Repairing an Antique Table: Restoring 19th Century Wooden Legs and Tabletop

Restoring an Antique Table: Repairing Cracks, Missing Wood, and Loose Laminations

Welcome back to the woodshop. In this third installment of our antique table restoration series, Bryan and I finally dive into the most challenging part of this 19th‑century dining table: repairing the legs and addressing the structural issues in the tabletop.

After stripping the old finish, we could finally see the full extent of the damage — cracks, missing chunks of wood, loose laminations, and decades of wear. This table has lived a long life, and now we will walk you through how we brought these legs back together one careful repair at a time.

Assessing the Damage in the Table Legs

Each leg had its own personality — and its own problems. Some had deep cracks where the laminated pieces had separated over time, while others were missing entire chunks of wood near the top or foot.

Here’s what we found as we inspected each leg:

• Loose laminated joints that needed to be glued and clamped back together

• Missing wood sections that required custom‑cut patches

• Small nicks and dings perfect for epoxy filler

• A broken foot on one leg, which meant replicating the missing shape from scratch

• Surface cracks that needed precision filling with CA glue and sawdust

Two legs were in rough shape, and two were surprisingly solid — which gave us a little breathing room as we worked through the repairs.

Cutting and Fitting Replacement Wood Patches

To replace the missing sections, we used scrap oak from a previous project. The hardest part wasn’t the cutting — it was matching the angle and thickness so the patches would sit perfectly in the voids.

Here’s how we handled it:

• Used shims and a Swanson speed square to measure the inner angles precisely

• Cut each patch on the miter saw at a 93° angle

• Laminated thinner pieces together when the stock wasn’t thick enough

• Trimmed each patch to a manageable size before gluing it in place

Once the patches were glued and cured, we shaped them with a Dremel, sanding drums, and stones until they blended seamlessly with the original contours of the legs.

Filling Cracks With Epoxy and Sawdust

For the smaller cracks and gaps, we mixed two‑part epoxy with oak sawdust collected from sanding the table earlier in the project. This will help the filler blend better when staining later on.

We taped off the surrounding areas to keep the epoxy where it belonged, filled each crack, and let it cure before sanding everything smooth.

For hairline cracks, we tried a different method: CA glue injected with a syringe, followed by sawdust to blend the repair. It worked beautifully on the tiny surface splits.

Cleaning the Antique Hardware

While the glue dried, we switched gears and tackled the hardware. Everything was rusty and dirty, but still salvageable. We soaked the pieces in vinegar for about 24 hours to loosen the rust before scrubbing them clean.

Final Sanding and Moving On to the Tabletop

Once all the repairs were complete, we sanded the legs by hand and then used a 4‑inch ball sander to smooth the curves and contours. We’ll pick up a 2‑inch version soon to reach the tighter spots.

With the legs looking solid again, we turned our attention to the tabletop. Both halves had separation at the ends where the tongue‑and‑groove joints had loosened over time. Just like the legs, we filled these gaps with epoxy and sawdust to stabilize the ends and prepare for staining.

What’s Next in the Restoration

This table has been a labor of love — and has used a lot of epoxy. Future parts of the series will focus on color matching, staining, and bringing all the pieces back together for the final reveal.

If you enjoy following along with our restoration projects, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel or bookmark our website for more content.

As always, happy woodworking!