Two Tripod Tables (ca. 1830 and 1950)

A customer brought me two tripod Mahogany tables which needed some repair. the first was a small candle stand with a pie crust edge made in England around 1950. It had some damage to the pie crust molding which needed to be patched. Below are some photos of this process:

The table as it came to me.
This photo details the damage to the molding.
The first step was to carve the missing area down to receive a patch.
I used a Mahogany board to match the grain orientation. the patch was then drawn out and cut out on a band saw.
This photo shows the patch being glued in place.
After the glue had dried the patch was ready for carving.
Here is a photo of the patch after it had been carved to match the existing molding.
the last step was to touch up the patch to match the color of the existing finish. Here is a photo of the top repaired!
The second table was a game table/tilt top from around 1830. It was manufactured in England. I believe that this table was married and that the top came from another table. In addition, I think that the top was burned (there is evidence of this on the underside) and that to patch the burn the center was cut out and the chess board was inserted. In any case, it is a unique table with nice lines. On its way across the pond it developed a crack in the top due to changes in environment. this crack had actually been repaired with a wedge before, but what was really needed was a Butterfly patch. the photos below show this process.

The table as it came to me.
The crack in the top
Gluing the butterfly patch in the underside of the top. the patch is shaped this way to help prevent the crack from opening up again.
This photo shows the top being french polished after the repairs were made and the crack was touched up.
the photo below shows the butterfly patch on the underside of the top after it had been sanded and stained to blend in to the finish.