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It has been very humid in Central Florida as expected the last several days so I held off on putting top coat on the Anniversary. Instead, on a detour, I started and nearly finished my take on something called a Carrooka table. Have I mentioned I'm easily distracted by shiny objects? Carroka...

Sorry about that, it was getting late in the day. I'll post more once the top coat starts going on.

The last toner coats are now on the legs and spreader. In case I need to refer to this in the future here is the recipe for 16oz of toner. 2/3 cup Seal Coat Dewaxed Shellac 4/3 cup denatured alcohol 2 teaspoons Transtint Medium Brown I used the same Transtint Medium Brown mixed with water...

More shellac and dye toner coats tonight. The skirts are almost where I want them for top coat. If you finish wood shellac is a pretty amazing product. Google shellac as a seal coat and combined with dye as a toner. It gives you a lot of control over the process and is easily removed with...

The legs have a shellac seal coat. The missing veneer on the stretcher was replaced using a piece of 1/2" birch ply as a donor. This is the stretcher with dye stain but no seal coat. Any idea how the stretcher could have received so many round dents over the years?

It's a little hard to see the progress but the shellac seal coat is on everything but the legs and stretcher. Next step toner coats.

I've been playing around with finishes. Today water based Transtint dye was wiped on all the wood surfaces. It looks good wet and horrible when it dries but that is the nature of dyes. Next step is a clear coat of dewaxed shellac. Dye mixed with shellac will be used over that as a toner to...

The aluminum is polished. I'll give everything one final touch just before assembly. Back to refinishing the wood parts.

Incredibly the oversize 8 in my restoration thread lasted almost two days on FB for $1000. I suspect this is an outlier and rexus31 is correct since the ones you asked about are older tables (veneer not Formica?) and likely in better condition.

I used a surface conditioning tool similar to this one with 120 and 240 grit drums to remove the deep scratches and get a uniform surface. It works fast, is easy to control and provides a nice base from which to begin sanding. Next step is a random orbit sander with 120 then 240 grit to get rid...

Steading plodding has never been my strong suit. Corner pocket as it started. After 10 minutes with the surfacing tool. An hour and fifteen minutes later. Three to go.

Sorry for the delayed updates. I have been working on it when I'm not distracted by some other shiny object. A skirt after pulling it off and removing the larger dings. Both legs are ready for dye and clear coat. The two side pockets are polished. I hope to finish the corner pockets over...

I'm normally immune to peer pressure but I had been considering it anyway. ;-) First band is off. I'd love to hear your suggestions for the best way tools and techniques to get the dents out? @Steve Dickey what finish did you use on the wood, stain and clear coat?

The second base is finished to the same point. On this one 80/120/240/320 grit were used on the random orbit before switching to the buffer. In the first image you can see how many dings the leg has suffered over the past 60+ years. Sitting on the blanket in person though it look acceptable.

Here are a few shots of the recent progress. I spent a fair amount of time trying to find the right process for me to polish the aluminum to a degree I am willing to live with. The current process is described below. If all goes well I'll finish the second leg today. Once both legs are done to...

We were in Augusta GA for some mountain biking this weekend and went looking for a place to play some pool. What a treat to find an old pool hall downtown that still has seven or eight Anniversaries on the floor. I'm now more excited than ever to get this one finished and set up. Unfortunately...

The people who designed and built these tables weren't the only creatives in the company. The marketing department also employed an artist or two. Some quotes from the 1957 catalog: "The beautiful Anniversary model combines the traditional beauty of natural walnut..." "Table aprons are from...

I've been playing around with polishing methods to find the line between what works and what is more work than I'm willing to do. This piece took longer than I want to invest but showed promise. Random orbit, some hand sanding, and a really old, really dirty buffing pad. I picked up a surface...

The strip added to the damaged side skirt is now formed to match. I did a little cleaning on one of the side pocket castings. I forgot how much I don't enjoy polishing. Next session will be sanding the ball rack, bridge and rack holders.

Well, I did get it glued on but not sanded yet. The foot and head skirts are sanded and looking pretty good. It is fun to see the mix of wood used in the skirts. The foot skirt has three poplar sections and some as yet unidentified wood that varies from reddish to blackish brown along its length.