One Before The Landfill

[Christos]

I was chatting with a friend that has picked up a table that was destined for landfill. This was and still is in a pretty bad shape. It used to be kept outside with the table top on the ground.

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It is an expandable table which is missing the middle leaf the nut and a lot of the parts that prevent the table from falling in the middle when it is expanded.

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The table top is screwed to the frame via pocket hole method and using slotted screws.

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My friend has started to remove the finish using mentholated spirits as was confirmed to be Shellac. There has been a suggestion by one of his friends that this table could be 100 years old. The wood used in the construction of this piece could be Oak?

I have been asked if I could make one of the parts that attached to the upper part of the leg which I think is called an ear(correct me if I am wrong).
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The questions I have is this table made out of Oak?
How do I confirm that the glue used is hide glue? I have one piece in hand that has some residue of glue that I can test.
Do the legs look like they are make out of a different wood?

[fletty]

Hi Christos,
Firstly, what a beautiful table. It looks like oak to me, especially in the view from underneath. If you are going to remake an 'ear', make it before the remainder of the leg is refinished because it is easiest to make it by glueing and fixing a new roughly shaped block to the leg and finish the shaping with it as a fixed part of the leg.
Are you also going to make a new leaf? If so, it is also better to make it before the table is refinished?
fletty

PS, hide glue will soften with warm water or steam

[wheelinround]

I thought you had scored this for yourself still a good find and worthy of restoration. This is something Sue would love me to make an oval/round extending dinning table big enough for the whole family now numbering 12.

Can we get a shot of the whole table pls????? and the mechanics.

Christos you mention metal part missing more info and if I can assist in making it I shall.


Question Have you moved all your tools south yet?? Or Will you be working from Sydney base on this project???

[cava]

I would say it is oak.

[Luke Maddux]

I'd put my money on Oak as well.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

Hi Christos,

1. The table dates from 1940-1950 (possibly as early as 1920). Not antique yet. Second-hand furniture - it costs a lot from a shop and is worth "what will you pay me to take it away?" if you are selling. Sorry to be cynical but comes from long experience.
2. Yes, exotic (that is not Australian) oak. North American Oak, Japanese Oak and Asian Oak (All Quercus sp., unlike any Australian so-called 'oaks'). Almost impossible (at least for me and from photos) to tell its geographic origin. All Quercus are similar in wood tech terms.
3. As fletty said, warm or hot water will soften hide glue. BUT, at that age it was all hide glue so no issue there. Wonderful stuff because new hide glue bonds perfectly without any fusspot cleaning up beforehand. Never use anything else - it ruins any restoration for ever more (sorry, a bit polemic there).
4. The original finish is, almost certainly (this is a period of transition in materials science, so certainty is hard to get without a first hand look) shellac. Easy to test though - just rub with metho - shellac will dissolve, lacquer will not. At that time (I believe for that time - without great evidence, I must admit) that most shellac was used "raw" as in, from the raw "buttons" not from the refined flakes. I still use the raw button shellac (which contains a lot of insect rubbish [I filter out] as well as the raw shellac and a high wax content) for all my antique restorations, because it was what was originally used.
5. I know it is old, and therefore worth keeping and worth restoring, but your friend should realise that the $ value is low so it is best not to over-invest in it.

[truckjohn]

Looks like you got a nice piece there. Looks like solid wood from here - not veneered.

Most of those were actually finished with some sort of dark brown spirit varnish. Yes - it still thins with alcohol. While these often did have some shellac in them - they also have more gums and colors in them... Spirit varnishes are FAR easier to brush than straight shellac. They give a darker, more durable, slightly flexible finish that doesnt crack as easily as shellac, hides glue joints and discolorations in the wood while still letting you see the grain.

I very much doubt shellac or lacquer would make the ship ride to Aus without the finish being cracked from the humidity changes.

Unfortunately - these spirit varnishes were apt to pick up rings from glasses and dishes being set on them.. Water tends to leave white spots that eventually dry back out.

Just looking at it.. Most likely from the USA post WWII.. As we were supplying most of the furniture to the whole rest of the world for about 20 years after the war...

[Christos]

Thank you for the responses to my questions. I will pass on this information to me friend. The table in currently in two parts as the supporting undercarriage is not there.

.....Christos you mention metal part missing more info and if I can assist in making it I shall......

The mechanism is missing a nut that will allow the table to expand. It is an unusual thread but I know that it has been posted before on this forum.

....Have you moved all your tools south yet??......

Some tools have followed me to Albury as most of the machines are still living in Sydney.

[truckjohn]

That thread is an Acme thread pattern. Commonly used on jacks and things like that...

[auscab]

One easy way of fixing that table for use is to make two long rails and a leaf up and screw the lot together, three sections screwed to two rails.

If you wanted to restore it as an extension table I know a guy who would make the missing brass nut for the thread . You would have to send the whole thread to him in glen Waverly Melbourne to do this.

Rob

[wood spirit]

Initially I thought it was older than others said then I looked at the legs has a art neuvou (don't think that is spell t right)look about them. Seems in quite good nic. particularly with the storage description. The frame screwed down hard to the top is a concern(possibly less so with it being an expanding table) as I have recently demolished an oval 1920s-30s blackwood table that had the top separate with two 1/4 in splits caused by allowing nothing for wood movement. -fortunately along the glue lines. This was done after checking resale values-Not a popular item anymore apparently-would have been lucky to make $5 hour to restore (and it was free) Will become 4 tall candlesticks (legs) and spare blackwood boards.
However with what you have -looks good-if you want it personally (otherwise check sale prices) and as others have said -if mechanical issues are a problem-fixed oval might be the solution (but if so try to make it reversible-if another solution comes in the future)
Oak ? probably. Worthwhile -personally -yes -profit-research.