Old shearers kitchen prep table

[specialist]

I was approached to restore an old table rescued from a shearers quarters that was being demolished... Really needing the money, I basically took the job based on a couple of photos.

This is what I got:
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The brief is to flatten the top, stabilize the frame and finish just enough to retain the "rustic" look.

Just to be clear.... I don't do rustic well, infact, I try to not do it at all.

[auscab]

That's on the rough side !! Are you going to proceed and need some help ?
How many hours do you want to spend on this ? A maximum amount .

Rob

[China]

My honest opinion is, it has gone to God

[specialist]

That's on the rough side !! Are you going to proceed and need some help ?
How many hours do you want to spend on this ? A maximum amount .

Rob

I am proceeding, the top is flat and the legs repaired ready to have new mortices cut, I am still undecided how to fix the top down, as the frame is a little rough around the top where it was nailed into.

[specialist]

My honest opinion is, it has gone to God

Not quite, but was close.

[specialist]

After a bit of surgery to get the frame apart, the mortises were pinned, but loose enough for me to cut the pins. Infact, it looked like whomever built the table chewed the mortises out with their teeth.

The bottom of the legs were very rotten from being stood in water. In the old days, they used to sit the tables in cans of water to stop the ants from getting to the food.
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First was to repair the leg tops that I could. I injected glue in the cracks and did some creative clamping to get them back into shape.

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I then recut the motises on my machine.

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Then made infills to make solid legs again.

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While doing the legs, I was cutting the top boards and rejoining to reduce the cupping. It took some creative planing and routing to get them to rejoin but the end result which I will post later was worth it.

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The damn pictures are upside down again.....


Thanks for looking

Rob

[specialist]

Some more done today.

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The ends of the legs were decayed as was mentioned.

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I used protite casting compound to stabilize the rotten ends

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The end result when cleaned up.

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They wanted the end braces removed, so the holes were duly filled.

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Some nice new mortises cut ready for the the tenons.

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When prepping the rails, I found that one was 1" longer than the other. Nice to know that I'm not the only one to do this..

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Frame all glued up ready for the bracing to go in.

Thanks for looking
Rob

[specialist]

Finalized the top today, sanded ready for an oil finish.

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The table frame is now finished, support blocks, and braces in place

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Thanks for looking

Rob

[specialist]

Finished table and customer has picked it up and paid.

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For the life of me, I can't understand why the images insert skewed anyway you get the idea of how it looked.

Finished with scandinavian oil on the top and tung oil on the frame.

Thanks for looking

Rob

[cjbfisher]

Looks great, Rob. Well done on bringing back something that everyone else thought was dead.

[China]

------Lazarus!------

[specialist]

------Lazarus!------

[orraloon]

Great job on the table. Most would junked it but you just showed tenacity pays off.
Regards
John

[old1955]

That looks a treat Rob. Thanks for taking the time to show us.

Ross

[specialist]

Great job on the table. Most would junked it but you just showed tenacity pays off.
Regards
John

Thanks for that, I am up for a challenge.