Hi,
I recently acquired a nice mid-century modern coffee table that’s well worn and need a bit of love to restore it. There’s one corner that’s been chewed/bitten off by a dog that needs some repair(see attached photos) and I’d love some advice as to what the best method would be to go about fixing this.
I’ve read about wood putty, epoxy putty sticks, bondo. What are people thoughts on those?
I’d like to just sand down the table and keep the nice wood grain without painting over it, so I would assume if I used any of the options above I’d need to find a way to stain or paint the filler to match the wood grain, right?
Are there other options I’m not aware of that would be better for fixing this?
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Replies
GRRRRRRRRR!! no pics?
Sorry! I had attached them originally but it seems like the file size was too large so it didn't get included. I've added them now.
You will never get that much filler to match the stain and clearcoat finish on the rest of the table. If it were mine, I'd think about making a new top; rounding off all 4 corners to match; taking an inch or so off all 4 edges. Stuff like that. But I know I'd never be happy with that much filler.
Looks like the whole top is in rough shape. I did a similar job recently somewhat using john_c2's suggestions. It looks like you have room to take a couple of inches off the ends and maybe 1/2 inch off the sides. Maintain your curves and roundovers, and make the corners a bit rounder if you still have a bit of damage.
I’d go with trimming down all four sides till the damage disappears. Then roundover sand and distress to match. If done right, it’ll be close to original.
From the look of it you could just cut off the one edge and slide the top over to center on the base. You won't lose much at all. Hard parts will be the refinishing and keeping the dog away.
An alternative to what has been suggested is to make the repairs with filler (I think I would use Bondo). Sand it smooth and to proper shape. And then veneer it.
A second alternative might be to cut the corner off and splice in a new piece of matching wood. When refinishing, use a gel stain. This will help blend in the splice. I wouldn't try to make it a perfect blend. That makes it a conversation piece particularly if you have other repairs that can be done the same way.
Maybe the best alternative is to cut all of the corners to a larger diameter to match what is needed to cut away the worst one.
It seems that this is a solid wood teak tabletop, any filler will never blend in. I would round over all 4 corners to remove the damaged area and make it look like it was meant to have round corners.
One could breadboard end with the same or a contrasting wood. I however might find a stuffed weasel and attach it to that corner. Nakashima had a term for damage like that..." kevinized" apparently he had a particularly destructive kid. Stuff happens to things and one can view it as character and if you can't then that is what furniture stores are for. A repair in this case is called for but a repair that is invisible or doesn't appear as a repair is not. The dog eating the table is part of its story.
A weasel! The obvious solution, although the weasel will disagree as you murder it for stuffing.
Perhaps the dog could be persuaded to gnaw the other corners to match? If a weasel is located up there (stuffed or not) the dog may be more easily persuaded.
The history of such furniture is worth preserving. More and more, I've personally come to feel that this fetish for factory-line neat & clean is yet another step to humans all being reduced to flesh robots programmed with the same fashion sub-routines. :-)
The only really effective repair is to graft on a new piece and stain it to match. Unappealing.
I'm with the others on rounding - MCM furniture commonly has radiused ends - you would only lose a small amount of the useful surface if you put a soft radius on the end - you could then keep the sharper corners which are a feature of the period.
This table is a bit of a Heinz57 but is close enough to give what I had in mind. https://stokers.co.uk/browse/dining_room/products/stokers/tambour/231-1226/180cm_holcot_oval_extending_dining_table
Since someone mentioned Nakashima, why go that way? Highlight the flaw by embedding a contrasting piece, and name that corner after the dog.
I would either get a dog to bite off the other 3 corners or cut back on all the corners by using a template corner, marking the corners, bandsaw, then template route or shape by hand. A template will ensure all 4 corners are the same.
I'd be inclined to try scarfing in a patch. Alternatively, you could just leave that corner as is.
Repairing the chewed corner of your mid-century modern coffee table is doable. Among the options you mentioned, epoxy putty sticks can be a good choice. They're durable and can be stained or painted to match the wood grain. Bondo is another option, but it's commonly used for automotive repairs and might not blend as seamlessly with the wood. Remember to sand and finish it to match the table's appearance.