Antique Oak Folding Table

Folding Table Top Before

Table After

Every so often we will get an absolutely divine piece of furniture such as this antique folding table made of solid oak. As a furniture refinisher, I prefer working with solid wood over veneer because you can't beat the outcome of a great piece of wood that most antique furniture is made from. To be a true antique, an item of furniture should be at least 100 years old, otherwise they are considered vintage.
Back "in the day," furniture crafters preferred the "real deal," because like us now-a-day finishers, it's such a joy to work with. Nothing beats the look and feel of solid wood. Each of the extension leaves were held up by legs, which swung out from the center, then easily slipped into their position and held in place with a stopper. This method stabilized the table quite securely and kept it from wobbling while in use. With the legs folded back into the center of the table, the width of the table was only 12", so it was easy to store.

Table Side Before

Like many of the antiques we've refinished over the years, this table had seen better days, as it had hosted its share of family suppers and doing a mighty fine job of it. It had a few water spots, scratches and general wear, which hid the true beauty beneath. We elected to remove leaves from the table base which made the stripping process much more efficient as doing so allows access to otherwise inaccessible places.

Table After Refinishing

"If you do something, do it right." There's just no better way to restore an item of furniture unless you remove all visible the old finish. Once that step was done, we chose red oak stain and three coats of semi-gloss polyurethane to protect the new stain.

By removing the surface scratches and grime, we revealed the beauty of the wood and the new stain brought out the grain. The final touch of adding polyurethane protected all the hard work that is required of all restoration work. This table was a joy to work on, because it responded extremely well to the tedious process of stripping, sanding and staining and came out looking like a superstar.