Picked up a TV swivel table today, but what kind is it?

[Kamakiri]

I swear I've seen this style before but I can't place it. Used to be mahogany, someone refinished it. Doesn't appear to have ever had an antenna in it.

Is it universal, or was it manufactured for a certain set?

[oldtvsandtoy]

I would say it's universal, I have had a few, one came with a rca and one with a philco

Originally Posted by Kamakiri

I swear I've seen this style before but I can't place it. Used to be mahogany, someone refinished it. Doesn't appear to have ever had an antenna in it.

Is it universal, or was it manufactured for a certain set?

[Eric H]

I would think universal also. No tags on the underside?

[wa2ise]

Pretty sure I have a table just like that around here somewheres. I never made the connection to having a TV atop it to swivel it... I don't think it went with any particular brand of TV.

[Kamakiri]

Originally Posted by Eric H

I would think universal also. No tags on the underside?

No such luck. I can tell that it was mahogany at one time, so I figured that if there were any tags on it, they ended up casualties of the refinishing.

[decojoe67]

There's was many of those generic swivel TV tables produced in the '40's and '50's. It's much harder to find one's that were made specifically for a certain set. Many of those had styling that matched with the set.

[Steve D.]

Here's an example of a generic swivel TV table from 1953. Looks a bit similar to yours.

-Steve D.

[earlyfilm]

It looks generic to me. They were often made to match a specific brand of sets. They were were less expensive than the factory ones. Many, including mine, came apart for shipping.

The most expensive tables were made of good veneer on plywood, with the plywood edges masked.

The less expensive, but well made, tables were made of real wood. Unfortunately, over time the tops of those tables warped. The one that I have, the top was cupped at least 3/4 inch when I got it with an RCA 721. The top measures 20 x 22 inches and it was a poor fit for the 65 pound set. I removed the lazy-Susan and just placed the warped top, unfastened on the base, to think about how to straighten it.

About that time, my wife wanted to store some unread magazines, so I just moved the table to the far corner of my basement, covered the top of the table with wax paper and made stack of the magazines about 18 inches high and forgot about it. That was two years ago, and magazines are still unread.

Tim's post reminded me of that warped top, so I went down to check and, much to my surprise, the top is now completely flat! I may varnish the bottom to limit the moisture in the top shifting with the weather, and hope the warp stays away.

The table in the picture is quite inexpensively made, except for the use of 7 ply (5 structural and two decorative) plywood on the top (and sides rails) and it only has a very minor warp.

Looks to me like someone used a commercial stripper on your table and then smoothed the grain with sandpaper and tried to refinish, not realizing that remains of the original finish had penetrated the wood. This caused the Mahogany stain they used to not penetrate and it came up way too light and uneven.

Example:
Look at the stain run, directly under a brush stroke, on the bottom side in the first picture.

Since no one wants to see plywood grain, especially end grain, the original finish would not have been transparent. The edges probably were first painted to either match or contrast match the final finish, and then lacquered over. This would have hidden the end grain.

James