Saturday, 25 April 2026

I've Got Some Nice Legs!

Said Bob. It was during the great pre-retirement downsize, I realised that one thing I did need at Cornerstones was a small table in the back bedroom. I had hoped it would be a worktable for my craft activities, and a place for visitors to put their stuff. That was why Bob mentioned his nice legs [!] and that he had a piece of wood, a short length of kitchen worktop retrieved from our neighbour's skip in Dorset when they had a refit. The legs were red metal [IKEA bargain basement, £5, years ago] and had remained in his stash, stuck together with parcel tape. He promptly screwed the legs to the wood and there was my table. It has been in use ever since. But he never actually finished it properly. I put a tablecloth on it when we had overnight guests.

Here it is, this time last year, stacked with food and jars during the kitchen refit. The top is grubby, it had sharp edges and corners, and the base of every leg [hidden in this shot] is a mess of half removed brown parcel tape. More recently my worklamp has been clamped to the edge, and the table has been covered with sewing projects.

On Thursday, I had been tidying the bedroom, the tabletop was clear. Bob leapt into action, and took the table outside. He removed the legs, and while I set to work with solvent to clean off the sticky tape and goo, he rounded the edges of the top. He sanded everything and finished it off with a coat of Osmo. It looks so much better now

Clean, shiny and no sharp corners! This will count as a restoration project, another of my #word365 activities. Thank you Bob. I shall refix  my lamp and I'm 'good to go' again



7 comments:

  1. We have several pairs of nice legs from Ikea!
    Table extensions for the dining table and work tables in the office and little bedroom. They’re very sturdy and useful.
    Thanks for the tip about Osmo, I had never heard of it before but it looks like good stuff to have around.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Osmo is expensive, but does an excellent job, and is long lasting. And it gives a lovely finish.

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    2. It comes in several varieties - I used Polyx. It's really important to apply it sparingly, and after about 5 minutes soaking in, come back and wipe off any excess. Allow to dry for a few hours before denibbing and a second coat, and two coats is usually enough.

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    3. "Denibbing" means removing the slight roughness on the surface caused by the application of the first coat. Usually by rubbing with very fine abrasive. No I didn't know either, but refused to publish Bob's comment unless he explained it properly.

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    4. "Denibbing" means removing the slight roughness on the surface caused by the application of the first coat. Usually by rubbing with very fine abrasive. No I didn't know either, but refused to publish Bob's comment unless he explained it properly.

      Delete

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