Thinking of getting a Saarinen dining table with black base and light oak wood veneer top for use as an informal dining table in a kitchen. This will replace a glass top table. The present table has a few minor scratches on it and I am concerned about scratching the wood veneer (don't want marble or laminate top). Has anyone had any experience with these veneer topped tables in terms of their toughness. What would you think about placing a glass top on such a table. Would that damage the finish over time? Thanks.
Well.........
There are little rubber pads you can put between the glass and the table top to keep the glass from moving and it won't damage the veneer. If protecting your investment is a concern glass is a good idea. A kitchen is a high traffic area, drinks get spilled, food falls. All of this is bad news for wood furniture you intend to keep in pristine condition. If you already have scratches on your current table it's likely you will damgae your new one. I agree, the glass top does take something away from the table. However, glass is better than a table cloth!
Wood finish for kitchen
A good rubbed oil varnish finish is about as durable as the poly coating Knoll uses today. I've refinished all my Knoll tulip tables this way and put cold wet drinks and hot coffee on them all the time and they look flawless. The trick is rubbing on the varnish so you get very thin coats. This way you can put on a lot of coats for good protection but it doesn't have that plastic looks of painted on varnish. I mix my own varnish for rubbing but I think you can buy it too.
KNOLL=durable poly finish
don't even worry about that. knoll's original finish could last more than a lifetime. as long as you are not abusive to the woods finish it will surely give you many years of happy results.
follow knoll's care directions and life can be beautiful.
although i find paste wax (johnson's) makes the wood very happy.
Vintage Knoll wood finish
Knoll has only used the polymer coat on wood fairly recently. In the 70's & 80's I believe they were using a high quality varnish which can discolor with age and exposure to sun. Prior to that the wood tops had just an oil finish that, by now, has completely evaporated. If it's got the polymer coat it's fairly new and won't be a bargain.
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