30-40 year old Aus. Cedar Coffee Table

[woodgrain]

I have a fairly old Australian cedar coffee table. The table has seen lots of use of its life and has since started to split in two places, the first along the join of the timber joints and the second along the grain of one of the pieces of timber making up the top. In addition to that, the legs that were put onto the table top years ago were a bit "cheap" by the looks of it. I believe the top was coated in marine lacquer and not oiled.

I'm somewhat new to restoration and don't want to spend a lot of time trying to do something myself that will cost me more time/money than its worth. I figure i have the following options:


DIY repair. Not sure exactly what equipment i need to do this however.
Paid Restoration.
Sell it. Not sure what its worth.
Recycle the wood and make something else with the timber.
Wood chip it and use it in the garden.


If anyone restored a similar item or can provide some guidance as to the best of the above options i would be very grateful.

Pics:

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181800&stc=1&d=1316055494

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181801&stc=1&d=1316055494

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181802&stc=1&d=1316055494

http://www.woodworkforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=181803&stc=1&d=1316055494

Thanks.

[rustynail]

Looks like a marriage, I dont think the legs are original. Would appear the cleats running across the underside of the table are fastened in such a way that there is no allowance for expansion or contraction of the top. Usual method would be slotted screw holes or table clips (sometimes called buttons.) This allows the top to move according to humidity. If this movement is impeded the top will split. Easy enough to fix. Be brave and have a go.

[woodgrain]

Thanks for the reply Rustynail,

The table is a bit of a marriage, the legs were added many years ago, not sure why, or even if the top came with legs originally or who made it.

Table buttons seems like a fairly simple thing to do:
http://www.woodworkforums.com/f11/how-do-you-make-your-table-buttons-49571/

As for fixing the splits, that i'm not sure is so easy?
I thought i would need to cut the table along the split in the grain, re-glue and when it was cut, then re-shape it?

[rustynail]

I make buttons from a good sound piece of quartersawn Jarrah or similar dense, stable hardwood. I keep offcuts from bench tops. Dress to 25mm thick,dock to 80mm, rebate both ends, redock the 80mm to two approx 40mm pieces, rip them to form 40mmx25mmx25mm with the rebate at one end, drill and countersink screw hole in centre of the block. For a decorative effect, a small cove can be run across the back end of the block. Don't cut the top, clean up split glue line, reglue and glue the grain split. This keeps the integraty of the edge. Fox wedges may help with clamping the curve.