Our New Display Table
Sorry. I did not take any “before” photos. It was an old library table that was hand painted blue. A nasty, not-quite-so-baby blue. The old paint was scraped off by hand – not sanded. Then, around the table top, I added a 2.25 inch strip of oak that fades in at the drawer.
After more prep, the undercarriage was painted black. The burning on the legs was done AFTER the first coat of lacquer to burn the finish into the base.
The drawer is the original, except for the face. It was taken completely apart. A new face was created and dovetailed (hand cut) into the original carcass. Installation was completed after all the finish coats. I installed a standard touch latch for a push-in-to-open operation. However, the latch is not strong enough to push against the force of the ball-bearing, top mount drawer guide. Because this table is being used for display, I might worry about that later.
After coating the undercarriage with black enamel, the top was coated with red enamel. It took over two hours to burn the top.
But you can see, patience and 25 sheets of sandpaper was worth the effort. The lacquer finish is water-borne and is very easy to spray. Using a CA Tech Bandit pressure pot connected via hose and fittings to a Lynx gun. The setup is for HVLP, however I run it off an air compressor, filtered and regulated down to 40 pounds.
Another view of the beautiful burn. Finished 3 days ahead of schedule. I was determined to have this finished over the Memorial Day weekend (Monday). However, after finishing the burn on Thursday night, Friday I came home from work twice to coat lacquer and applied the third coat after work. Then, the finish had no sooner tacked up and I had the table flipped over on drop cloths and was installing the drawer! When I get excited, it is hard to wait – I probably would not have slept!
Here it is, being useful in our store on Saturday morning! I am grateful to God for giving me the health and the ability to do a project like this.