People often love their family table and it is not an uncommon restoration job for a maker to receive. In this case a work friend wanted their heirloom restored. It wasn’t until work progressed that I realised I am the third person to build this table.
And so it begins
The table was first made possibly around 70 years ago. The wood appears to be what is loosely called Tasmanian oak, the commercial name for a group of eucalypt species such as messmate and mountain or alpine ash. Clear, straight quartersawn wood like this was commonly available then.
The table arrived at my workshop in terrible condition. The original polish had fully degraded and every joint of the top boards was open, possibly from being left out in the weather.
All the leg to rail joints had broken some years ago
