This is the table that I grew up with. My parents bought it when I was about 3 in the 70's, so that dates both me and the table! It's an Ercol table and I think it's made of elm. When we set up home we inherited numerous bits of old furniture from both sides of the family - including a sofa that had been stored in a barn (I'm sure it had things living in it) and a washing machine whose party piece was to fill itself with water and then attempt full spin with disastrous consequences.
I've been reluctant to re-furbish my table as I've always rather liked it's battle scars. I did cutting and gluing on here, as did our son years later, the family meals, the Christmases, the list goes on. However, over the last couple of years it had started to age in a much less attractive way ( I know the feeling). What little polish that remained was turning orange and this combined with the bare wood wasn't very appealing.
So into the garden we went for a good sand down. I used a Mouse for the main surface and did the curved edges by hand. In the interests of thriftyness I chose to finish it with a tin of beeswax polish that had been lurking in the garage for some time. There's a knack to applying beeswax, as I found out. You have to be methodical and not only apply it in the direction of the grain but also polish it to a shine in the direction of the grain. It's important not to resort to circular polishing like a mad woman ( my preferred technique), unless you want a "smeary window" effect.
Almost done, just needs a final polish:
I decided to leave the table legs in the authentic vintage condition. Partly to save a whole load of effort and partly to preserve the patina of age.They are a library of puppy teeth marks inflicted by all the family pets over the years. The monster in the picture above was possibly the most destructive of the lot - she even managed to detach and eat the knob off mum's washing machine! How do they do it? Nothing is safe or out of reach from a labrador pup.
The finished article.
Hitting 40 and looking fab. Wonder if I can get myself "re-surfaced" to match?
