Thread: New sassafras hall table top

A bit cheeky to be called a restoration, as it's a piece I made about twelve years ago and was never quite happy with. The original sassafras top was twisted and finished in polyurethane, which did not do justice to the blackheart.
So having recently acquired some beautiful sassafras boards I made a replacement top and finished with a French polish.

Sassafras in my experience a badly-behaved timber that will twist, buckle and warp on you without warning. So I put on breadboard ends and fixed with buttons to the old base to allow for movement. Even after I had the top perfectly flat out of the clamps, it still cupped, but I managed to fix it with a short time laying on the grass - that trick really does work!

Sassafras is fairly tight-grained, so I was able to pore fill in the traditional manner with pumice alcohol and a tiny amount of shellac, and then had twelve sessions of bodying up over a week. I was able to spirit off without problems this time (has been a problem for me in the past unfortunately due to lack of experience), then left it for a week before a final rub with Ubeaut Polish Reviver. It now stands back in the hall and has family photos on it.