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Anonymous01/28/26, 10:39No.2973303Antique restoration job
I have this cool antique table and I want to restore it.
It has a lot of different problems but let's start with the wobbly structure. It's so wobbly it can barely stand.
Immediately I could notice that some previous owner had attempted to reinforce the structure with nails. Some of them were super crudely hammered in but I managed to remove the extra nails without damaging the wood any further.
Then I realized the 3 symmetrically inserted nails were actually original to the table. Believe it or not, this table doesn't have traditional woodworking joints. These carved galleries keep the whole table together and they're nailed (and glued) to the legs and the top.
So here's the crux: the table is wobbly as hell, but most of the original nails are still in place and so deep in the wood that I can't pull them out. This means the table can't be taken apart for reassembly. And even if I could do that, there are areas with so much wood loss that I can't put new nails in. I was thinking I could rebuild this table with peg joints but it would sort of break the originality.
What's my next move?
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Anon01/28/26, 10:41No.2973304
Here's the full view.
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Anon01/28/26, 10:44No.2973305
In case someone doesn't believe that the original nails are a real thing, here's another piece presumably by the same maker. You can see 3 black dots where the nails arehttps://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/center-tables/19th-century-french-chinoiserie-style-mahogany-table-attributed-gabriel-viardot/id-f_11269441/#zoomModalOpen
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Anon01/28/26, 12:36No.2973315
stabilize do not restore. if it has any value, it will lose it if it is restored.
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Anon01/28/26, 12:40No.2973316
>This means the table can't be taken apart for reassembly
by you.the way you fix wobbly nail or (if they have them) screw holes.you remove the nails or screws.
separate the joints. drill the original holes out to a size where you can install dowels, trim the dowels flush, and then pilot drill the dowels with holes for the nails that are slightly narrower than the nails. so you don't split anything putting the nails back.
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Anon01/28/26, 16:12No.2973338
is that fretwork
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Anon01/28/26, 21:36No.2973395
OP here again. What do you think the finish is?I wiped it down with a damp cloth and the cloth is now dark brown.
I think I wiped off the finish whatever it was.