November 2020
Down to brass tacks Park Rapids man refurbishes antique beds, more By Shannon Geisen sgeisen@parkrapidsenterprise.com
do.” Malaski also sandblasts and powder coats iron beds. an Malaski, 69, is never short A Pac-Man arcade machine is of projects. fully operational, thanks to him. His antique furniture refinishing Malaski built his own buffing business, called The Brass Monkey, wheel when he was 14 years old. “I provides plenty of work. replaced the motor twice. It’s been With 55 years of experience, through two fires,” he said. Malaski specializes in brass bed He spends about five to six hours restorations, but he’s also refura day behind the buffing wheel, bished cash registers, slot machines polishing up brass, copper or iron and much more. that has lost its sheen. “It’s a lost art. Nobody’s doing Malaski has been coming to Park it anymore,” he said. “A handful, Rapids in the summer for 37 years. maybe. Maybe.” He and his wife moved here perLast week, he completed two manently this year. beds for a customer. “I delivered Dan Malaski “Everybody’s going to want a a matching pair to Helena, Monbrass bed when I get started out here, believe me, tana,” he explained. because I do thousands of them,” he said. Prior to that, he refinished two antique desks. Dozens of containers fill his shop, where he’s Soon he’ll apply white lettering to a Coca-Cola renting storage space near the Park Rapids Airport. Bottling cooler that he fixed for a customer. An antique scale awaits buffing. “It’s a produce They are brimming with miscellaneous bed components: scrolls, caps, poles, rails, you name it. scale,” he notes. “I have bought out every company that there is He purchased a couple pocket doors to repair for in the United States, almost,” Malaski said. “Here’s a customer’s historic home in Montana. “I restored his whole house,” Malaski remarked. A revolving another bed I just got out of Jersey. They just mailed bookcase, Murphy bed and rare sewing cabinet are it to me.” He scours online for deals, particularly eBay and waiting to be restored. “I do all of my refinishing by hand,” he says, Craigslist. “with a brush. I don’t spray like commercial people
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Inside this issue... 2 Spice up your yard and landscape with fall color 3 Social Security Benefits increase in 2021 4 What happens to Medicare if Obamacare is overturned? 5 Caregivers can get stuck in fight-or-flight mode 7 Hog Heaven 8 How do you know when to call hospice?