What this site covers
HollowTable focuses on three overlapping areas: the structural assessment of wood furniture (joinery checks), surface repair methods (veneer patching and finishing), and the practical tool and materials setup used at volunteer repair cafés in Canadian communities.
The content is drawn from documented practices in repair café networks, publicly available conservation guidelines, and woodworking reference materials. It is intended for volunteer coordinators setting up or running repair sessions, hobbyists repairing furniture at home, and anyone looking for straightforward information on specific repair tasks.
Repair cafés in Canada
Repair cafés are volunteer-run events where members of the public bring broken or damaged household items and work alongside skilled volunteers to fix them. The format originated in the Netherlands and has spread to many countries, including Canada, where groups operate in cities including Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Victoria, among others.
Furniture — particularly chairs and tables — is consistently one of the most common categories of item brought to repair events. The problems encountered at these sessions form the basis of the guides published here.
Editorial approach
Content on this site follows an informational style. Where repair procedures are described, they represent approaches that are practical at the community workshop level — not professional conservation standards that require specialised equipment or materials. For historically significant furniture or items of high monetary value, consultation with a qualified conservator is appropriate.
Where external sources are cited, they are publicly accessible institutions and networks. No statistics or claims are fabricated. Where exact data is not available, neutral descriptive language is used instead.
Disclaimer
The information on this site is provided for general reference. Furniture repair involves tools and materials that require reasonable care and skill. HollowTable does not accept responsibility for outcomes resulting from the use of information on this site. Readers work at their own discretion.
Contact
Questions, corrections, and contributions can be sent using the form below or by email to info@hollowtable.org.