How to refurbish an old ornamental table?

[BigFella1956]

G'day Everyone, I have this small oval table (53cm wide at its widest point and 77cm tall) and it's solid timber. It has seen better days but I'd like to see if I can breathe new life into it.

My questions are as follows:

• What should I clean it with? I'm concerned about using say sugar soap and water as this may swell and buckle the timber.
• What do I do to fix all the dings it has? Mostly these are on the top as you can see from the photos with a few of them being pretty deep and some around the lip of the table itself and elsewhere.
• Do you have any other comments to make?

Thanks in advance of any advice you can give.

Regards,

Chris

[EricL · Accepted solution]

Hello @BigFella1956 

Thanks for sharing your question about refurbishing your table. I totally agree that the tabletop has seen some major damage, and I don't think sanding will fix the deeper cuts. However, I suggest using an electric sander to reduce the sanding time.

You'll notice that the deeper cuts will not get sanded very well. You'll need to manually get to these spots by hand. Next step is to fill the damage withe timber filler. Please keep in mind that the filler will react differently if you stain and varnish the surface with a dark colour.

In regards to the large damage at the bottom near the base. I propose cutting apiece of timber and gluing it to the table base. You can then slowly sand off the excess until you get the original shape back. 

Depending on the colour combination that you are after, the post, base and legs will need to be sanded down as well.

I recommend having a look at this discussion - Upcycled dining table and chairs by @twocutekelpies. 

I also suggest having a quick look at this guide:  How to restore wooden furniture.

Let me call on our experienced members @prettyliving, @craftyhopper and @DanaR for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[BigFella1956]

G'day EricL, Thanks very much. Your response was most helpful and I also looked at both the URL's you attached.

In your response, you say "Please keep in mind that the filler will react differently if you stain and varnish the surface with a dark colour." Please help me understand what the different reactions will be. Regards, Chris

[EricL]

Hi @BigFella1956 

For example, once you've sanded down the table and you decide to stain the table a dark colour, sometimes the filler will not absorb stain or rather it would absorb only a part of it, and it would make it stand out. In those situations, I would advise thinking of using a darker wood filler so that it will not stand out so much. 

But if you were to just to paint it a clear sealer or perhaps a washed out liming white then you would get away with a light-coloured filler. But you won't be able to tell not until you sand the table down and see what kind of timber you really have.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric