Leather Topped Vintage Dental Table

I recently won an antique dental table from a local on-line auction.  It was AWESOME, except for the top.   I couldn't even tell what the top was (or if it were -gag- blood-stained). It turns out that it was felt, and the reddish areas were the true color of the felt.

Fortunately the lovely oak with the great patina was only a "frame" to the pine with the felt glued on.  You can see that by removing the oak "frame" (carefully) I was able to sand the felt off of the pine surface without touching the outside oak. 

I had saved a small piece of thin upholstery leather for such a time as this.  I knew that I wanted to "upholster" the naked pine piece with the leather.  After cutting the leather to size I used spray rubber cement on both the back of the leather and on the pine top.  After letting them both dry separately I pressed them together (you only get one shot at this, so be careful!)

I cut niches out on the corners so that when it was folded under it wouldn't bunch up -- the oak "frame" fit pretty tightly around the pine rectangle.  Then I folded the extra leather under the pine and pushed in some tacks to hold it in place. 

Then the scary moment --- was the oak piece still going to fit over the pine?  YES, success.  Mostly.  One corner was a little bunchy had to be cut with an exacto knife.

Really the whole thing only took about 1.5 hours, and for me that is a quickie project.  Especially for such a beautiful result.  Sold at the 2017 Platte City Antique Show for $85.