Shabotaging on the Driveway

The sun is shining on the tundra today. Just in time for me to get a few more items ready for the monthly sale in Buffalo. Babe and I spent the morning sanding a washstand and an old oak lamp table. I painted the washstand a rusty red. I'm waiting for it to dry as I write this blog.

The oak table is another matter. It is a tall oak Victorian fern stand type table with barley twist legs. During it's lifetime it has been painted bright enamel yellow and 2 different linoleum pieces have been added to the top. The bright yellow legs have long since cracked and peeled to a good old shabby look. The linoleum top, bonded to the oak by a tarry mass of hazardous waste, put up a memorable fight.

Someone made the table more stylish and modern by putting a blue and red floral piece of linoleum on the top. The thick black goo has held the linoleum in place since then. Later this linoleum was no longer stylish so a second layer of goo was applied to hold a horrible black and shades of gray piece of linoleum on top.

A corner of the linoleum had broken off, so there was no way to retain the linoleum top. After working to remove the rest of the linoleum, I am certain that the corner was broken off by an asteroid strike or 10 kiloton bomb. I tried sanding, chiseling, scraping and even a little cussing to no great effect. Ultimately I took a propane torch and a broad knife to the mess. This worked quite well, if you ignore the choking black fumes, until the oak started to burn. Anyway the top is cleared and the hard oak is sanded. Tomorrow I will stain the top with gel stain and add a coat of lacquer. Another shabby piece for the April sale.

Mr. Flannery