Advice needed please

[Peter57]

So I've been asked to see if I can rescue a table. It is a sewing table that once belonged to my daughter in law's grandmothers. There have been several attempts by others to fix it and they've done more damage than good. A few of the tenons have been roughly glued together with epoxy so will be difficult to separate from the mortices.

As you can see from the first photos - the table looks a little wonky.

My biggest problem is what to do with the open mortices - how to strengthen the back of them? (second and third photos show the problem).

Any advice you may have will be greatly appreciated.

[rogerjenkins]

Just had a good look at the photos. It will be a lovely table once it is repaired, & restored. Yes,- I quite often receive tables here with similar Leg to frame Mortise, & Tenon problems,- usually caused by former owners who instead of regluing the loose joints, simply bashed in a nail or two, which in turn split the timber on the inside of the leg/s, so they simply bashed in another nail or two, or, ( worse ), tried to push in heaps of Liquid Nails, which is OK for attaching panelling to walls, wall frames, etc., but not meant to attach tenons and mortises together !!!
** First question;- Can you reasonably carefully separate the backing block/s from the inside of the leg/s - doesn't matter IF the backing block/s split ?

Then try to remove what appears to be long nails that have been bashed in from the rear of each leg,- IF the leg timber splits, or break,- don't panic,- simply put the broken pieces where you won't loose them.
Once you have finally separated the Frame Tenon/s from the Mortise in the leg/s, clean up the tenon/s, and the insides of each mortise as best as you can.
If only several pieces broke off on the leg inside,- simply reglue, and clamp till dry.
IF the broken section of the mortise is considered too damaged to repair this way, completely remove the splintered piece with a Tenon Saw, and make a patch to fit, glue the patch into position, ( you may need to put a temporary filler block wrapped in plastic into the mortise, while the patch is drying ), then to reinforce the patch, glue, & screw a piece of 12mm. ply over it.
*** Another alternative;- Repair/ reglue all the frame tenons, & leg mortises as best as you can, then after the table base is reassembled, and reglued back together, glue and screw an angled bracket, made of 19mm. similar coloured timber, with the ends cut at 45 degrees, two screws into each frame, and another two screws into the the table leg where the timber bracket touches the leg/s will solve the problem for years to come.
And if you get stuck,- simply," whistle," for help !!
- I'll be around somewhere, doing somethin'; fixin' somethin', or somethin' like that
Roger

[Peter57]

Thanks Roger.
I have removed the backing blocks without too much fuss. The challenge now is how to remove the tenons that have been glued in with epoxy? I can carefully run a fine saw down the back of them, but they are still well and truly stuck. Any suggestions?
I'm thinking about removing the damaged back of the mortises to give me free access to the tenon. I can then carefully pry the tenon from the front of the mortise, clean it all up, replace the section I removed using a dowel to attach it to the leg. Then carefully put it all back together and clean it up. Sounds easy.

[ian]

Thanks Roger.
I have removed the backing blocks without too much fuss. The challenge now is how to remove the tenons that have been glued in with epoxy? I can carefully run a fine saw down the back of them, but they are still well and truly stuck. Any suggestions?

you could cut the tenons off the rails and use lose tenons when you reattach the rails to the legs.

I'm thinking about removing the damaged back of the mortises to give me free access to the tenon. I can then carefully pry the tenon from the front of the mortise, clean it all up, replace the section I removed using a dowel to attach it to the leg. Then carefully put it all back together and clean it up. Sounds easy.

you could "repair" the legs by cutting out the entire section that contains the mortices, inserting a new piece of timber into which you cut the lose tenon mortices.

[rogerjenkins]

Ian's idea will also work. Yours is just as good. A thing called, " patience, " is much appreciated with jobs like these. Get impatient, and one might as well give up !!!
I know what you mean when you say it, " sounds easy," and looks simple enough, but you can be guaranteed that, " Murphy's Law," will surface somewhere,- usually in the most unexpected of ways, or places !!!
Personally I think you will succeed where others have," tossed in the towel," and do a jolly good job too.

Wishing you success, and

'ave a good day,
Roger