GroopShop 2018 – Day 1

Recently we traveled to Greater Atlanta to attend this year’s gathering of the Professional Refinisher’s Group, a/k/a “Groop,” and online forum to which I have belonged for almost twenty years.  Though initially a “virtual” community, we started assembling almost annually for the past 16 years.

Our hosts this year were the cooperative known as Southern Restorations whose large enterprise is steered by Brian Webster.

Note:  If you have even a passing interest in furniture finishing or restoration, you SHOULD be a member of Groop.  For further information on joining click here.  If you attended the HO Studley exhibit in Cedar Rapids IA you undoubtedly met some of our members, as most of the docents were volunteers from Groop.

Once again GroopShop was an invigorating time of fellowship and sometimes idiosyncratic conversations ranging from surviving running a small business in an esoteric marketplace to arcane discussions of technical subjects and all points in between (virtually all the members of Groop are some version of small businesses).  I know my interest was piqued on a regular basis throughout the three days, sometimes so much I forgot to take pictures..

After opening introductions and such the first demonstration of the event was for a low-impact abrasive cleaning system that was especially appealing to our members who undertake architectural work.  Were I a younger man living near the city trying to build a business, this is a device I would certainly consider obtaining.  The results were impressive, and I brought home a cleaned table leg to see how it finishes up.

Next came an excellent presentation on recent advances in waterborne coatings systems.  While I do not use much in the way of these products, if I had a commercial refinishing shop in this age of envirohysteria, I would.

Next came Dan and Tredway demonstrating the process by which they mold and cast replicas.  I especially enjoyed this not only because I have done so much of this, but because they use a very different product line/technology than I do.  (They are Smooth-On guys and I am a Polytek guy)  Somehow I wound up with the fancy eagle, and will probably paint and gild it and perhaps put it in next year’s Groop fundraising auction.  In the mean time I will experiment with making a gelatin mold plaster cast from it.

RandyB gave another inspiring talk about life in the antiques preservation trade.  His creativity knows no bounds.  His many years of caring for collectors’ and dealers has left him with a wealth of experience and knowledge.  I first met Randy while teaching at DCTC decades ago.

BobC gave his paean to oil finishes.  Intriguing.  I think there could be an intersection between them and polissoirs.

After dinner we held our annual Refinishing Jeopardy tournament, with host MikeM invoking Sicilian rules more than once.  Like most things Sicilian it is best not to ask too much about them.  I served as the adjudicating judge for any disputed answers.  Thanks to some curious scorekeeping the hilarity was sustained to the very end.

And thus endeth Day 1.