Table

[MY63]

Firstly I need to thank someone, I was reading a post last week where someone mentioned buying a table from gumtree for parts. As my daughter is moving soon and she wanted a table "Bingo" she found one just down the road. It is a John Lewis table 20 years old it cost £2000 when new they were asking £25.
Clearly we bought it and collected it.

The top as you can see is worn no worse than my neighbours restaraunt tables. The picture below is one of the rails with the only marking I can see. It looks to be an oak base they are dovetailed into the side pieces. I think the top is oak veneer the underneath has a fine grain with a red tone it looks like sapelle.

2022-01-22_06-43-25 by my0771, on Flickr


2022-01-22_06-29-25 by my0771, on Flickr

It has been a family table for a long time and has some felt tip marks and scratches along with some heavy wear.
Some of the surface that has worn is significantly lower than the unworn areas can I build up layers of varinsh I plan to use the water based floor varnish as reccomended by Bob. Or should I sand the whole thing and varnish the whole thing??

 

[Phil]

Nice buy Michael. Good price.

Strip off all the old finish and then start off from scratch, then a couple of coats of PU to take a lot of wear.
Nice clear matt finish to show off the wood.

 

[AndyT]

Bargain!
The top is definitely veneered, as you can see from the repeating grain pattern.
Can you see how thin the veneer is, maybe from one of the internal straight edges, if they are unlipped? Clearly, you don't want to sand through it. A slightly unflat surface doesn't stop it working as a table.

 

[TrimTheKing]

I’m a bit confused, it seems to have a rounded edge down which the grain pattern flows. How can it be veneered in that case…?

 

[AndyT]

I’m a bit confused, it seems to have a rounded edge down which the grain pattern flows. How can it be veneered in that case…?

Maybe it's bookmatched boards, not veneer!

I need a bigger screen or better eyes!

 

[Woodbloke]

I’m a bit confused, it seems to have a rounded edge down which the grain pattern flows. How can it be veneered in that case…?

The grain pattern is far too similar to be solid timber, so my guess is that it's veneered, with a very wide lipping applied to the substrate to accommodate the curvature of the top - Rob

 

[TrimTheKing]

I’m a bit confused, it seems to have a rounded edge down which the grain pattern flows. How can it be veneered in that case…?

The grain pattern is far too similar to be solid timber, so my guess is that it's veneered, with a very wide lipping applied to the substrate to accommodate the curvature of the top - Rob

I’m not buying it Rob. Look at this, the grain is continuous from the main table down the curve…

 

[Woodbloke]

I’m a bit confused, it seems to have a rounded edge down which the grain pattern flows. How can it be veneered in that case…?

The grain pattern is far too similar to be solid timber, so my guess is that it's veneered, with a very wide lipping applied to the substrate to accommodate the curvature of the top - Rob

I’m not buying it Rob. Look at this, the grain is continuous from the main table down the curve…

Odd though Mark? :eusa-think: Look at the grain pattern in the boards and they're virtually identical; I do agree though that the end grain pattern as shown in your pic above is continuous - Rob

 

[TrimTheKing]

Yep agreed, just unusually good board selection/grain matching for a production piece maybe.

 

[MY63]

I have taken some extra pictures of the underneath of the table. I can lift the leaf but I would rather not as each one is very heavy.
The grain does indeed continue over the curved edges if there is a solid edge I cannot see the join.

2022-01-23_04-29-25 by my0771, on Flickr

2022-01-23_04-35-15 by my0771, on Flickr

2022-01-23_04-35-48 by my0771, on Flickr

The last picture shows the only joint I could find just below the dark line.

 

[AndyT]

I think there is no risk at all of sanding through that nice solid top!

An even better bargain.