took the whole
panel out and recaned it for you.

I really loved doing it so it was
a real pleasure for me to work on it

and also knowing about your family
history and also that there's

a baby coming along...
Yes, very soon.

..so that was a really very
motivating thought

while I was working. Rachael has
done a fantastic job

of the panel there.

Yeah. It was a pleasure to
turn these new finials here

because I think it actually
makes it. It does.

It really makes the piece.

It's almost like the cherry
on top of the cake. Yes.

I've never seen the finials
on the top, Will,

and I'm just so delighted
with what you've done.

It just is absolutely brilliant

and I am truly grateful
for what you've done

because this is just
such a piece of love.

It's held love. Yeah.
It is a piece of love.

Your love for furniture, I can see,

but it will now go on and
other generations,

when I'm long gone, will be using it

and I think that's
just so wonderful.

Well, it's been an honour to have it
coming through the Repair Shop,

so thank you. It really has, yeah.

I'm just overcome really
with the whole emotion of it.

It looks so beautiful, the cradle,

and I can't wait for the
rest of the family to see it.

It has seen five
generations within the cradle

and the next generation
is due in a few weeks' time,

and it's just so lovely
to be able to take this

beautifully-restored family heirloom
back home for the next generation.

Silversmith Brenton has been
restoring a powder compact,

a vintage love token that was in
desperate need of some love itself.

Amanda, how is the puff going?
Just finished it. How about that?

Let me see if it fits. I hope so.
I've got everything crossed.

Well, I cut the templates so if it
doesn't fit it'll be my fault.

Oh, that's brilliant.

I reckon Jo's going to be chuffed
with that... I think so, yes.

..cos she did mention
that it didn't have a puff

and she doesn't
know she's getting it.

So this will be a little bonus.

She's got her piano fixed
and it's complete now.

I think, from a girlie point of
view, that finishes it for me.

Just the right colour, as well.
Yes, it's perfect. Absolutely.

I think she's going to be
really pleased. That's great.

Thank you so much for doing that.
Thanks. Thanks.

With the owners of the
compact due to collect it,

Brenton still has one final fix.

It's all working now.

So, now I've just got
to glue the mirror in.

We don't want to put
too much glue on.

One, we don't want it all
squirting out the sides,

and, two, someone might want to
get this mirror out again if it

unfortunately got broken again.

You don't want it
too hard to get out.

So, three little dots will
be sufficient to hold this

mirror in place like
the original piano had.

The piano is now repaired.

It's back to its original
condition and we've made a box up

like the one that the
piano would have come in

and I can't wait to give
that back to Jo and Lottie.

Jo and her daughter Lottie

have arrived to collect
their family heirloom,

once given by Lottie's grandfather
to his beloved wife.

Hello. Hi. And you are?
I'm Lottie. Lottie.

All right. How we doing? Hi.
Tell me what your mum brought in.

A piano compact that was
quite broken and dirty.

And was missing a mirror,
so we're really hoping...

Not much wrong with it!
And it belongs to?

It was my nan, but when she passed
away it got passed down to me.

So, it's yours then now? Yeah.

Do you want to see it? Yeah.

JO GASPS

Wow, that's great!

That's brilliant.
Look how amazing that looks.

It's so polished and you
can see all the pattern.

Now for the moment of truth.

Yes, a mirror. Excellent!

And the powder puff. That's
really cool. That's brilliant.

Wasn't expecting that.
The pink, as well, sets it off.

The bear ladies helped me with that

cos I'm not very good
with that sort of thing.

Helped you with the
colour choice, did they?

When we've got all of these
skills here we might as well use

every single one of them. You've got
something else for them, as well?

I have indeed.

I've got a replica box that I made,

which was a copy of the original
box it would have come in.

Cool. Oh, that's amazing.

That's exactly the emblem that was
on top of the boxes I've seen.

That will set it off beautifully,
won't it? Oh, that's amazing.

Thank you. No problem.

But is Lottie going
to be able to use it

when she gets a little bit older
then? I don't know.

I might let her use it. She's just
bought her first face powder -

and it's a loose powder -

so, actually, you could put it in
there and use it, couldn't you?

I could. No, that's brilliant.
Fantastic.

So what's it going to feel like

using your grandmother's
compact now?

It'll be something else
I can relate back to her.

Thank you so much.
It's not a problem at all.

It's really gorgeous.
Now you look after it.

Thank you. We will.
That will be cherished, I'm sure.

That was good, wasn't it? Very nice.

I think Brenton has done
an amazing job with it. Yeah.

It's much, much better than we'd
expected it to be. A lot better.

What the compact does is it sparks
memories

of actually just how much they loved
each other,

that everlasting love that
they have is really nice to remember

with such a special item.

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

Oh, yes!

..and their cherished memories
restored in The Repair Shop.

Wow!