Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Brasilia Before And After. You Might Remember This Broyhill Brasilia Drop Leaf Harvest Table From Last October. It's Has Finally Emerged From It's Cocoon And Boy Is It Pretty! Status: Available.

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After a long winter the Brasilia harvest table is back out in the open.  It's been a long wait but it was totally worth it.  It needed lots of love and luckily I know just the man for the job.  He loves the work and loves Brasilia so it was only natural that he takes care of all my Broyhill "troubles".

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YIKES! Right?  This is what I dropped in poor Dan's lap.  You remember my buddy Dan?  He's got

the banging joint that I featured many moons ago and he recently refinished a Broyhill Brasilia drop leaf

extension table for me that I've got available in my booth at The Green Shag Market
.  But this table was

a little bit of a test for him.  Look at that mess.

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...And look at the impressive job he did on this.  It's hardly recognizable!  If you've got a Brasilia or

similar piece that needs some love and are local to the St. Louis area shoot me a note and I'll hook you

up with Dan to see if he can be of assistance.  I don't know all the details of exactly what his process is

but I know he finishes off with a satin Poly coat for durability. 

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I don't know exactly what to call the almost iridescent swirls in the grain.  Are they "birds eyes" or

"figuring"?  Whatever they are, Dan's awesome refinish job brought them out beautifully.  They really

steal the show.  Sure, this is a pretty rare and hard to find style of Brasilia dining table but everybody's

gonna just talk about the wood grain!  

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The table is not without some character.  I gave some thought to splicing in some walnut veneer where

these chips are but didn't think it was worth the effort.  I like that the table has some bumps and bruises. 

I like to think it adds authenticity to these vintage pieces.  Heck, some people pay lots of money to places

like Restoration Hardware to buy a new table with "character" added.

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There are also some small imperfections on the top.  Still, compared to what this table came from...I

actually bought the table just for the legs.  I've got yet another table to have Dan work on that had some

busted up legs and this table was in such rough shape, but when I showed it to Dan...he thought it could

be saved.  He was right!

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So now that this one is back on it's feet it too needs a new home to dazzle. It's got a new lease on life

and is ready provide many more years of loyal service to it's next owner. I almost wish I hadn't found

my dream dining table (my Florence Knoll dining table) so that I could keep this all for myself! Alas, I

cannot keep it and it must find a new family to serve. It shouldn't be too hard. How many others like

this have ya seen?

7 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, that is amazingly beautiful! Please, please, please get more details from Dan on the type of stain and the poly process (rub, paint or stray). I need to work on some furniture and the more info I get, the safer I will feel when I start.

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  2. Wow! Dan really outdid himself. The finish has a nice, aged look to it.

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  3. Yes! Please let us know what stain and poly! I'm not local and need to refinish my giant Brasilia table. :)

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  4. I'm glad to offer you the products I use but not all my techniques. ;)

    I vary my stains between; MINWAX dark walnut, special walnut and provincial. For the poly I'll use MINWAX oil-modified polyurethane if I want to give the piece a red tint. Lately I've been partial to using Deft clear wood finish satin lacquer.

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  5. I live in Benton Park and have started purchasing mid-century furniture recently. I have a broyhill emphasis desk and a complete king bedroom set (with two night stands and a king headboard). The tallboy has some "issues" but just in one spot. It will definitely require some refinishing. What do you consider the best stain? What will be the closest match? Thanks! If you dont mind, email me at jeffrey.trzeciak@wustl.edu Thanks!

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