Completed Mahogany Coffee Table

I wrote a previous post concerning the restoration of this coffee table. Below are some photos of the table completed with the new finish on it. I also cleaned the brass casters and found a drop pull that suited the piece (the original was missing). the leather was restored and has a coat of paste wax to keep it form getting damaged.

Mahogany Coffee Table With Leather Top (ca. 1940)

I recently picked up a Mahogany Coffee Table with a leather top surface. the main problems with the piece were the condition of the finish and the leather, and some loose joinery. The casters had also been attached with bolts in some cases which was an inappropriate way of doing this. the reason for this was that the bottom of the leg had been torn out and there wasn't much material to screw the caster into.

Sometimes I am not sure what I am going to do with a piece until I get it into the shop. The finish on this table was Shellac based, and at first I considered restoring the finish. As I began to do this I saw that the wood underneath was scratched and dinged up so I decided to remove the finish, sand and refinish the table.

This table was made by the Heritage Furniture Company around 1940-1950. It had the GENUINE MAHOGANY sticker on the bottom which was produced by an organization called the Mahogany Association (not a rock group, but a good name for one!) the Mahogany Association was a group comprised of furniture manufacturers who imported Mahogany into the us from the mid 1930's to 1969. The sticker says that all of the surface material (Veneer) and solid lumber and not some other wood made to look like Mahogany. This ensured that the customer was getting the real deal.

below are some photos of the restoration of the wood and leather. The first two photos show the table as it came to me.

The next two photos show some close up shots detailing the damage to the leather.

Here is the table getting the legs glued up.

This photo shows the damage to the leg from the caster getting pulled off.

Here is a photo of the patch I put in so the casters can be screwed back on.The next two photos show the table with the finish removed.

The table sanded and ready for staining.

The table and pull out tray after staining.

The last three photos show the table and tray during the French Polishing process and the leather restored.