Vintage Drexel Triune Coffee Table COMPLETED!

This piece just might be my favorite so far.  Seriously.  The lines and heft of it are just so perfect that it makes me smile. I know every inch of this table as I've stripped it and started over twice because I love it so.   I just had a vision for it you know and I knew I could make it look like exactly what I wanted it to look like.

The brass hardware is original and took 3 separate scrubbing cleanings to get all of the old grime off it with Brasso, 0000 steal wool and using cheesecloth as a polishing cloth.  The scratches on top have been mostly buffed out and the deeper gouges were filled in with stainable wood filler so the top is smooth to the touch.  I love this piece so much, I would want it to have a custom glass top cut to put on top of it for protection.

The finished piece has been stripped with Citri-strip, sanded by hand with a 120 grit sandpaper along the base because of the carved details and sanded using my new Porter Cable electric palm sander (The Robinator is awesome!) on the top.  Then it was stained twice with light sanding in between coats using 220 grit paper and Minwax Red Mahogany stain.  Finally, two protectant coats of Minwax Polyurethane in clear satin were applied (first coat with a good bristle brush, final coat with sponge brush) with a light 220 grit sanding after first coat dried for 24 hours.

I cannot express how completely I love this piece.  The closest online comparison of it that you can currently buy by Drexel is this cocktail table for $1,929 and it's in cherry, not rare mahogany as this one is. Drexel Cocktail Table  

They call them cocktail tables now and that cracks me up.  LOL!  I guess people are more fond of cocktails than coffee these days.  LOL!

This piece already has a home, unfortunately, as someone I love claimed it when they realized I wasn't going to keep it.  They have excellent taste and recognized the quality of it immediately too.  I have been doing a soft discouragement campaign using the techniques of saying nonchalantly, "You know you don't have to buy it. It might not match your stuff now cuz it came out so dark.  Don't feel obligated to follow through just cause you said you were going to." But that hasn't worked.  *sigh*  LOL!

I am having SO.MUCH.FUN doing these pieces I'm finding!  GO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOTTA KEEP BUSY! Isn't it gorgeous???????

Drexel Triune Coffee Table

So...I ran into this piece and recognized that it was solid, CARVED, real wood.  It was heavy and seriously...there are no screws.  LOL!  Like...it seems to have been put together by elves.  So I scooped it up.

Then, I got it home and did some research on it.  When I found out it was solid mahogany, I was like...WHOA.  See...mahogany is super rare now.  Something about them using it all up and not replenishing it properly.  That's why it is so expensive when you find it.  So then...I got scared.  REAL.SCARED.

I didn't want to screw it up.

So I read everything there was about refinishing real mahogany because there was no way in hell I was putting paint on real mahogany.

First...I stripped it with Citri-strip.  Then...I let it dry for almost a whole week.  Next, I sanded it and then...I tried to repair some of the deeper scratches.  Right now I've put one coat of stain on it and I'm letting it dry completely.    I'll pick back up tomorrow with another sanding to fix the scratches even more.

This one is a slow and steady job so it might take a while to complete it.  I'll let you know when it's done.  I'm just super happy about the find.  Real wood is expensive as all get out.  Real MAHOGANY?  YAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!