Workers Of Wood

I've mentioned a couple of times over the last few years about my oak dining table needing resurfacing. Now I have a 6" random orbital sander I thought it was time.
This is a 20 year old oak table set from oak furniture land, so lots of planks glued together, but its still a sturdy piece of usable furniture, so onwards.
Took it apart, sanded the legs and apron and then got onto the table top proper. Its 1.5 metres x 90 cm.

Heres the thing in my workshop annexe (the empty house next door).
after the first sanding with 40 grit.

There was a very small dip in the middle of the table which I could see because the old varnish was still there. I went to 60 grit and started over the whole surface and applied a little more pressure when I got to the dip. Suddenly, some magic marker lines started to appear.
W.T.F.?????

Then all the oak grain disappeared and guess what? Have you guessed what?
M D bloody F.

The whole inner table "planking! was 1 mm veneer over MDF. Even the underside is veneered to make you think its solid oak.
How much money would you save doing this?

The apron, legs, end and side boards are all solid, just the middle piece is fake.

Now I have to decide whether to rip it apart and replace the offending section, or 'er indoors has suggested a very large tile inserted. At least the mdf would be a good base for the tile.

What do you think caused the spot, that looks like MDF and the veneer feathered down to be flush? Was there some sort of filler there too? Like maybe when it was originally sanded they sanded through the veneer?
The tile idea sounds good,maybe a 12"X12" Marble. A piece of wood might look like a patch, and you want to get way from that.
That is a very unique problem, the person who disguised the "patch was pretty darn good to have it undetected this long. My guess is there was a bubble under the veneer and they messed it up trying to fix it so cut it out and filled it.
Herb

When I blow up the picture, it is really a nice looking table. The way they banded the perimeter with solid oak it looks like. To replace the center with solid oak might be an other option. Plastic Laminate might be another option,it you find other spots that are thin.
What brand is the sander it looks like a Ridgid. 60 grit seems a little course to me. I would have been afraid of sander groove marks that would have to be sanded out. Being veneer that thin, of course you didn't know that at the time.
Herb

!

Put an inlay in the damaged area Bob.

This has turned into a much bigger job than I first expected.
I THOUGHT the top was all solid oak and I was just going to refinish the top.
It had a very thick coating of varnish or some such, very tough but so deep that you could actually see it was a layer. Over the years that layer had worn through in many places and got stained with elbow grease (see, there is such a thing), scuffs and scratches, etc.
So I had no qualms about starting sanding with 40 grit just to get the top crap off.
Even at 40 grit I used 2 pads getting the surface gunk off.

The sander is an AEG, big name in europe, most likely never seen in USA.

This was when the little dimple of remaining varnish became obvious right smack centre of the table.
Changing up to 60 grit I went over the dimple a few times, which is when magic marker numbers started to appear. I couldnt believe my eyes. How could that be in the middle of solid oak????
Then I realised that the oak grain around it was getting coarser rather than finer, and then the penny dropped as all the grain disappeared and I saw a smooth surface.
The entire centre of the table is MDF with a 1/64" veneer over and under!

The table is 5ft x 3 ft but there are also 2 extending leaves, each another 20" long. The leaves also have the same MDF centres.

I've thought of and rejected a tile (too big and heavy), leather (its a dining table not a desk), re-veneering the centre only (too far above my pay grade), and disassembling the thing and fitting solid oak instead.

But overnight I have decided that this table is now just too big for our needs. Theres just the two of us and when family comes we ether eat outside in the summer or go to a restaurant in the winter. What do we need an 8 seat dining table for?
So now my plan is to shorten the apron in both directions, and build a complete new top to bring it down to a 4 seat table size.
the legs are laminated oak which I can thin down. the apron is solid oak planks which will be easy to shorten, and a greatly reduced top size will mean a lot less seasonal movement to worry about.

Good plan, the next best plan is make it into an assembly table in the shop.
HErb

Herb, to get that table in my workshop, I would have to remove all the equipment. Its actually 1/10th of my entire floor area.
Plans have changed again (slightly).
Senior management has decided that it will now be 3ft x 4ft, with the leaves shortened slightly, turning it into a 4 but occasional 6 seater.

I've ripped it all apart now, saved all the edging oak and dumped the MDF.
Now I need to go buy a plank and make new centres.

I think you made the best decision, now it will be all "Wood". Be sure to post some pictures of your progress.
The AEG brand used to be made in Germany and are still sold here. I worked for companies that used them on the jobs, they seemed to be OK tools. That was when they were a Blue color,as I remember.
Herb

Well, I took it all apart, scrapped the mdf panels, and bought some 1" thick white oak planks.
Glued and dowelled them all side by side and then the original ends as well. The new table is now 4ft long x 3 ft wide. This is the underside before applying shellac
This is the new top
The ends are fixed bread board style, 1 1/2" tongue all across, with 1/4" expansion room at the end of each mortise, with three dowels. The centre 6" of the tongue, and the dowel are glued, the side dowels are in slots and not glued, to allow for expansion.
I dont like dowels showing on the surface, so I blind drilled from underneath, inserted the beech dowels, and then glued oak plugs over them. The apron covers all of these dowels.

Good job, that will make a top that will last for ever,and ever.
Herb

Looks good Bob.

Final pics,
I'm happy with the result, even though it was a hell of a lot more work than I expected when I started out.

That turned out real nice you did a good job making that table into a quality piece of furniture.
Herb

Good Job!!

Nice job.

Very Nice...!