I have a 60+ yr old dining room table, don’t know what kind of wood but cherry stain. It got wet under the table cloth. The finish is ruined (I was planning to refinish anyway) but worse, the leaves have both buckled upwards. Is it possible to flatten them in some way, or is it easier to try to match the wood and make new leaves?
This table probably has no value as an antique, but does have some sentimental value.
Thanks for your help.
“You couldn’t pay me to run into a burning house. I’m a VOLUNTEER!
Replies
Long,
The tops of the leaves tried to swell when they got wet, but the drier inside and bottom of the boards wouldn't let that happen. This compressed the wood fibers. Then when the moisture dried out, the compressed fibers shrank, pulling the leaves hollow on top. You can try the old remedy of stripping the old finish from both sides, then moistening the hollow side, and exposing the convex side to heat, (putting them on damp ground in the morning and letting the sun shine on them, or spritzing with water, and standing near a heat source, like a wood stove). This will most likely only temporarily fix the problem, however it is worth a try.
Next best bet is to rip the leaves into narrower pieces, and rejoint, level and refinish. This will work if you can work around the thickness lost by planing/sanding flat, and can afford the loss of the width of the leaves involved. Not much good if it will leave the swing leg sticking out when it is opened up.
It will be more labor intensive to replace the leaves altogether, along with the issue of matching the color of the new wood to the old. Plus you lose the value of the piece being all original. Negligable now, but possibly a factor in yrs to come.
Good luck,
Ray
This is totally off the subject, but are you by chance a Civil War buff?
Relative of the great Confederate general? Simply live on a long street?
I am an amateur student of The War. I'm not related to Gen'l Longstreet, but I admire him greatly. IMHO, he hasn't gotten the attention he deserves.
I use that name on several BB's and you're the first one to make the connection.
I take it you have done some studying on the War as well?
"You couldn't pay me to run into a burning house. I'm a VOLUNTEER!
Edited 3/27/2005 3:37 am ET by Longstreet
Yes, I read a fair amount on the Civil War. In fact, I am just finishing "Antietam - A Soldier's Story" by John Priest. Great detailed account of that infamous day.Back to your leaves, I would say joinerswork's suggestion to rip and re-glue the leaves would be your best shot, so long as they are not too warped. If the grain in the leaves don't match the table, and they are not too hard to copy, you could make some new ones and distress them if needed. I have had great luck matching shades with aerosol toners to "blend in" the subtle color differences after staining. I use the Mohawk brand, but there are other brands available. If you've never used them, practice on some scrap pieces.Good luck!
I haven't read that one. Sounds good.
Just finished "Shrouds of Glory" by Winston Groom (the "Forrest Gump" author) about John Hood and the Atlanta to Nashville campaign. I was surprised to find a serious book by Groom after reading "Gump" but it is a very good read. Very moving. The Battle of Franklin almost defies description, but Groom does a good job of it.
I'm going to TRY to salvage my old leaves before making new ones, but I'll keep your suggestion on matching shades in the back of my head. I have a (bad) feeling I'm going to need it!"You couldn't pay me to run into a burning house. I'm a VOLUNTEER!
Longstreet, I normally go along with Jointerwork's suggestions, but I need to ask how recently the table got wet?
If it was recently, all you need to do is to get the extra moisture out of the face of those boards. I would not add moisture to the backside until you have tried to get top dry again.
If you choose to strip the finish off of the top, you should keep the endgrain sealed, or it may split from the ends. If you try to dry it too fast, you may get surface checks, because too much heat can allow more evaporation from the surface than it can get out of the middle up to the surface. So if you put it out in the sun, you may need to keep a close eye on it, and watch for them to checks to first appear. you might want to do this for short periods of time.
Just take it slow. Trying to dry wood too fast only leads to trouble. Good luck, Keith
It got very wet in the last few days. The leaves have dried already, but as they dried the individual strips have begun to separate, so I'm thinking Jointerwork's suggestion may be the only way to go.
I've never done joinery on this scale before, so this ought to be fun. :("You couldn't pay me to run into a burning house. I'm a VOLUNTEER!
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