Beautiful, Margaret!

Wow Margaret that's amazing, great work! :)

Love it,looks like a quality piece!

It looks beautiful ... well done!

Would love to know the process you used. Was there a lot of hand sanding involved? thank you

Not much hand sanding, I used an orbital sander on the table top and a few sections of the base, then a Dremel on some of the base curves. This was six days of stripping and sanding, 4 coats of Old Masters stain, six coats of wipe on satin poly then two coats of paste wax. It was time consuming but not difficult.

You are talented. Beautiful.

I love this color stain on oak. It brings out the depth of the grain in oak. When light oak was the rage, we special ordered our oak table and chairs in a darker stain. I loved it, but it was "not in style". It is certainly my style--it will be my style as it goes in and out of style for years to come.

Very good, very good!

Amazing what can be achieved with a little/ or a lot of elbow grease ! Your table is beautiful.

Beautiful. I love Old Masters stain too. A little more expensive but awesome results. Looks better than new!

Thank you so much for sharing the process with us. So worth the time you spent on it!

Perfect Margaret, & so much sweeter to enjoy because you gave it a new lease of life, love that !

Time consuming but the final product is so worth it. Great job. It looks terrific!

That was a well done and needed job

Looks gr8!!!!

Looks great!

beautiful! refinishing furniture is such a pita, but you make it look easy!

Thanks Toats, just a matter of patience and perservance. I just love bringing these old beauties back to life or giving them a new purpose. Working on an upcycle for an old sewing machine table now, it's going to be a cool potting bench!

very cool! post it when its done i wanna see. i wish i could have your patience. that is a talent i def lack.

Your table looks really good. I have my grandmom's dining room table. I really want to keep it so think I will give it a try and restore it

Looks great!

The results are beautiful. Dark is much richer looking for oak. What did you use to strip the wood without damaging it?

I used Kleen Strip and a scrapper, I have had mixed results with the Citrus Stripper. You need a well ventilated area to work in when using chemical stripper and do wear gloves. Once I get the initial coat of poly or varnish off I sand with 80 grit sand paper, then 150 grit and finally 220 grit between finish coats. This really is a time consuming process, but the results are well worth it. You can make old discarded furniture your own masterpiece with time and patience. I have attached a picture of what the table looked like after it was stripped. BTW, I used the extension to make a lazy susan, I had no need to ever extend the table.

Better pic of the Lazy Susan.

Need suggestions on how to repair this table.

I have a pine drop leaf dining table that was hand made by a craftsman using old tools, so it has a lot of character and is not perfectly flat on the surface. We have used it everyday for years now and it has a lot of marks, some of them sticky that I cannot seem to clean. I don't know if this needs a total sanding and refinishing, any suggestions? It was hand planed and hand finished about 25 years ago but since then nothing has been done to it but dusting. I have tried using a wet rag with a little soap, but that does not do much. Any ideas?

I used Goof Off on my hutch that had a sticky residue on the top of it. I tested a small area first to make sure it would not damage the surface. Also I used the weaker strength of Goof Off. You apply, remove, and wash with soap and water.

I have used Goof Off on the woodwork--I guess I could try it in a small spot. Someone else suggested denatured alcohol.

The finish, protective coating, on my hutch is kind of a plastic finish applied at the factory. I do not know what kind of finish is on your table. If it is just a hand rubbed oil finish, I probably wouldn't try this.

The highly toxic methylene chloride strippers are indeed the easiest to use. Citristrip and other so called "less toxic" products do work but typically need far more time to act than the directions claim.

Regarding that pine furniture, the permanently sticky areas may be caused by pitch from the pine migrating to the surface. It's hard to recommend a procedure though. Typically, I'll proceed carefully and test several methods of cleaning before committing. With all the different finishes, woods and contaminants furniture can be exposed to, there's no one, simple solution outside of a full strip and refinish.

This piece was stained, glazed and then lacquered by hand-- if that helps. Would pitch migrate after all these years? Also, I used a table protector under at tablecloth once that had a fuzzy back and it stuck to the surface, so maybe the finish has deteriorated.

Rice, from what I can see in the attached photos your finish coat is damaged, nothing major like the pieces I do. If it were my table I would strip the varnish off, wash it down with mineral spirits, let it dry out a day or so and then lightly sand and apply a new finish coat of poly or varnish. I would not sand this down to bare wood for a few reasons, first pine develops a beautiful patina over the years, would hate to lose that and second you describe the table as being made by craftsmen and hand planed. Using an orbital sander and taking it down to bare wood would destroy the character. Lots of info on how to remove the finish coat and reapplying a new topcoat on the Internet, I just described the method I use.

Yes, I would not want to lose the patina or the handmade characteristic. Though I don't love pine, this table does have a beautiful look to it. Thanks for the advice--whether I do it myself or have someone do it, I will know not to take it down to bare wood. You have done a great job on your table above--the oak in it has a lovely grain.

Toats, finished the upcycle of the old sewing machine table. I was going to restore it, but the cabinet portion was completely destroyed from sitting outside unprotected. To restore it involved working with wood veneer and it was just not worth it to me. The only thing I could salvage was the metal base and drawers. I plan on using the drawers for another project. I built a table top from salvaged decking and painted the whole thing out. It became the perfect quirky piece for my patio and is a functional table.

Love it! So cute with a touch of quirk :)

Wonderful Margaret! I have my great aunt's old machine and the whole thing is in great shape including the wood veneer top, center drawer, and 6 side drawers. Even the Singer Red Eye machine, which I've tried in the last few years, still works great. My metal base is identical to yours.

Toats, have you moved to Savannah (right?)?

Ann, The sewing machine had been removed before it was given to me. The cabinet and base appeared to be stored outside and were severely water damaged. Took quite a bit of sanding and wire brushing to get the rust off the base. I have restored veneer in the past and find it to be very tedious. I can pick up another cabinet and base for next to nothing so I made the decision to turn it into something functional for me. I am sure the basic table top will not appeal to many, but I used what I had on hand. In total it cost me less than $10 and now I have a spot to clean the veggies from the garden before they make it into the house and a place to pot plants. I think in the long run I can make it work with the right patio furniture, but right now it is just a collection of junky stuff on the patio. My next big project will be creating cohesion in the back yard.

Absolutely love it! How big is the table? Looks like a 54" top.

Nice work!