HOUSEHOLD GOODS
GRANDFATHER CLOCKS
CUSTOM TIME, 1586 E. 400 S, LEBANON, 317-508-8463, CUSTOMTIME.NET
• Time might be eternal, but a grandfather clock isn’t. It’s possibly the most delicate item in your house, believe it or not. Bill Moore has been repairing them for 42 years. He is one of Indiana’s few licensed and certified clock-makers (the certification program itself ended in 1989.) For three generations, his family has been fixing timepieces. The average grandfather clock repair takes 90 minutes to three and a half hours, and costs about $350.
POWER TOOLS
VAMACO TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT, 6718 E. 38TH ST., 317-632-2208
• If you have a vintage workhorse made with metal parts instead of plastic, it’s worth a visit to Joseph Fowley at Vamaco Tools and Equipment to see if new parts exist. Either Joseph will do—father or son. The elder Fowley is 83, still at the bench repairing cordless drills, pressure washers, sanders, miter saws, and anything else you use to fix stuff at home. Vamaco is also an authorized repair shop for most top brands. Basics—new switches, fresh brushes—cost around $50 to $100 and take three days.
Quilts
MARIE HARNISH QUILT CREATIONS, 317-650-6388, MARIEHARNISHCREATIONS.WORDPRESS.COM, QUILTGUILDINDY.NET
• The fourth-generation quilter behind Marie Harnish Quilt Creations loves to label quilts, so in addition to replacing stitches, securing shredded sections, completing an unfinished heirloom, or taking off a row to remove damage beyond repair, she will embroider or print the quilt’s entire provenance on a swatch and attach it to the back. Whole obituaries and photos can go on a label. She once deconstructed an entire quilt to replace innards destroyed by a cleaning product.
SEWING MACHINES
SELECT SEWING MACHINE, 2415 E. 65TH ST., 317-255-6332, SELECTSEWINGSERVICE.COM
• Owners Karen and Jim Bennett see a steady stream of “traumas,” a machine with a garment stuck under the presser foot or knotted up around a needle. The service technicians—some have worked at the second-generation business for more than 35 years—can usually rescue a curtain or a school costume from ruin, so don’t try to yank it free. Plenty of bigger jobs come in from Butler Ballet and Beef & Boards, but a quick fix runs $35 and usually just requires oiling or resetting the tension. And that’s about all the Bennetts can do for an heirloom cabinet model—the parts aren’t available anymore.
MIRRORS
BULLDOG GLASS AND MIRROR, 464 SOUTHPOINT CIR., BROWNSBURG, 317-858-7246, FURNITUREFIXINDY.COM
• Seven years is just the beginning of the bad luck when it comes to broken mirrors. That little chip is often evidence of an invisible crack under-neath the surface, and flaking silver that causes black spots is a lost cause unless it’s close enough to the edge to be cut off and repolished. But Bulldog can replace glass, including with the smoked looks often found behind bars, as well as the low-iron type salons use for maximum clarity. Owners Candice and Rob Staley, who installed the elevator mirrors at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel and can custom cut any shape, often surprise clients by uncovering a stamp on the back of an antique mirror that reveals exactly when and where it was made.
WOODEN FURNITURE
CARMEL CUSTOM REFINISHING, 4275 W. 96TH ST., 317-872-3999, CARMELCUSTOMREFINISHING.COM
• Most clients of Carmel Custom Refinishing have a rocking chair or a dining set that they’d like to maintain for future generations. But occasionally movers put a forklift through an armoire, and the 32-year-old business can handle that, too. And don’t toss out that chair with a wobbly turned leg—owner Jason Haggery can match an ornate design. Dresser refinishing runs $975 to $1,200; 60-inch tabletop refinishing, $1,000;
