Having rubbed down the chair for my hand caning project I was on the lookout for some more furniture I could start practising my creative and upcycling skills on. I had mentioned it to several friends and one sent me a photo of a chest of drawers asking if I would like them. Unfortunately his grandmother had recently died and her house sold, so they needed to clear it of items. Clive and I went to pick up the chest of drawers only to come back with two sets of drawers (one with a mirror) and a nest of three very wobbly tables. Amazing what you can squeeze in the back of an Astra! His Mum also offered me a lovely old chair that would need stripping and completely recovering - a bit beyond my current upholstery skills but it would be a shame to simply scrap it. I declined because as yet I still didn't have my workshop in the garden to store all these items -  that story is for the next blog! However I did say that if no-one else wanted it by the day the house had to be cleared, to let me know and I would go and get it.  Needless to say a few days later I went back and retrieved the chair! Our spare bedroom was now somewhat full of old furniture waiting for my workshop to be built so I could get started on upcycling. Well that was the plan! 

I decided the small nest of tables would be a good place to start as they would need some work to get rid of their wobble before stripping and painting. I asked my son if he would like them (you can never have too many small side tables) so that if he did want them he could choose the colour. He came home and took a look and said yes he'd have them and would like them painted all white to match in with the rest of his furniture. I'd need help fixing the wobble so approached our friend David Free. He is skilled in working
 with wood and runs classes to pass on his skills, so I asked for his help. Off I went to his workshop, which has all the woodworking machines and equipment required to build and repair items. I hadn't been able to see any nails or screws that were holding the table together so had no idea of where to start! David knew they were hidden under the 'sliding runners' and skillfully eased the runners out to expose various screws and nails. Only one broke in the process but was easily replaced when you have bits of wood lying around. Each table was completely taken apart. Unfortunately the middle-sized table was beyond repair for various reasons and we decided to scrap it and concentrate on the other two. Having taken them apart it was then a case of getting the legs square and glueing the joints as well as nailing them back into place. As you can see they hardly resembled a table at this point with various bits of equipment holding the legs square and in place until the glue had set. Whilst we were waiting David set about making a 'runner' to replace the one that had split and could no longer be used. I now understand why nothing gets thrown away in a workshop as the smallest piece of wood could be useful one day on another project. David found some suitable wood, measured it, switched on various machines and fed the piece through so it was exactly the size and thickness we needed to fit into the space. Finally the top of the table was screwed and glued back into place and the 'runners' glued and replaced hiding the screws. I returned home with the two tables ready to be rubbed down ready for painting. David had also suggested that when the tables were prepared that I go back to his workshop and he would show me another option of painting the tables by spraying them as opposed to using a brush. It would be good to see how spray painting is done and appreciate the difference to brush painting. However in reality I think most of my work will be hand painted, as I don't have the room to set up a spray booth, or the equipment to ensure the air is clean and dust free.