My beloved wants to try it in our kitchen. I may be looking for some sexy white oak to see if I can make a suitable leaf for it. We need to test with some scrap ply to see how stable the table feels with a leaf in it.
I've had to "raise" a number of pieces of antique furniture because they're too short for modern chairs (and people). 2" is about right. Nice job. Well done!
You did an awesome job, Art. I can't count the many times I found beautiful pieces by the road and refurbished them. It is amazing to me how many people throw away good things...
Nice fix! I have just about the exact table that my wife and I bought at an auction in about 1975. It, 6 chairs, 5 leaves and a buffet came as a matching set. A few years later I did a re-finish on it. It's been our daily use table for all that time and it still looks great. The "cheap" factory furniture that was done 100 years or so ago was definitely not poorly built. Too bad so much has changed in that regard.
Beautiful end to a table worth saving. I have a bar table that I have kept because it has the same beautiful grain. Wanted to sell because of space but hated the idea of it being abused. Leaf could be well gone a decade ago or snug in some inconspicuous spot.
Great job giving that table a new life. I wonder if the wood on the pedestal bottom was a repair - water damaged maybe and the legs could have been added/replaced? It would be interesting to know the history, but a mystery is good too.
That's another idea. I did find some faint numbers, but one was just the diameter. The other one was maybe a model number, but without a manufacturer it doesn't help. This did reinforce my idea that it is factory furniture.
Awesome. I agree that something is not original about the base of the column. Maybe there was some long-ago damage and that was how it was repaired? Regardless, it is now ready for another hundred plus years of service! Well done!!
Nice job. From junk back to a functional table. I see so many "restoration" videos where all they are really doing is just painting a piece of furniture. It's good to see it being done properly.
Nice work, I just picked up a beautiful Quarter Sawn oak table with ball and claw feet for $100, you can't give thise things away yet if people only knew how awesome white oak is and how beautiful these refinish. Question, why did you use shallac and not just use the water based as all coats?
Just being cautious as I was using an oil-based stain and water-based topcoat. Shellac is the "universal" sealer, so it can go over almost anything and under almost anything. If I had the patience I could wait a few days for the oil stain to fully cure and it would probably have been okay. There's more than one way to do it!
Maybe it was too short and someone added the blocks at the base to elevate the table? Any shadows in the old finish or wood to see that the legs were slid down and reattached? Very interesting!
I was thinking the same thing. Those blocks on the bottom are butt joined, where the rest of the pedestal is possibly mitered? The grain direction of the main pedestal is also vertical while the blocks at the bottom appear to be horizontal. I wonder too it they are of a different wood species as well?
I've been wondering a while. What is the point of using the shellac and poly both? Seems like just using the poly alone would work just as well? Does it protect better having both?
1/ Barrier between waterbased top coat and oil-based stain. So I use it as insurance. 2/ waterbased poly can make wood look a bit dull. Shellac gives it that liveliness that an oil finish does.
