deconstruction

we got a few items from a large national organic food retailer recently.  one of the things was a wooden display table of some sort.  it looks nice.  i was told that i could get rid of it or do what i wanted with it, since it's takes up a lot of space and isn't likely to sell.  so i took it apart.

and it smelled like patchouli

the thing is heavy.  everything on this is made of veneered MDF except for the top piece which is a solid piece of...something.  cherry?  i'm not sure but it was worth taking it for the top.

underside.  kickass trim work.  will make a nice card table or something...

after the finished top came of an army of screws that had to come out.  below is what the finished top was mounted on, with nothing more that a tight fit.

neat little soldiers of tedium

everything was held together with dowels and screws.  no glue.  

i tried to save all the shelves because the trim work is so nice.  mdf is just wood fiber combined with resin, wax, and high pressure.  strong over an area but weak at a focused point.  the dowel ripped it.  

no worries though

moving right along...

easy does it....

i saved all the shelves.  somebody put a lot of work into those and they can be used for something.  quite stunning actually...

and the aftermath:

not sure what i'm going to do with the good pieces.  the useable bits are the top and the shelves, everything else went in the trash.  everything reeked of patchouli.  linseed oil should take care of that...