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Project Information

A colleague at work asked if there was any chance to save this desk inherited from a relative.

I did not see the desk at first. He explained how the top was warped and the thing was wobbly so I suggested since he just moved it into the house, give it some time to adjust to the humidity.

No go, there was no change observed so I said I'll have a look and see what could be done. I said I would try to keep is as original as possible.

Initial checks showed it was all solid white oak except for the drawer (red oak, maple, pine, ???).

With my best Gomer accent, "Surprise, surprise, surprise"!

The Top

The top was completely potato chipped. The base was all M&T construction that looked to have been nailed through every joint at one time to strengthen it. The wood was all solid oak except for a few parts and I figured the joints had just experienced glue failure. The piece looked fairly old and they really wanted to keep it as a memory so I decided to take it on.

First inspection showed the top was warped over 1/2". The top was made from several 3/4" planks glued together, then a lip was created round the rim to add the appearance of thickness. The problem, at least in part, was caused by cross grain strips glued to the underside to create this rim on the ends of the top. Several more cross grain supports were screwed down underneath, no accounting for wood movement anywhere.



The top looked to be made from some nice wood, all rift sawn except for one odd piece on the edge which was flat grain. I could see linear sanding scratches so I knew this went through a drum sander at a cabinet shop/factory. The color was also a bit different so this part had to be added at a later date.

I sawed the top apart at the joints and ran everything through the drum sander. They used a lot of biscuits!
Each board ended up losing about 3/16" of thickness, down to a tad above 5/8"
Edges were squared and I selected a new piece to make up for the saw kerfs and get rid of the oddball slat.

All glued back up:


I routed a flat border and properly affixed a new rim to thicken up the edge.

Some Iron

The base was riddled with nails. Not as a fix in my opinion, but as the main way to hold it all together. I couldn't really tell if any glue was ever used for the aprons.


At least they countersunk the finish nails and there were no hammer face "kisses" when the standard head nails were hammered home. Someone took some care!

These were a royal pain to remove, but I got it done

Loose Fitting Joints

The reason for the wobble was clear, mortises were about 3/8" wide, drilled with what appears to be a brad point bit. Maybe done on a drill press, they were mostly all in a row. I used a 1/2" router bit to try and clean these up and equalize their locations:


The tenons were at most 1/4" thick. No wonder they were so loose 8^)


The foot rest was poplar and the first sign of glue was on dowels drilled in through the lower aprons, probably with the thought that would actually help.

With all the old, split wood, toasted tenons, etc. I replaced everything on the base with fresh parts excluding the legs.
It was satisfying to "fix" things like the sloppy drawer cutout (forth intro photo).



A custom mix of TransTints and precat lacquer was used for the finish.

The drawer was really f*ed up, twisted and the guides were at different heights on each side. It had a ship lapped bottom so I preserved the face and replicated the design but used box joints instead of butt joints. I kept to red oak for this.








Thanks for looking!

Gallery

Comments

· Registered
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4,286 Posts
Well done.

Wood lasts, metal doesn't.

Good to see new life from old wood.
 

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4,502 Posts
Thanks MM, With this desk coming from a moist environment (I'd assume 8^) I'd rather deal with warped wood then rusty, pitted metal
 

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7,336 Posts
Looks to me like you pretty much built a new desk. Nicely done!
 

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521 Posts
Whoa, nice refurbish. Cool man…...
 

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Thanks Dave, Jack!
Basically it is new 8^)

It would have been easier to just start over, but I did manage to salvage the legs, top, and drawer face, the rest heated my shop 8^)
 

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2,443 Posts
Great save! It is now good for another hundred+ years.
 

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Great save! It is now good for another hundred+ years.

- AandCstyle
I did remember to record the mix of TransTint dyes so I can match the results when that time arrives 8^)
 

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18,919 Posts
nice rebuild splint that thing was in terrible shape,reminds me of a piano bench i fixed for friend that was repaired horribly.
 

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Most excelently done, Bruce!! That is a RESTORATION…..............nice work on it….........Cheers, Jim
 

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Thanks Jim!
It was hard to figure on what to try and save and what to burn, OCD kicking in 8^)
 

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5,101 Posts
Great restoration, beautiful craftsmanship
 

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I'd say nice save…. but it was more like nice rebuild of the entire thing. Well done. I do like the style of the little desk, so good job preserving the original design.
 

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Thanks Eric, Swirt.

I d say nice save…. but it was more like nice rebuild of the entire thing. Well done. I do like the style of the little desk, so good job preserving the original design.

- swirt
Yeah, not even a rebuild really. More like a replica that borrowed some wood from the scrap pile of some old furniture like object 8^)
 

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497 Posts
A SUPER SAVE from the trash bin. Your colleague owes you big time
 

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Looks great. Nice to keep as much as possible and reproduce the overall appearance (although with a nice flat top now!). How long do you estimate it took? Quite a project!!
 

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Thanks Mike, BB!

I spent a small part of 6 weekends, mostly waiting for finishes to cure with the cold weather.
 

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That thing looks new Splinter.
You saw something in the hot mess that others would over look.
Nice to have talented friends! (8>{}

I may have missed it in the story but how were the legs constructed? Solid or veneer?
 

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Thanks James. The legs are solid (4/4 stock was used I assume) I was a little bummed because they had really nice flecking, but these faces were the ones that they cut the mortises into (they must have thought the flecking was a defect 8^)

It was all solid wood, just built "not to last".
 
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