Antique Table in an Amateur's Hands: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

@Powderdigit it is both amazing and inspiring how you rescue these old boards from the landfill, and give them a little TLC to bring them back to “playing shape.”

Outstanding effort!!

Cheers PW1. In this instance someone else picked it up and I am the fortunate one to buy it from their listing. It goes to show - one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
I often get reflective and as I’ve said before - I wish I played chess longer than the last few years. I enjoy the mental gymnastics but also it has lead me to many new paths and friends.
One of the new paths is wood work. Truthfully, I am nothing - no artisan - just a person prepared to learn some skills and fail and embarrass myself along the way. I have said many times - there are so many more skilled craftsmen, collectors and players on this forum - and their experience is a better guide than mine. Further, if I had a really valuable antique - I’d be careful and probably outsource a refurbishment. Still …. I’m glad I give things a go.

Another good find Powder! It fits in nicely with your other boards and sets. Congrats!

Don't believe you Powder! You are clearly a secret government agent,on a mission to obtain the unobtainable subtle "classics" out there....Don't deny it! I'm on to you.

Alas, as I get older I like older things and it seems many people see items such as old chess boards less affectionately. 😊 This board is a treasure …

Powder, I see things the same way. Don’t get me wrong. I like my modern and reproduction sets too. I used my Noj set last month and this month it is my SC Cooke with the Sinquefield knights. I used both my 18” borderless board from JK Creative. It was a nice change from my Coffeehouse and Ayres sets my Drueke and raised frame board. However, if I had to pick, it would be vintage/antique all the way.

I haven’t had these pieces out for a while - they are large. The pawn bases are just under 2cm. Which means that they look ok on a board with 8cm squares!
It’s probably a tad too spacious but workable. I can imagine a large set of the Lewis chessmen though.😉

Totally gorgeous! My wife loves it too....However,she tells me not to even think about it.

Yeah I have to agree. It is beautiful!

From the sublime to the ridiculous… this isn’t a board but to play on the title of my thread, it is ugly!

There’s a saying: “You can’t polish a t¥Rd” … but I am trying …🤦‍♂️

These pieces are from a set purchased in Hong Kong in the ‘90’s- the dark side is passable but the light side is a puce light green and lacking detail. I thought … what I’d I dipped them in a stain …. And wiped it off…what have I got to lose?

Before…

After

I think it brings out the detail and better aligns them to the dark side pieces

I am not sure what they are made of but it sands easily …perhaps soapstone or some form of resin … whatever, I have been able to remove tough edges and poor finishes on the base (from the mould) and it is all going to look better. Still pox - but at least I am learning and trying something different.

It turned out alright! And even though hardly deserved, I gave the armies new shoes … not high quality baize that I’d apply to a wooden set but an upgrade nonetheless.😊

Probably best that I keep that box closed! As I said in the other thread, not one of my smarter local buys but I had a bit of fun on a Saturday morning trying to make something out of not much.😉

Very cool. Imagine a garden tournament with clocks and with 3 or 5 boards, could be one set for the occasion. It's fun to use harder to read sets to lighten up competition.

I picked up another gem recently. As it happens, a young man was selling his grandfather’s chess table (that his grand father made some 60+ years ago…), the table needed some love. And I love these old homemade, unique pieces. 

As it was clearly pocket money for the young man (and his dad was encouraging him to learn to sell) - I decided to pay him a little more than I normally would, rather than beat him down because of the scratches. It was about encouragement, not teaching a young man the art of negotiation.

Furthermore, we got talking and then his dad bought out some chessmen to sell - quite nice … they were old Lewis Chessmen but as people know - I have a set of Lewis chessmen the way - so I decided to help the kid … they nearly sold them to me for AUD $30-$50 but I told them what they were and said look up ‘Lewis’ chessman and you’ll make more than $30 - probably between $80-130 - they were a bit chipped but I encouraged him to be honest, clean them up, show the chips and advertise them for something more than $30. I hope he makes some good coin. 
Anyway, here’s the table - different; lovely - I my eyes. Better still… it has a broad boarder to sit an analog clock upon, should I want too.

My apologies, I didn’t take better before shots but it was pretty scratched up. Now after sanding and bees waxing - it’s a treat. Here’s some before during and after.👍

Fairly aggressive sanding down to 240 grit.

3 coats of beeswax oil and buffing.

It’s solid, very heavy and my thinking is to take to the short legs off - and make it a table top/board that will sits beautifully on some other legs/bases that I have. 
For now - I’ll just enjoy the restoration and that the old man’s table has a long life in it yet. It was destined for the tip before the dad encouraged his son to try and sell it. Good stuff all round, I reckon.

Very nice table after you worked your magic on it. Nice story as well.

No magic, Magic … just the restorative beauty of wood. 👍

@Powderdigit

By now you know how I appreciate seeing a woodworker’s piece restored and the wood brought back to its former glory. Well done! Indeed the spirit of the tree lives on!

Another beautiful board restored... Good job!

Powder....I can use a little work on my den coffee table....How about it?

I continue to be both amazed and impressed (and a bit inspired, too).

You are the "Restoration Whisperer!"

Kudos... and please make a short video, someday @Powderdigit.

Here’s something different… I need a storage case for my Lewis pieces. A traditional chess box won’t work and so… an old cutlery box for AUD$5 … if nothing else it’s a cheap mistake … at least the pieces fit … now to restore it.