20/05/2026
Part 3 - Sanding, prepping and where it all starts to come together
This stage of the table restoration is where things really start to take shape.
After leaving the veneered panels in the press overnight, I moved on to flush trimming everything back to size. One of the biggest challenges on this table was the heavy round over on the edge. I chose to keep that original detail rather than square it off, which meant carefully blending the new veneer into an existing curved profile.
Because of that curve, the veneer wasn’t fully supported underneath during trimming, which made tear-out a real risk. That meant slowing everything right down, especially on the ends, and using a mix of router techniques and hand tools to get a clean, controlled finish.
Once trimmed, everything was refined by hand before moving onto the large panel sander to flatten the surface. From there, I went back over everything with a palm sander to really dial in the final finish and soften the transition into the round over.
A big part of this stage was also stripping the base back and removing the old finish. Once that was gone, the different timber species started to reappear again — oak veneer, ash surrounds, rubberwood in the frame, and even olive ash in one of the legs.
This is the point in the project where all the prep work really matters. It’s not the most glamorous stage, but it’s what makes the final result possible.
Next up… the oiling stage and full reveal.
