My parents are downsizing houses. They asked if I wanted anything, and there is one item: A table. Not just any table, a table my father made in Junior High School and which sat in my grandmothers living room until she passed. I feel I rescued the table, as my mother was intent on painting it black to hide the damage to the top… I had forbid her from doing so, as the table (while damaged) is a beautiful mahogany.
Now for the interesting part. In all the years I’d seen the table, the first time I ever looked at it was as I was loading it up to bring it to my house. For those of you who ever wonder how long your furniture will last this table should give you a idea. It’s has had a hard life, and some basic construction were ignored.
My grandmother was an avid gardener. She had plants everywhere, this table was no exception. The top clear has some water damage, and is cupped upwards (See Picture 3 and 4). As well someone actually burned the top! Who knows how.
The cupping top has actually bowed caused the legs to go out of square. Which is a surprise, as the legs are only attached to the top with a butt joint (end grain to long grain see picture2). I would have though the joint would have broken when competing against the mortise and tennon.
My original intention was to use this table in my living room. But given its condition, and my two boys I’ve decided to save the table for my home office. I’ve been thinking I may make a replica of the table in walnut for my parents as a house warming gift. I will change one thing, I’ll add cleat between the legs to both support the top and eliminate the the butt joints.
Buster
Edited 4/22/2009 1:48 am by Buster2000
Replies
Buster,
That would be a crime to paint a beautiful piece of furniture like that. Do you know where the chairs are? Well worth fixing properly, it can be restored., if you do make sure you do it properly or you could ruin its value.
How old is it?
Enjoy your prize,
Taigert
" if you do make sure you do it properly or you could ruin its value."Let's be honest here - as nice as that table is, it has no value outside of your family. The proper way to restore it is to do so in such a way that it maintains that value for you. Clean it up a bit and let it be. All those dings and such are part of its history now and to remove those just makes it a table your dad made!Chris
Let's be honest here - as nice as that table is, it has no value outside of your family. The proper way to restore it is to do so in such a way that it maintains that value for you. Clean it up a bit and let it be. All those dings and such are part of its history now and to remove those just makes it a table your dad made!
Fully agree. I've decided to leave the table as is. Water Stain and burns marks included. The table top would need to be replaced as it is cupped so badly which has also warped the base...
I only plan on making a replica.
Chris,
What you just stated is what I meant be "ruin it", not the cash value. I love the story old things have to tell about there history. I have seen far too many pieces that have almost been cloned with new wood. At that point it's ruined, and become a waste of energy. As you stated it.
Enjoy your prize,
Taigert
There is no scale in the picture. It's actually a coffee table...
That's a beauty. Congratulations for saving it. (Black paint? Ugghh!)
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
My original intention was to use this table in my living room. But given its condition, and my two boys .. Mostly girls here.. The Boy was much more respectfull of things..
I for one will YELL at YOU if you change that table in any way! It IS special and lived a life with people and whatever. I am sure if you do anything to it except fix ant loose joints YOU WILL BE SORRY some day in the future..
KEEP IT AS IT IS PRIOD!
Just me though.
That is an absolutely beautiful table in every way. The VERY small amount of damage to the top is just totally ignorable. I would put it anywhere you wanted in your house. Don't do ANYthing to it. Bravo.
My daughter had a table that belonged to my mom and dad that they
bought around 1940. It had been through a number of family members
including a number of the grandkids. It had not been cared for since it left my parents house I don't know how many years ago.The top was just setting on the legs with no connector. The legs
were coming apart. The top had cigarette burns and scratches from
use. Part of the apron was missing.I came within a whisker of throwing it away but took it home. I
glued the legs back together, reattached the legs to the top, &
repaired the apron as best I could with the pieces that were there.
I did not add anything to the table. I then refinished the table.It sits proudly in our family room and is one of our favorite pieces.Keep the table with all of it's faults. It tells your family story.Domer
Your father made a beautiful table and I'm glad you were able to save it.
I would like to relate to you a similar story.
A customer came to me recently and asked me to repair a family treasure of theirs! His mother had recently passed on and he inherited several of her worldly positions amongst them was a table made from soft maple (I think) it was very dear to him as it had served their family well for two generations and had belonged to his grandparents.
It was un cared for and they said it was nearly 100 years in age. After careful consideration I cleaned it up, sanded and dyed it a peachy orange while allowing it to maintain some original character! I also added a leaf as the one that came with the table disappeared (or more likely didn't survive the abuse)
The value of such things are clearly perceived by the owning and use of the items themselves, and the memories they can restore to the owners!
Chaim
Very nice restoration!! congratulations.Gretchen
Very nice work. Along with this table were a few pieces of work my great grandfather built, he was a proffesional. Including an Arts and Crafts style side table/magazine holder... All held together with pegs. My grandmother didn't like one of the shelves, so she cut it off!
The most famous item of my grandfathers work was a 1/5th scale replica of Glamis castle. Apparently he displayed it on his property in Trail BC for years. I grew up hearing about the castle, but it had been sold with the house and had been moved. When I was in high school the city bought it back and restored it. Last I saw of it the city had it in storage. I took my grandmother and a buddy down to see it.
Buster
In my business as a handyman, I now and again get a request to repair some furniture. Sometimes it's run-of-the-mill stuff, sometimes a beautiful antique.
And a few times, I've been asked to repair something that was made by some long-gone ancestor of the owner.
And those are the pieces for which I have the most respect, the most care, the most TLC.
One of those repair calls came from a long-time customer who was almost 90 years old at the time. The "magazine stand" that her Dad had made during the depression needed some work. Man! Was this thing rustic in design. A few pine boards, some rudimentary shaping with a coping saw, mostly nailed together, then stained and varnished.
I took it to my shop, and did what I could -- I think mostly it will hold together till she passes on.
And when I returned it to her, there were tears.
Proof that those are the truly valuable pieces. She ahs a house full of valuable antiques, and this is the one that brought tears.
Don't give up on your Dad's table. It's precious, whether or not anyone else can tell.
As for what you can/should do to restore it -- as others have mentioned, the value of this table is in the provenance. It's yours because it was your Dad's; and it was his because he made it. With his hands, his thoughts, his frustrations, his rewards.
Here's another small piece of the story about the magazine rack in the widow's house. When I took it apart for repair, the maker's pencil marks (her Dad's) were still visible. I took a couple of pictures that showed those lines, and gave them to her. And I did nothing that would remove or hide those pencil marks.
And because the value is in the story, my advice is: Don't change the story, don't change the table.
And maybe, just maybe, if your two boys see you with that table often enough, then the tradition will carry on for yet another generation.
Blessed are the meek, if that's OK with you?
Edited 4/22/2009 8:14 pm ET by YesMaam27577
Wow, the story by YesMaam got me to reaching for the Kleenex box and trying to remember some of the old hand-me-downs in our family.
I'm the youngest of 3 sons, so not much of it came my way, the older brothers have quite a few such items though. I do have an old wall clock that my great grand father built in his younger days. He pased away in the mid 50's at age 96. That would mean he was born around 1860 or so.
The clock is packed away so one of my brothers won't claim it while visiting. My son's wife gave birth to my first grand son about 6 months ago and he (like it or not) will be given the old clock some day.
Buster, the table is beautiful. Take good care of it and pass it on when it's time.
Al
"The cupping top has actually bowed caused the legs to go out of square. Which is a surprise, as the legs are only attached to the top with a butt joint (end grain to long grain see picture2). I would have though the joint would have broken when competing against the mortise and tennon."
Are you sure that's a butt joint? No chance he turned a tenon on the top or there's a shallow dowel or something? I'm having trouble believing the glue would react that force. That's not shear. There's a flatwise tension that no glue should be able to withstand. Just the effect on the legs suggests to me there is some mechanical joint there.
Let me know what you think
Adam
Adam,I asked my dad... but he's no woodworker. So I don't know if he fully understofo what I was asking. Without pulling the table apart there is really no way to really know. It's very possible; I just reexamined the table and there is a gap on one joint... filled with glue of course. To me that would be pretty weak unless it was backed up with something.I'm no expert on glue failure, but I have seen brittle things deform rather than break when stress is applied over a long period of time.
"I'm no expert on glue failure, but I have seen brittle things deform rather than break when stress is applied over a long period of time."
I'm with Adam on this one - I rather doubt that you've just a end-grain butt joint glued to the face grain of the top on the underside. Even a modern epoxy would likely have given way as the top expanded and contracted.
I've a suggestion that will not affect the character of the table, and perhaps might suggest some sympathetic repairs (if that's the way you want to go). You might try loosening up these joints on the underside with a steam iron and/or injecting the joint with denatured alcohol - if they do loosen, you'll know the glue's probably hide glue (the steam, btw, will plasticize hide glue so that you can pull the joint apart - injecting DNA will crystalize hide glue and make it brittle).
If that doesn't work, then you can try applying vinegar, which will degrade and loosen PVA (white and yellow) glue.
The point to doing this would only be if you wish to flatten out the top. One way to do that is by applying damp rags to the concave side of the top, and gentle heating with a blow dryer, heat gun or sunlight to the convex side. The top will flatten considerably, at which point you want to sticker it on a flat surface and weight it down. After a couple of weeks, the top should take the "set" and be considerably flatter. You can then decide if you want to install a thin apron on the tops of the legs, or perhaps simply add a couple of sliding battens to the underside to keep the top flat, and re-attach the legs in the original manner.
Personally, I'd probably do nothing and simply wax it and put in the living room, but I offer the above suggestions in case you want to do more (it's your table, after all).
Without pulling apart he joint we really will never know. I'll ask my dad again to see if he can remember.
The table will be going into a safe area of the house. An area away from my two children, who are about to turn 2, and enjoy climbing and also away from the boys nanny who believes every thing needs to be wiped down with a wet cloth...
Thanks everybody for the great replies and suggestions.
So here is the plan for the table... Nothing. The table is going to be moved up to our bedroom, where it will be safe from the various destructive forces forces in the house. I have no intention to mess with it in any way. It sits flat, and doesn't rock. When we can reclaim our home office (currently the nanny's room). It'll get moved down there where it can be fully enjoyed.
In the meantime, I plan to build two tables based on this design. One for myself, and one for my dad. I'm thinking one in Walnut and one in Cherry, which will match our current furniture (and which I currently have plenty of). There are a few projects in front, so hopefully I can get to them by the end of the winter.
Buster
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