BURL TABLETOP.
When I first saw this table, it was completely shot.
A piece of garbage.
Lifted veneer.
Extraneous stains.
Had no one picked it up that day, it would’ve gone to the dump fer sure.
I think a married couple owned it, and after the husband died, the widow continued another couple decades placing a flowerpot on it which is as bad as putting a book on a windowsill when it rains.
But the burl finish attracted me, and the masculinely curvatured cabriole legs were still strong and sturdy.
Maple? Not sure.
I see this all the time - mistreated solid quality pieces.
People don’t get it.
But ok, don’t matter.
And I liked its shape, too.
Top edge softly scalloped.
And the drawer underneath showed it was meant to be taken seriously.
Slides in n' out with no side motion.
Pardner, his was not from IKEA.
So ok.
How much? $15? Ok, I’ll take it.
First thing I had to do was sand down the top.
Didn’t want to strip it, and didn’t want to sand it too far either.
There were scratches but no serious gouges, so that was cool.
In between the many coats, about 5, on top, I turned it upside down to see what was going on there.
Yes, everything very solid.
And them legs were worthy of a ZZ Top song.
But the apron had issues.
Had I known the shape that apron was in, I probably would not have picked it up.
Veneer failed in more places than not.
And repairing or replacing veneer on curved surfaces is difficult.
And this apron had some complicated curves, too.
That’s why it failed there in the first place.
A manufacturer defect.
It took many days to glue all the fail-spots back in place, and the spots that were missing veneer altogether, I had to fill in.
Stained the newly- filled-in blank spots with artist brushes so no one could tell.
Used various tints and acrylics in various layers.
Too cool.
This piece looks great now.
This piece was not meant for the garbage.
This is not IKEA.
This will last another half century.
I didn’t mind doing it, but I didn’t like spending all the time on the apron because I didn’t want to keep this, but rather sell it.
The legs though, yes, were in very good condition – its best attribute.
And so was the drawer.
And of course, the burl top is unique.
And the extensively repaired apron is solid now, too.
Built solid like a Japanese car, like a Honda.
Date of manufacture, I have no idea.
Maybe 1970? Maybe 1960s? There are no stickers.
Diameter of tabletop’s 2 feet across.
Height’s 29 inches.
I want $180 for it.
Whatsapp
