Console table

 A new console table, with full width drawer, to replace the exposed-edge plywood table I made about 5 years ago.

I'm pleased with the style and construction but very disappointed at the way the timber, American Poplar/Tulipwood took the stain and hard wax oil - the grain pattern and its discolouration have caused the finish to be rather dark, patchy and uneven.

Lesson learned - avoid this timber unless the piece of furniture is to be painted - the reason to use it instead of oak or ash was that it was around 45% cheaper for the timber.  That said it was excellent to work with.

The table project

 The ends and rails ready to glue and clamp together - I can then check the the precise drawer box size (single, full-width) and make it.

Timber has been stained and will receive two or three thin coats of Fiddes Clear Matt Hard Wax Oil, de-nibbed between coats.  

When completed the table will have a final wax polish, buffed to a soft semi-matt sheen. 

A day out in January

 The timber order for the table I'm making was ready so, as the delivery cost for a small order was expensive, I went to Shepton Mallet to collect it - and to make the fuel and time cost worthwhile added a trip to the Haynes Motor Museum.  That's Haynes as in the publisher of car and other manuals - a collection of about 300 cars.

 

The warehouse at Timbersource - the saws and planers etc were at the back of the building, I couldn't go round there - my timber is on the upper shelf of the rack on the right hand side.

. . .  and at the Haynes Museum there was a  C-registration, 1965 Austin Mini in Island Blue.   This is the same as my first car, HLC823C, in the identical colour, purchased in June 1965.

Having had a past love affair with Land Rovers I thought this door hanging on the wall in the museum cafe was good fun!

All in all a great day out - albeit that it started to rain heavily when I reached Gloucester going south on the M5 and it didn't stop all day, becoming even heavier on the northbound return. 
If it hadn't been raining I was also going visit the Fleet Air Arm Museum at nearby Yeovilton - my previous visit was in the very hot summer of 1976.

Despatch department

 New Year's Day must be a day for "etsy browsing" as I sold two G-Plan items within about 15 minutes of each other to two different buyers.

A nest of Quadrille side-tables and a Quadrille "coffee table" (actually the largest table from a nest!)

Packed with cardboard, bubble-wrap, industrial cling-film and tape - ready for a DPD collection.

Every new project starts with a sketch

 A VERY rough sketch of the table - the perspective is out of proportion but it's letting me work out the timber requirement - the drawer is going to be a new challenge.

I've abandoned using American White Oak on cost grounds and plan to use Poplar (a.k.a. American Tulipwood) and finish it with stain and a wax oil.

UPDATE: 6 January 2026 - Timber has been ordered, but about 10 days lead-time - I'll be doing some more practice joints etc in the meantime.

Footstool project - completed

A footstool to go with our refurbished mid-century modern chair*   The frame** is made of, I think,  sapele timber with mortise and tenon joints attaching the rails to the legs - all edges with a soft round-over and finished with a hard-wax oil.

The upholstered top is a sheet of 9mm board and a dense foam pad covered with polyester wadding in a stockinette cover, a thin cotton covering and finally the citrus coloured chenille fabric. 
The colour match isn't perfect but is closer than the photograph suggests.

* Mid-century modern chair - earlier post

** Project components - earlier post

New project . . . (to be continued)

Parts cut to size ready for some joinery . . .  I'll post some progress pictures and the item when it's finished.

Tenons cut . . . . 

Dry-fit with clamps to check height and overall size

Nest of tables - progress

 See the earlier post with the two nests of tables
Sorry if this is like watching the proverbial paint dry - but it is an interesting process for the G-Plan tables.

The original, rather orange coloured, tables with the varnish removed from the centre panels - using a carbide blade scraper followed by a light sanding.  The small patch at the top right is just to test the stain colour to be applied.  The frame of each table has been cleaned with "krud cutter" to remove any grease, rinsed with water ready for waxing.

Stain applied (two thin coats) with the darker wood edges masked off and then "de-nibbed" with #000 very fine steel wool.

Two thin coats of Hard Wax Oil applied and allowed to dry, de-nibbed - and then application of a high-quality paste wax polish to the complete piece, followed by buffing to hard semi-gloss finish.

The light is slightly deceptive - all three tables are now the same colour.

The finish product staged for advertising in my etsy online shop [SOLD]

. . . and a trick to remove glass-rings from furniture . . .  apply mayonnaise* and leave overnight, wipe off and rings have (usually) disappeared.
*Hellmans is recommended but ALDI own-brand works 😀

Nests of tables to re-finish (and sell)

 

I bought a nest of G-Plan tables at auction a few weeks ago - and a couple of days ago, from Facebook Marketplace, another set by Keith Eatwell - both G-Plan and Eatwell are well-respected manufacturers of (primarily) mid-1950s to early-1970s Mid-Century Modern furniture.

As you may have seen in past posts here I've acquired, re-finished and sold a number of these sets of tables.  I enjoy the work, some is very challenging with damage requiring de-construction, repair to tenons and re-gluing etc. - as well as the cleaning, stripping, sanding, staining and wax polishing.

The two sets here are in fair condition, structurally sound but with marks and glass-rings.

The top set in the picture (G-Plan): on the largest table I've already removed the varnish with a combination of scraping and sanding so it's ready for staining and polishing - the other two don't have many marks but I'm going strip the rather orange central panels of the tops so that all three match when they're finished. The leg frames are all in good condition so just need cleaning and wax polishing. 

The lower set (Keith Eatwell): I'm hoping that a good clean and very light sanding will be enough for the tops before applying a couple of coats of a hard wax oil and then wax polish - with the exception of one joint that I knocked apart and re-glued the frames just need cleaning and waxing.

If you're still reading this . . .  I may photograph work-in-progress through to the end-result for a further post.

. . . . and I have a G-Plan coffee table in need of renovation awaiting collection.

Repairing a kitchen chair

 A friend's kitchen chair that had started to "rack" badly as the glue had dried out.

Removed the back and rails, scraped off the old glue residue, applied fresh glue (brushing on both the tenons and mortises) and clamped it all together.  

A folding table - in a cafe

I saw this folding table in the cafe where I stopped on my cycle ride this morning - the top folds up against the wall, with the leg frame folding down against it.  Made from scaffold boards and narrow "Kee-clamp" pipe and fittings.

--
Uploaded from the road (Subject to possible later edits)

[This post, as the sig line, was uploaded direct from my phone - as a test, it worked!]

Sofa leg upgrade

 Sofa leg "up"-grade!   We bought a "sectional" sofa a while ago, sight unseen - it's great but was just a little too low . . . so :

Pic1: As purchased from John Lewis

Pic2: Some longer (too long), replacement legs from Amazon (there are 8)

Pic3: Legs cut down, new bolts fitted and sprayed in espresso brown in my makeshift spray-booth (a close match to the originals)

Pic4: The finished result - only about 4cm higher but it makes a real difference to the sitting position.

Typecase

 The last of the printer's type-cases from when I ran a printing business back in the 1970s - they make great wall displays for tiny things.

Pic 1 - SOLD on etsy

Pic 2- on the wall in our house with a mix of small bears, toys, badges and various souvenirs from holidays - having been collected since the mid-1950s [The OK sauce bottle is from 1957]

A flight of drawers

Small wooden flight of 6 drawers - made in the 1940s. Drawers have varying numbers of partitions, some fixed and some moveable.

Not sure what they would have been used for originally - I've owned them since about 1966 when I kept spacing material for printing in the drawers - more recently pens and odd bits.

They've been on my desk at seven different houses - it's now time for them to go. For sale on etsy (jigsaw not included!).

NOW SOLD.

25 January 2025

Children's chairs

Two child size chairs

Pic 1 - a 1910s bentwood with a "steam-pressed" seat design

Pic 2 - a simple folding chair from the 1920s. SOLD

We've had both chairs for some time but it's time for them to go - for sale on etsy  (excluding the bear!)

30 January 2025

A lift-top table

An interesting craftsman-style solid oak side table with stop-chamfered front legs and a lift-up lid for the storage compartment.  Size (cm) 69w x 38d x 69h

Acquired, with another table, at auction - the top has been stripped, sanded and re-finished with hard wax oil - the frame cleaned and waxed. A few dings here and there but in good condition.

For sale on etsy - NOW SOLD

17 January 2025

Oak chapel table, with provenance

Another hand-made, craftsman style solid oak table.

The legs have pie-crust mouldings and the front apron has an ornate shaped design. The solid oak top boards have been planed from the original rough boards from the timber yard (there are markings from the sawmill yard on the underside)

The table was made in 1958 by a Mr Burke for the "Little Chapel" in Redditch, Worcestershire. Attached to the underside of the table, as proof of provenance, is an original letter of thanks to Mr Burke from a Mr Stanley Taylor, a member of the chapel.

Acquired at auction, refinished and for sale on etsy. - NOW SOLD

22 January 2025

Another nest of tables

More furniture - a mid-century modern nest of tables (probably Richard Hornby for Fine Ladye Furniture in Banbury).  Acquired at auction.

Pics 1-3: Cleaned, removed a couple of ring marks - some light refinishing with quality hard-wax polish before listing for sale on etsy.

Now SOLD

23 January 2025

Advertising clocks

Some "trade" promotion items displayed in my home:

Pic 1 - Wall clock 1930s - "It's time to fit MICHELIN" in a polished wooden case.

Pic 2 - Wall clock 1950s - "Use Twinlock loose-leaf books and catch an earlier train home" - from Percy Jones (Twinlock) Ltd. Beckenham, Kent.

When accounting was manual Twinlock was a major brand for books, ledgers, analysis paper and wage-slip systems.

- and below the clock - A showcard perpetual calendar from a tailor's shop, 1920s: "White Rose Suitings and A1 serges make ideal suits"

Pic 3 - Printed postcard image I found on the Internet]

Both clocks have had the original movements replaced with battery units.

12 December 2024

Drawers from a sewing machine, recycled

 

I bought a damaged/non-working 1920s Singer sewing machine to use the metal base to make a table with a top made from scaffold boards.

(I didn't photograph it before I sold it but there is a similar item here if you scroll back through the pictures - search  Desk )

The machine had two pairs of drawers fixed in wooden frames either side under the top - some cleaning, staining and wax polishing, polishing the brass knobs - plus making a top for each stack from the original oak-veneered machine top and I have a couple of cute drawer units.

Before and after pictures (the unit is about 40cm high)

Listed for sale on etsy.    SOLD😊

10 November 2024