Help from Woodworkers

A long time ago (I’m 40 an never remember not having this table), my grandpa handmade these coffee tables for my dad and all of his siblings. My dad would like to refurbish his. Several of his siblings have inlaid theirs into larger tables, but he wants to keep his bascially original.

It should be an easy job, except we’re not sure exactly what Grandpa used as trim around the edge, or if there is a better option. The “tree cookies” are glued to plywood, and the edge trim holds the glass to the top.

Looking for any thought, ideas, suggestions to help my dad out.

Thanks in advance!

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I can’t answer your question but thats a very nice looking table! Gramps put some work into that.

Is the edge banding made of aluminum and rubber?

What is your dad’s definition of refurbish?

Some would consider that refurbished as is since it is in such nice shape.

I would think if the glass top needs polishing one could do that in place right now.

Kick a$$ top on that thing

munchy wrote:

Is the edge banding made of aluminum and rubber?

Yes. The aluminum screws into the plywood and the middle rubber strips is pressed in (it reminds me of a rubrail on a boat).

Deuces wrote:

What is your dad’s definition of refurbish?

Some spills have gotten under the glass (possibly from me as a youngster), so he wants to clean those up and lightly sand and varnish the wood. The glass itself is in fine shape.

Dutchboy wrote:

Gramps put some work into that.

Yes, he did. I asked dad about it, and he cut all the cookies on a band saw. He said that he remembers having buckets of them in the garage, and as kids, they helped lay them out on the table tops. Grandpa then glued them down and sanded them.

I know he made at least 7 of these!

Fill it in with epoxy resin? This is what I immediately thought of when I saw it. Might be more work that your grandpa put in but it would last forever. A lot of the work is already done though.

Here’s another video. IDO doesn’t allow me to post more than one link in a post.

biggill wrote:

Fill it in with epoxy resin?

My sister brought that up. Not sure if that would meet Dad’s criteria of keeping it orginial, but if it were mine, that is what I would do.

To me it looks like an aluminum trim band has the glass sandwich in between. I would be afraid of removing the trim band to get under the glass. It would be hard to fix if it gets kink.

Looks like the trim off the gunnel of a old boat.

Rodwork wrote:

To me it looks like an aluminum trim band has the glass sandwich in between. I would be afraid of removing the trim band to get under the glass. It would be hard to fix if it gets kink.

Yes, that’s exactly what it is, and I am pretty sure it’ll get ruined in removal, so I am trying to locate something comparable to replace with.

Call Mr. Adams

I would think that with care and patience the edge could be removed without damaging it. It is difficult to tell for sure from the pictures but it looks to me like if you were to just expand the aluminum edge about two inches in total you could slip it off the table. Considering the length of the edging you should be able to accomplish this without putting any kinks in the metal.

But that’s just an idea. It’s always difficult to tell with these things when you don’t actually have them in front of you.

It’s a nice little table. You’re lucky to have it. As with all heirlooms I always favor attaching a small tag or writing on the bottom of them who made them and the date they were made. That way future generations will always know.

thats some beautiful wood working you have there!!!!!!!!!

If you can figure out the overall thickness plywood, “cookies” and glass you can start looking at rub rails to replace it with. Taco, Westmarine along with others have options but deciding what look and overall thickness will determine what you’re options area.

https://tacomarine.com/rub-rail-store-aluminum-a11-0638tal12d

biggill wrote:

Fill it in with epoxy resin? This is what I immediately thought of when I saw it. Might be more work that your grandpa put in but it would last forever. A lot of the work is already done though.

<div class=”ido-oembed-wrap”><iframe loading=”lazy” title=”Ash wood bench with fruit trees branches inlay” width=”850″ height=”478″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/1zOHZZonUHw?feature=oembed&#8221; frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=””></iframe></div>

Made a coffee table similar to this used black epoxy got it from Home Depot

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

It should be an easy job, except we’re not sure exactly what Grandpa used as trim around the edge, or if there is a better option. The “tree cookies” are glued to plywood, and the edge trim holds the glass to the top.

Looking for any thought, ideas, suggestions to help my dad out.

One should be able to remove the rubber insert. Find the end and it should just peel out of the grooves. Behind the insert, I’m sure you will find screws or nails which you Dad used to attach the aluminum to the table. Remove those and the rail will come with them.
New rubber inserts are available from many sources.

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Wonder what moisture content you need in the cookies. So they don’t shrink and screw it up. Cabin masters cuts green trees and makes stuff. But you never see it a year later.

Maybe just sand then down. Put on a good sealer, before you put the glass back down. In case it sees moisture again.

stevenoak wrote:

Wonder what moisture content you need in the cookies. So they don’t shrink and screw it up. Cabin masters cuts green trees and makes stuff. But you never see it a year later.

If you don’t want it to crack and shrink, you need to dry the wood as logs and not slice it until it has dried to 5-10% moisture.

My dad did several charcuterie boards and a small bar top out of squared birch slices. The first step was to peel the logs and remove all bark. Then the logs were dried for approximately a year and a half. There was radial cracking in the ends but once you took about 3 inches off the end, the wood showed no cracks and after slicing it did not crack.