Knock
On Wood
Spare the Warp and
Spoil the Finish
By Bruce Johnson
Q. I have an oak drop leaf table that seems a bit unusual
in that the drop leaf sides are not oval, but, instead,
are rectangles that nearly touch the floor. The top
is just two feet wide when the sides are lowered, but
when you raise the two 30-inch sides, you get a rectangular
table that is seven feet long!
I have never seen an antique table quite like this one,
but my problem may be the reason. The sides look fine
in their lowered position, but when you raise them,
you can clearly see that each one has warped. Instead
of laying flat, they looked like wings on a bird in
flight.
I recall reading in one of your earlier columns that
warps can be removed, but I don't recall how. And that
was before I owned this table. I should mention, however,
that the table has its original finish and it is in
excellent condition.
A. That creates a problem for your problem.
Warps can sometimes be reversed, but the process requires
that the concave side of the wood absorb moisture—something
that can't happen as long as there is a finish on the
wood. Boards warp when moisture passes unevenly in and
out of the two sides. This most often happens on wide
boards which are only finished on one side.
To straighten the warp, the raw board is placed with
the "humped" side up on wet towels on a hard
surface. Weights, such as padded concrete blocks, are
carefully added to the top. As the concave side absorbs
moisture, the weights press the board flat. The towels
are then removed and the weights replaced to keep the
board flat while it dries. It then needs to be finished
on both sides as soon as it is dry.
However, sacrificing the original finish in order to
attempt this repair is not recommended. Warps come and
go, but once an original finish is removed, it never
comes back. My recommendation is that you live with
the table the way it is.
And don't fall prey to the temptation to attempt to
straighten the board using weights or clamps. You'll
only crack the board or split the glue joint, which
really leaves you in a bind.
Repair Tips
Q. I do a fair amount of furniture repair for some of
our local antiques dealers, so, as you can imagine,
I only get the tough jobs. The easy ones they do themselves.
More often than not their instructions are clean it,
tighten it up, and make it look good—but don't
refinish it.
Over the years I have had to improvise a good deal,
especially when it comes to clamping odd-shaped pieces.
Perhaps your readers already have figured some of these
tips out, but I thought I would share them with anyone
who might need them.
For chair legs and rungs I use a looped rope twisted
with a short length of dowel until the rungs are pulled
into their sockets. For splits in rungs, I wrap the
glued joint with wax paper and a length of heavy rubber
band. I cut strips of rubber from old inner tubes and
stretch them to pull rungs into legs.
Slivers can be clamped with black electrical tape or
with Vice-Grips (pad the metal jaws with scraps of wood).
You can also use a regular pair of pliers with a heavy
rubber band wrapped around the handles to apply pressure.
Veneer chips can be glued down using concrete blocks
or sandbags. Once I glued down a veneer bubble in the
middle of a table by wedging a long 2x4 between the
table top and the ceiling in my workshop.
A. Thanks for the tips.
How to Cut Veneer
Q. What is the secret for cutting veneer without having
it split along the grain lines? Should I wet it first?
A. That will help, but more important is making sure
you have a fresh blade in your knife. Make sure it has
never been used, for what might seem sharp to you might
not to thin, brittle veneer. Put in a new blade and
make several light scores along the line you wish to
cut. Don't try to cut it all it once. That will only
cause the blade to act as a snowplow. Lots of shallow
cuts will eventually cut the veneer without causing
it to split along the grain line.
Tip of the month:
To carefully clean out a hole for a chair rung, select
a drill bit the same diameter, but grasp it with a pair
of locking pliers, not your electric drill. The pliers
will enable you to slowly turn the bit, which will remove
the old glue, whereas the speed of the drill would cause
excess damage.
If you didn't find the answer to your problem in this
month's column, write to Bruce Johnson or look for it
in one of his autographed books: "The Weekend Refinisher"
($15), "The Wood Finisher" ($15) or "Fifty
Simple Ways To Save Your House" ($15). Prices include
shipping and each book will be autographed. You can
order books and write to Bruce Johnson at 21 Wilson
Lane, Fairview, NC 28730.
©
2002 Mountain States Collector