Restoring A 1940s Clockwork Marionette Theater 🎭 | Season 5 Episode 31 | The Repair Shop

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Today in the Repair Shop, Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.

The skills of both furniture restorer Will Kirk and metal work specialist Dominic Chinea are called upon when Carol Reynolds from Belfast, walks through the barn doors with an item that personifies someone very dear to her. The oak box belonged to her late father, who was a toolmaker at an engineering firm. He kept the instruments of his trade, along with his sketchbooks and calculations in the various drawers and compartments. However after years in a shed, damp had got the better of it. What's more Carol had to use a crowbar to force open the box, resulting in a section being sheared off. Will gets to work on the box, cutting out the damaged section and creating a new replacement piece, which he colour matches to conceal his repair. Dom is in his element as he turns his attention to the treasure chest of small tools, removing the rust with wire wool and patience, before oiling them in order to preserve them for decades to come.

Vintage camera enthusiast Brenton West is in for a treat, when Jacquie Lazelle from Ipswich brings her grandad's 100 year old plate camera in for repair. Jacquie's passion for photography began as a child, when she spent many happy hours with her grandad learning how to use this beautiful relic. She would love to see it brought back to life so she can begin using it again. However it requires an epic amount of work from Brenton. He calls on leather expert Suzie Fletcher to recreate the expandable bellows, which have disintegrated beyond repair. She spends days creating bespoke retractable bellows, which allow the camera to focus . While Brenton fixes the jammed shutter, replaces the viewing glass and gives the camera a full service. Together they pull out all the stops to get this fine example working again.

And Margaret Webb from Montrose, in Scotland brings her very first xmas present to the barn. The 1940's marionette theatre has seen better days - the two marionette characters are split in places, have detached limbs and have lost their showbiz sparkle. The clockwork mechanism that makes them dance is broken. Clock restorer Steve Fletcher and vintage toy expert David Burville join forces to get this unusual curiosity back to its original charming state. Steve fixes the wind up mechanism, leaving David to fathom out a way to mend the dancers brittle plastic bodies and get them back on the dance floor, to entertain future generations.

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Nestled deep in the British countryside is The Repair Shop, where a team of Britain's most skilled and caring craftspeople rescue and resurrect items their owners thought were beyond saving. Together they transform priceless pieces of family history and bring loved, but broken treasures, and the memories they hold back to life.

If you have a treasured item that's seen better days and think our experts can help, please get in touch now! 👉 http://bit.ly/TakePartTRS