Restoring sewing machine table

[Parfektionisto]

Hi, 

Beside making new tables, did anyone restore their sewing machine tables? This is my first time restoring a machine table, did some research online before getting into the work. The old laminate on the table  was hindering my work as it tore the canvas I was sewing a couple of times , so I have no choice but to find the time to restore it. I also added castor rollers, so that I can move the sewing machine around. I hope to restore the paint on the machine as well, but I must really find the time for it. Pls share pics of your restored tables too. 

Tony 

[Webicons]

I haven’t restored a sewing table per se but quite a few tables in general.  My piece of advise is to use good quality castors that fold away, have screw jacks or have heavy duty locking mechanisms.  The locks on the cheap castors don’t work well and the table will creep away from you at the most in opportune time. 

[Parfektionisto]

4 hours ago, Webicons said:

I haven’t restored a sewing table per se but quite a few tables in general.  My piece of advise is to use good quality castors that fold away, have screw jacks or have heavy duty locking mechanisms.  The locks on the cheap castors don’t work well and the table will creep away from you at the most in opportune time. 

Thanks for the advice, I bought the castor wheels from a sewing machine dealer. They do look sturdy to me, hold it works well. 

[Doxnet]

Hi!

I have relaminated the top of the original table with a piece I buy at home depot. I have glued it. Then cut the best I can the inside for the head of the machine. After that the bottom of the table was repainted using some black metal paint. I have made a little box style on the bottom left to fit a little drawer buy from the dollar store. It has divided space to place foot and needles etc.

The cost was low and it was easy to do. Hope it can help you!

 

[sandmanred]

The Consew was purchased rusted solid on a sketchy home built table with rusty steel legs and a rough plywood top.  I scrapped the top and got a solid core door slab and remodeled the steel from simple square design to a trestle with better knee clearance.  The foot pedal was a leftover from a 132K6 foot lift that I removed and replaced with a knee lift.

The Pfaff is in a table I made using 2 layers of plywood and a laminate top and an aluminum base.  I had 2 inch square aluminum leftover from another project and only had to buy a few more feet to make this base.  I thought the full width foot pedal was a good idea at the time but now that I've had it for awhile I don't think it's any better than a normal one.  

The table end showing in the last picture has large wooden pads with those plastic glides attached.  The makes it's fairly easy to slide it around the room if needed.

Edited February 8, 2021 by sandmanred

[Uwe]

@sandmanred Love those welded aluminum legs and that huge pedal on your table!

 

@Parfektionisto There’s different approaches. If the wood itself looks nice and isn’t bowed, you can just sand it down and give a few coats of clear varnish. 

If you don’t like the wood look you can glue on a new layer of laminate like @Doxnet did.  I’d use a hand-held trim router and a laminate trim bit to follow the contours of the inner cutout and the outside edge. 

 

To finish the edge itself, you can get some T-molding.  Buy the T-molding a bit wider than the actual table edge. Use a T-molding router bit, you can cut a slot along the outer edge, install the the T-molding and the cut off the overhang with a sharp knife.

Here’s an example of a table I made this way. Mine used new plywood, but there’s no reason you can’t use this approach with an existing plywood table top.

 

 

 

 

[sandmanred]

@Uwe Thanks!  Where did you get the plastic banding?  That looks great!

[Uwe]

@sandmanred I got mine from https://www.t-molding.com 

They also sell the slotting router bits and other edge banding supplies. 

Here’s the parts I had ordered for my table top. You only need about 12’ of edge banding for one 2’x4’ table top.

Edited February 8, 2021 by Uwe

[stelmackr]

This is the picture of my broken table that those 4by8 foot sheets of 3/4 inch plywood in the background caused when they fell.

This was the rebuild with use of those 3/4 inch plywood sheets, hardboard with oak trim and angle iron supports

[Parfektionisto]

On 2/8/2021 at 6:49 AM, Doxnet said:

Hi!

I have relaminated the top of the original table with a piece I buy at home depot. I have glued it. Then cut the best I can the inside for the head of the machine. After that the bottom of the table was repainted using some black metal paint. I have made a little box style on the bottom left to fit a little drawer buy from the dollar store. It has divided space to place foot and needles etc.

The cost was low and it was easy to do. Hope it can help you!

 

Nice and great ideas, thanks for sharing. 

[Parfektionisto]

On 2/9/2021 at 12:23 AM, sandmanred said:

The Consew was purchased rusted solid on a sketchy home built table with rusty steel legs and a rough plywood top.  I scrapped the top and got a solid core door slab and remodeled the steel from simple square design to a trestle with better knee clearance.  The foot pedal was a leftover from a 132K6 foot lift that I removed and replaced with a knee lift.

The Pfaff is in a table I made using 2 layers of plywood and a laminate top and an aluminum base.  I had 2 inch square aluminum leftover from another project and only had to buy a few more feet to make this base.  I thought the full width foot pedal was a good idea at the time but now that I've had it for awhile I don't think it's any better than a normal one.  

The table end showing in the last picture has large wooden pads with those plastic glides attached.  The makes it's fairly easy to slide it around the room if needed.

That’s great. You seems to be good in metal work. 

[Parfektionisto]

On 2/9/2021 at 8:32 AM, stelmackr said:

This is the picture of my broken table that those 4by8 foot sheets of 3/4 inch plywood in the background caused when they fell.

This was the rebuild with use of those 3/4 inch plywood sheets, hardboard with oak trim and angle iron supports

Nice and neat, another more decades to go:)

[Parfektionisto]

On 2/8/2021 at 11:30 AM, Uwe said:

@sandmanred Love those welded aluminum legs and that huge pedal on your table!

 

@Parfektionisto There’s different approaches. If the wood itself looks nice and isn’t bowed, you can just sand it down and give a few coats of clear varnish. 

If you don’t like the wood look you can glue on a new layer of laminate like @Doxnet did.  I’d use a hand-held trim router and a laminate trim bit to follow the contours of the inner cutout and the outside edge. 

 

To finish the edge itself, you can get some T-molding.  Buy the T-molding a bit wider than the actual table edge. Use a T-molding router bit, you can cut a slot along the outer edge, install the the T-molding and the cut off the overhang with a sharp knife.

Here's an example of a table I made this way. Mine used new plywood, but there's no reason you can't use this approach with an existing plywood table top.

 

 

 

Awe your technical skill set and knowledge is always helpful and produce stunning result.