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Clockwise from top: Esteban Lorenzana of Master Craftsmen
Services carves the skirt in a new table leaf to match the original
table. Owner Ed Mayorga has fulfilled a variety of special requests
from his customers over the years. A Moroccan secretary and two
American Victorian beds circa early 1800s await repairs in the shop.
Master Craftsmen Services has seen some unusual
restoration and creation jobs, from cleaning and sealing
bronze Turkish foot warmers to making end tables out
of beer barrels and portholes. They do simple jobs like
rewrapping wicker chair legs to totally redesigning a
couch.
“We had a lady bring us a sofa and loveseat, and she
wants the structure redone,” Mayorga says. “She wants
it more square, more contemporary. She wants the
arms to be square, she wants the back to be straight
across. She is redesigning a piece of furniture she has
had for 10 or 15 years. That’s what we’re known for,
being able to do exactly what the customer requires.”
Mayorga says many companies specialize in one
thing or another — upholstery, wood finishing, cane
work and so on — but he is able to do all types of furni-ture
restoration.
“It’s amazing some of the things we have done, repur-posed,”
he says. “We’ve made tables out of pianos that
were very old. People want to know, ‘I know you’ve
never done this before, but can you…’ We have never
turned anybody away yet. A man brought in a hatch
from a ship, a crosshatch of wood, a very large rectan-gular
piece and we made it into a glass-topped dining
room table for him. He was delighted.”
It is not unusual for his business to use cowhide or
alligator or other strange things in upholstery. Alli-gator
skin legally can be purchased from a couple of
places on the West Coast and one in Chicago.
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