Restoring a Jelkes Table

[bayleaf]

Hi everyone,
this is my first post. I hope its in the right slot.
Can anyone help me on a restoration project. 5 years ago I sold my fully restored Oak Jelkes Bar Billiard Table..much to my regret. Anyway I have got my hand on an oak Jelkes cabinet without turned legs. Also the top frame and cracked slate
What I need is one of you bright sparks in the know who can give me the dimensions on the leg length and the width of the top square part and if possible a top shot photo of the fitting inside the cabinet. Can anyone help please.

Thank

Bayleaf

[barbelman]

Hi Phil

I'm sure the leg length and diameter will not be a problem (anyone got a home table they can measure for him please?) or I'll take a tape down the pub on Tuesday and measure one!

As to the other part of the question, I am a little confused as to what you mean?  Do you mean the coarse wooden thread that inserts into the main body of the table.  I'm not sure what the "top square part" you are referring is!

Tony

The "top square part" to which Bayleaf refers would be the "boxwood insert". The dimensions of the legs on a Jelkes are 52 cm tall for the leg and then another 24 cm for the corner of the frame, inside which slots a boxwood insert made of harder wood as it has to accept the wooden thread turned at the top of the leg.

I've found this from Sav under table maintenance which describes the boxwood inserts and goes on to explain the problems caused by constant screwing and unscrewing and erstwhile mishandling by impatiently dragging a table across a floor !

Jul 11, 2010 9:19:44 GMT Chris_Sav said:

Minor Damage To Leg Threads on Tables.

If the male threads on the legs have been damaged these are easy to repair with fibreglass filler. Coat the damaged area with fibreglass filler and cut new threads with a suitably sized oval file. Make sure the leg screws easily into the socket or you risk damage to the socket if you force the leg home.

If the damage is to the female socket damage it’s not so easy to repair. The female socket is a boxwood insert that can be removed from the leg. The boxwood insert can be glued back together, and reinserted into the leg with packing if necessary.

The earlier oak tables are particularly susceptible to Leg thread damage as oak was not a suitable word for cutting threads in. If the male thread is damaged beyond repair then this is a specialist job. The post will need to be drilled out and a replacement wooden post glued in its place. Do not use a metal bar as this cannot be successfully glued in place. The only way to anchor a metal bar is to drill through the leg and bar and put a restraining bolt through both.

If the legs are of the round oak type, the old 3 1/2 threads per inch cannot be cut from scratch as no cutter is currently available. The octagonal leg tables have a slightly slimmer post and four threads per inch. A 32mm cutter for this thread is available from This German company.

Sav

What we really need is some photos, I did see some once that Sav had put up here, but can't for the life of me find them now !

tommo

[bayleaf]

Thanks for the help Tony & Tommo ( Clive ). Thanks for the dimensions .The cabinet I have the does not have the boxwood (the square section), sorry I didn't make myself clear...its both parts that are missing X 4. I will have to get some legs turned including the top section and screw thread. I guess its fitted into the cabinet by having it notched out around the cabinet box . That's why I need to look from the top. I saw part of it on someones photo on recovering. Its going to be a big job. I will put some photos up later.

Bayleaf

[bayleaf]

I have just checked the measurement of the cabinet and the top part...they are not the same size. I have made a big mess.
The oak cabinet 63 x 27.75 inches.. C648. The top lower part is 70 x 32.5
I guess I also have the top part of a Sams wide table 38x73 inches I guess mahogany.
I bought them as a job lot thinking I could refurb the cabinet and top..wrong
I have to step back on this project now or keep collecting bits lol

Bayleaf

That's a great shame as from what you say the two main constituents of your 'kit of parts' are incompatible in size.

As a word of consolation, it is possible to get a fully functional table out of two separate makes, have a look at this webpage of a firm which still deals (in a limited capacity) in Kent:

www.bar-billiards.com/product.cfm

The bottom picture of the two shows what we call a "SAMS-ised Jelkes" - still with the Jelkes screw-in legs but with a shortened slate and low backboard more in keeping with a SAMs.

The two pictures demonstrate the contrast between the two makes - the SAMs in the top picture having square legs going all the way up and bolting into the corners of the cabinet.

tommo