1880 baggatelle pool table restoration help please

[dhubilant]

Hi all this is my first attempt to restore furniture, let alone taking on something so big! I have in my shed a Baggatelle table, it has been there for 20 yrs and used as a bench (always covered with a tarp) for storing stuff on. I have decided it is time to restore it and need some advice on the best way to go about it. I have found an exact table on the net and it tells me it is from 1880 and made from Australian Cedar, it has 5 legs, 2 of which are on a frame that slides out then you fold the top over to make the table, it has inlaid cribbage scoring boards on each side and cups in a circle on the rounded end of the table, some of the joins in the top have come slightly apart, should I take it all apart or try to glue and clamp. Should I sand the whole thing back or leave the aged dings and marks as are? Any help and advice would be truly appreciated. I will take some pics soon and post them up prior to starting this project.
Cheers Glenn

[dhubilant]

Is this a too hard case or am I on the wrong forum? I would have thought some advise would be forward, Oh well I might just go ahead and ruin something special!
Thanks anyway! Fingers crossed

[Nanigai]

Glenn,

I can't really help with restoration advice but I noticed you have had 90+ people look at your post.
You said you were going to post photos and from experience I would suggest people are waiting for those.
The old a picture is worth a thousand words etc comes to mind.

How bad is it?
What is the finish? or do you know how to test the current finish?

What you have now will dictate what you can do to restore it.
The guys here will help but you may have to provide more info so they can assess what you are starting with.

Hope this helps,
Cheers, Ian

[NCArcher]

Yeah we need to see pics. It sounds like it is worth restoring but I can't picture it from your description. The pictures I found on the net suggest that it may be a valuable antique. If you are looking to sell it it may be better to do nothing.

[Horsecroft88]

Hi Glen

Woah man, definitely please don't rush into this project, as the other guys have suggested, a few photos, if you can get them to load up would be really helpful in terms of seeing what the issues are, based on your description.

From what you say about the table, my first inclinations are that (a) if it is from around that timeframe (ie. 1880s) that yes unless totally knackered it should be well worth restoring. (b) my second bit of advice would be to take your time over such a project, especially if you have limited experience in this sort of thing. (c) if it is cedar, then it really will be a special piece. Cedar was mostly used for higher quality pieces of furniture etc.

In terms of loose joints, if it is possible to pull them apart and re-glue with high strength glue that is certainly one way to fix it. Purists might tell you to use animal based wood glues and there are some good reasons to consider this as an option, but I have no first hand experience with such products.

Now in respect of getting cracking and sanding it back, before you go ahead and do this, the key questions to me are firstly is this actually needed. That is has the original polish/finish died (that is, is it flaking off, has dull areas, patchy areas), or alternatively if properly cleaned and re-polished with decent wood polish (ie bees wax based polishes) might it actually come up perfectly well.

Traditionally pretty much all furniture from the pre-1900s would have been shellac finished (that is essentially French Polished). If you need to re-polish then this is what you should really be using. If you need to go there, there is plenty of info on how to do this both on the forum in both this section and the finishing section of the forum. Also, Neil (Ubeaut) sells a book on this process, as well as selling the various products that you should be using.

I would also strongly recommend that if you do need to sand, please be careful so as not to try to sand out scratches, dings, marks etc. This is the patina of your table, and therefore its heritage. In restoring antique furniture you should always be respectful of this and try to preserve it. It will also enhance its end value should you ever decide to sell it. The other option, and especially if it has a shellac based finish which has gone totally off is to try rubbing it back with metho and steel wool, wiping away the muck/excess with a cloth as you go. That way sanding can be limited to hopefully only finer grade papers. There are many who would even go as far as advocating not to sand. I disagree with that, but I am always careful in how far I go with this.

I hope that all helps as a starting point. I am not trying to tell you what you must do, its your table afterall, but rather from the perspective of trying to offer some instructive advice based on a little experience I have. By all means check out my somewhat lengthy projects thread or those of Lawry's etc etc. Plenty of pictures and descriptions which might help you.

[dhubilant]

Thanks for the advice, I will take caution and not rush this as you suggest, I will get it from its hiding spot in my shed soon and upload some pics, then perhaps I can proceed with caution as I do not want to screw up something special,
Cheers again