This is an old hall table we picked up some years ago, it was very cheap but in poor condition (as can be seen in some of the ‘before’ photos). It was always going to be a challenge due to its age and the number of damaged pieces – so, a full dismantle with a complete re-build of some parts.
The legs are Tasmanian Blackwood, the panels and top are all Kauri. The drawer fronts are also Blackwood but the handles are broken – not that they were anything special. Interestingly the sides of the drawers were made from Tasmanian King Billy Pine – which is now commercially extinct. Now, it is highly prized but back when this was made there was little real value in it; or little knowledge of just how special the timber is.
The front Kauri panel was broken in several places so that needed re-gluing and the drawer openings were very worn, so I re-cut those to a slightly larger size. Increasing the drawer opening size then meant the Blackwood drawer fronts needed some ‘padding’ to make a nice fit. The ‘padding’ was some King Billy offcuts; I wanted something special to contrast with the darker Blackwood. The images below show the front panel breakage, the repair plus the wonderful figured Blackwood drawer fronts.
The table legs were stained an even darker colour than the natural Blackwood; so, I put those on the lathe and trimmed all the thick coating off, then planed the flat faces. Tricky work on the lathe due to the age of the timber, Blackwood can be a right pain at the best of times but much worse when it’s old.
The next stage was re-assembling all the bits. Cleaning up the mortise and tenon joints was pretty easy but the drawer runners were difficult as I had to re-design the way they worked to prevent the front panel splitting again.
Once the whole thing was re-assembled it was finished with Linseed Oil and beeswax polish. Overall, a very satisfying restore – not only does it look heaps better but it’s a lot stronger and more likely to last for another generation (or two).
Blue Swallow Designs 