Hi! I’m refinishing a 120 year old table. It’s a 4’6″ square, and it extends out to 8’5″. The top is now done. The base is a big, heavy pedestal with some unique feet (and toes!). See the attached pictures for the underside and pedestal.
Here are my problems:
1) The tabletop keeps separating. I found some metal table locks on Amazon which I’m hoping to try, but I’m worried that the old, dry wood might tear if there’s too much strain.
2) The pedestal keeps separating. This is harder to fix, because I don’t want to put locks or clamps in a visible spot, and the table is too heavy to put them in the gap between the base and the floor.
3) The tabletop is wobbly. I can push the corners down about half an inch with maybe 10 pounds of pressure. This makes it feel unsteady, and makes a loud creaking noise. I’ve tried tightening up the bolts and even drilling a couple new holes in the piece connecting the pedestal to the rails. Didn’t help much.
4) The table spins. There are six parts that touch the floor: a large area on the bottom of each foot, and two rectangles in the center that touch when the table is closed. Because the table is so heavy, I’ve put felt slider pads on all of these. However, the center sinks down a little (probably due to the pedestal parts separating), causing the table to spin on the center slider. If I add more height to the center, it spins even more. If I add less height, the pedestal separates more.
Any advice? This is my first refinishing job of this scale.
Replies
The table locks (I assume you will use 2, as there is no good way to put one in the center) should work fine to keep the top together. Since I don't know your experience level, I will advise you to pre-drill for the lock screws, with a drill bit the same diameter (or very slightly larger) than the solid shank of the threaded part of the screws (not the diameter of the outside of the threads.) Then lubricate the screws with a bit of paraffin or candle wax. Old dry wood doesn't deteriorate, unless it has been allowed to be wet for a long time producing rot. Not likely with this table.
Sounds like the connection between the top structure and the pedestal needs to be beefed up. Unfortunately, your underside picture stops short of that detail. If we can see more about it, there might be ideas on how to improve it. From your picture, if the sliders that open to insert leaves are rigidly attached to the tops, and the flat boards that cross below them are firmly attached to the sliders, then the problem is the connection between the flat boards and the pedestal. This is where the maximum torque shows up. How are these two parts connected? If it is by screws down thru the flat boards into the end grain of the pedestal, you will need some reinforcement. Try to inform us how that connection is made.
It is possible (we can hope) that if all connections are sufficiently rigid, that the base will no longer separate significantly. Then you can put a bit of extra something under the four paws and have a stable table. Let us know what the other details are.
Harvey
Oops! Forgot the detail: when drilling for the lock screws, make sure you don't drill thru the top! I use some blue masking tape, and attach it to the drill bit with just enough of the bit beyond it for the screw's length. And then I check it to make sure it won't go thru the thickness of the table top. With the last part of the tape, I make a little "flag"; when it gets to the surface of the top, it starts brushing away the dust and lets me know I'm done drilling that hole.
Not sure why my response keeps getting deleted...
The pedestal is attached very firmly to the heavy boards on top of it (2" thick, 8-10" wide) with 3/4" bolts, which might go all the way to the bottom. The pedestal is hollow, but I don't want to risk opening it up, because I'm not sure I can put it back together.
The boards are attached to the rails pretty firmly. I drilled a couple new holes where the bolts were loose.
The weakest part is the connection between the rails and the table top. The #12 screws barely bite at all, even after I replaced some of them with #14 (3/8"?). I could drill new holes, but I'm not sure I could make them bite much into the thin 1" tabletop.
What's the best way to shore up that connection? Should I drill new holes, and grid down the tips of the screws so the threads go deeper? Or use glue, which I can tell has been used in the past, but that will make the table impossible to disassemble. Or could I use some kind of bracket, or would the tiny screws rip out if someone were to try to lift the heavy table?
Oh, one more thing. Before I got the table, the rails were both screwed and glued to the table top. That would certainly make it more secure, but then it would be much more difficult to disassemble the next time I move. Would braces between the top and the rails be just as good? My worry is that someone will try to lift the table, and those little rail screws will just rip right out because of the weight of the pedestal and rails.
The solution was time-consuming, but relatively simple. I added shims between the rails and the pedestal. This balanced the table, stopped it from spinning, and allowed the legs to close. Then I put two small latches on the underside to keep the table from separating. The pressure was much lower with the shims, so the little latches were strong enough to hold it.
Thanks for your advice!
Thanks for the follow-up. Glad you got it fixed.
It has survuved 120 years as originally designed. Put it back the way it was. Lose the sliders also, you are working against gravity with those.
When I got it, it had casters, which caused the same splitting problem. I replaced those with sliders. Using rubber instead would probably fix the separation at the base, but then the table couldn't be moved, because it can't be lifted by the top without ripping the screws out. A small rug might be a better solution.
What @_MJ_ said.
Remove the top from the base.
Fix the base.
Fix the top.
Combine again.
You need to find out why things are happening before you fix them, otherwise the problem may well come back.
Do a google search for antique pedestal tables. If memory serves me correctly, that table should have a central auxiliary leg inside the pedestal "drum". It appears to be missing. This, of course, was for the purpose of supporting the center of the table to prevent the "drum" from splitting apart like that. Don't try external latches. They won't withstand the stress and it will detract from the antique value.
https://www.harpgallery.com/extimg/r3/1280__1280____sz__tab32316ok23.jpg
The center column should probably have a lever operated internal locking system, possibly spring operated. Push the two sides together and it latches. Pull the lever and it unlocks to allow you to extend the table. I don't know if anyone makes that type of devise anymore. I would think that if your table doesn't have that then someone removed it. It was a fairly common piece of hardware once as that style of table was fairly common 100 years ago. Maybe you can find that mechanism someplace... or make one.. it wouldn't be terribly hard for someone that tinkers with metal.
I have a table that works that way. Mine needs serious attention. That devise is worn and doesn't work quite right and it's on my list of 10000 things to deal with sometime. Its only once in a bluemoon that I need to extend the table so I haven't been fused about it working properly.. I can see why someone would just remove it if it became overly troublesome. Like it jambed shut and they just spent two hours on Thanksgiving trying to open it!
I've considered the possibility of using a bunch of magnets. A series of rare earth magnets set into the mating surfaces of the column. Enough to hold it together but not so much that you can't get it apart again.
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