Thank y’all very much for all of your kind words on Facebook and here on my blog about my latest desk makeover. It really makes me feel good! I’ve gotten a couple of inquiries about the piece but so far nothing serious. It’s still pretty early in the game though.
I’ve learned a few things over the past couple of years about selecting pieces of furniture to bring home and restore. The absolute biggest thing I’ve learned is to REALLY look that piece over good. Gone are the days ( I hope ) when I:
1. Felt the urgent need to buy every stick of furniture I saw, regardless of the shape it was in.
Especially if it was $5.
2. Felt this insane paranoia that someone else would snap it up while I was taking my time to inspect it.
So, long story (see: confessional) short, there was very little about this Big Ol’ Desk that would have to be fixed. In fact, there were two things. A drawer front needed to be re glued and three of the big screw holes that attached the HEAVY wood top to the base of the desk were stripped.
This post is about the latter.
Big Daddy offered to help me and let me just say Thank God because I had no plan. When we do projects together he always refers to me as ‘Unskilled Labor’. This means that I do all of the grunt work. I refer to myself in these situations as ‘Get It Girl’. In other words, I round up all of the supplies that the Skilled Labor (Big Daddy) will require.
Here’s what he asked for on this one:
Wood glue
Toothpicks
Wet paper towels to clean up excess glue
Paper plate
Sawdust from my orbital sander
Plastic knife
Weirdest grocery list ever.
And believe it or not, we actually did not have to make a trip to Lowes. We had every bit of this crap in the house!
Nobody was more surprised than me.
Step #1.
In the paper plate he mixed together nearly equal amounts of the sawdust and wood glue. Then he added in more sawdust to make it just pourable in consistency.
Step #2.
Spoon some of the glue mixture in to the stripped hole and allow it to run into the hole. You will start to see a divot as it fills.
Step 3.
He jammed about 6 wooden toothpicks in to the stripped hole. He kept working them in to the hole gently until they fit really tight. If six won’t do it, add another toothpick or two in the center of the rest. Again, push them gently in.
Now, let this set for about an hour.
Step #4.
After the hour had passed he cut the toothpick off with a pair of plyers. Now this left about a half inch of toothpicks sticking up. Tap these with a hammer to ensure a snug fit. He then used a small keyhole saw with a metal blade to cut the rest iof the toothpicks flush with the screw hole.
And sand off the rough area till smooth.
Step #5.
Allow the repair to cure overnight. Flip the tabletop over and screw it in to the base.
Worked like a charm!
Paige
Blogs I love!
http://www.findingsilverpennies.com
http://www.stonegableblog.com
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/?m=1
