Restoration of an Antique Oak Table

Louise Biggs gives a much-loved early Georgian oak table some vital restoration

Antique wooden table with drawer.

This oak table has descended through my client’s family and in the past has been used for all sorts of things including being a sewing table. Needing a few repairs the clients asked that the surface be disturbed as little as possible – although somewhat stained they felt this was all part of its character. Dating from the early 1700s it was now in need of some restoration. Oak (Quercus robur) reclaimed from old dismembered furniture was used throughout the restoration.

Tool list

  • Animal hide glue and glue pot
  • Block, smoothing and try planes
  • Dovetail and gent’s saw
  • Chisels – various sizes
  • File
  • Hacksaw blade
  • Rubber mallet
  • Sash and G-clamps
  • Hand plane and bench dogs)
  • Tablesaw
  • Cat’s paw

Assessment

Corner of weathered wooden furniture with visible joint damage.
Damage to the back corner of the top showing the slip dovetail
Close-up of vintage wooden table corner with drawer.
Cockbeading on the drawer front missing and with crushed corners

1. Broken back corner -the piece was missing but formed the second part of the joint which connected the top to the frame.

2. Made up from three boards, the top had split through the middle on one joint and was loose on the second joint.

3. Nailed to the frame along the sides and back edge the top could not move without splitting.

4. The table frame was loose and would need tightening.

5. Both drawer runners were worn and needed replacing.

6. The cockbeading around the drawer front was loose with the two short sections missing.

7. The central partition was nailed through the front, back and bottom and although it was probably a later addition the clients had asked for it to be fitted properly.

Construction feature

Close-up of damaged wooden furniture corner.
Damaged wooden joint on furniture piece.

Although quite an ordinary piece of furniture the table had a feature that I have never seen before and could possibly mark it out as being a more high-end piece of furniture at the time it was made as quicker and cheaper options of fitting the top were available.

The top was held to the frame using what can only be described as a type of dry slip dovetail. The top of each leg was cut with a dovetail and this corresponded with four dovetailed slots on the underside of the top. The back slots ran straight off the back edge. The front slots had a wider square cut slot behind the dovetail slot in order to drop the front legs into the top before locking onto the dovetails as the top was moved back on the frame. When completed the top was fitted dry onto the frame. This allowed the top to move freely without causing any damage while holding it firmly to the frame.

Removing the top

Before any restoration could begin the top had to be separated from the frame. At some point someone had decided the best option was to nail around the sides and back edge.

These now needed to be removed. The oak was dense, the nails rusty and the client did not want the surface disturbed. Levering the top off was not an option as it was held by the dovetails and, after two different failed attempts to remove the nails, I took the decision to cut them. Not my preferred method, as I don’t like leaving unnecessary metal within the furniture, if only for the benefit of those restorers following along behind me.

Restoring wooden furniture with chisels and hand tools.
1. Levering with my ‘cat’s paw’ as much as possible and wearing a protective glove, I used a hacksaw blade to cut through each nail. When it came to the slip dovetails on the back legs I managed to feed the blade in from the back edge. Thankfully the front legs had no nails going into the slip dovetail. With the top removed the nails were filed down flush with the top or rails

Restoring the table frame

Repairing corner joint of wooden furniture with pencil marks.
2. Knocking apart the frame the old drawer runners were timber sections which also acted as the drawer guides. These were shaped around the legs before being glued to the side rails and nailed to the legs
Close-up of vintage saw cutting wood with Asian numeral.
3. Saw cuts were made through the drawer rails close to the legs to separate the pieces containing the nails. This allowed the frame to be knocked apart using a rubber mallet
Cutting wood with a handsaw in a vice.
4. With the frame apart the small pieces of drawer runner could be split around the nails using a chisel before removing the nails
Repairing wooden furniture with a hammer and nail.
5. The front rail, although slightly loose, had two nails through each tenon. Assessing the amount of damage which would be caused in trying to remove the nails it was decided to wedge the joints. Animal hide glue was injected into the joints, the rail and legs were clamped before a chisel was knocked in at an angle above the rail in line with the tenon and the wedges inserted. The old drawer runners were planed off, leaving the drawer guides and all the mortise and tenon joints cleaned of old glue

Restoring the top

Damaged wood panel with masking tape on corner.
6. Attention turned to the broken corner. The break was ragged and the replacement piece of timber needed a strong joint as it was right at the point of the dovetail slot for the back leg. Low-tack masking tape was used to mark long angled joint lines, which eliminated the damage and would form a strong joint
Person cutting wood with a hand saw.
7. Using a gent’s saw the various angles were cut and the joint surfaces trued up using a wide chisel
Hand carving wood with a chisel.
8. Having marked out the joint on the replacement timber, it was cut and trued up with a chisel until a tight fit was achieved
Wooden boards clamped together for gluing.
9. The piece was glued and clamped into position and, when dry, planed level with a smoothing plane
Woodworking project with clamps on wooden frame.
10. On the edges of the three top sections the old glue was removed before the edges were trued up using a try plane (the length of the plane keeping the edge straight). The top sections were then re-glued and clamped.

With the back legs and rail already glued back together, the back and front frames were glued up to the side rails and the frame clamped. With both the top and frame glued up they could be checked for square against each other as it was important that the slip dovetails lined up when the top was fitted to the frame

Cockbeading and drawer runners

Hand carving wood with a chisel.
11. The existing pieces of cockbeading around the drawer front were cleaned up and re-glued in position. Small sections were cut into either end of the long sections to make up the crushed corners and shaped to match
Using a hand plane on a wooden workpiece.
12. Then the sections of old timber were mitred and fitted to the ends of the drawers before being planed level and shaped to match. New runners were made from old timber, cut to fit around the legs like the original ones and glued into place, before being pinned with old nails

Final assembly and conclusion

Woodworking joint detail with notch and dovetail.
13. With the top re-glued the dovetail slot was cut through the replacement piece of timber to match the remaining existing slot. Cut down either side with a dovetail saw, the waste was then chiselled out and adjusted until the top fitted the frame
Old wooden table with single drawer.
14. The repairs were stained and polished to match, with the back corner of the top being coloured in to match the existing stain. With a final coat of wax the table was reassembled and ready to go home with a top that can now move freely without the danger of splitting

Further reading

Wall Clock Restoration

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LOUISE BIGGS

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