A little cedar writing desk followed me home ...

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A fairly simple little desk. Around 1860 I'm guessing.
This will be moving into the house when completed so it can replace some of the last Ikea/chipboard/plywood/MDF pieces of furniture that we have.
The top was originally nailed on. The nail holes were filled with a plaster filler and coated with the heavy red oxide stain that was popular at the time .
I'm not sure how I'll re-attach the top yet, as the nail holes are too big to hold and I'm reluctant to reposition the nails (thus creating more nail holes to fill).
Maybe pocket screws.
There's a lot of plaster filler, oxide stain and white paint in the grain, so It'll need a good scrub.

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Here's the one original draw that it came with. I'll have to build another one to match.

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There's some damage on one of the leg turnings that I'll have to address. Too much damage to be called character
I'll splice in a couple of pieces of cedar and either turn it back in the lathe, or carve it.

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Here's the top. An avant-garde mix of sump oil and black ink/dye/paint.
I'm hoping to scrub most of it out, but I'll plane it off if I have to.
I'll plug the big nail holes with cedar plugs.

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I have the desk apart now. I'll start cleaning it all soon.

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[Pat]

RedThumb, I'd attach the top to the framework with buttons. 1 each end and 2 each stretcher. Either disassemble the carcass and route the dado or use a Biscuit joiner to cut the slots, site specific.

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RedThumb, I'd attach the top to the framework with buttons. 1 each end and 2 each stretcher. Either disassemble the carcass and route the dado or use a Biscuit joiner to cut the slots, site specific.

Buttons would work.

It's all apart now and I could easily plow (I'd use a plane), or chisel a groove in the rails.
The top's quite cupped and I'll need some force to hold it down. I'd probably have to use 2 each end as well as the 2 on the stretchers.
Buttons are also great for allowing movement in the top.

I'll have a think on this.

Cheers

[Pat]

If it is that warped, thought maybe given to ripping into 125mm boards, jointing with a 7 or 8, unless it is one single slab/board. If it is one slab/board, joint it the best you can.

Stanley No 71 is a great tool for the dado , I do have a 55, but the 71 with the fence and 1/4" knife is still my weapon of choice

Quieter than the screamers as well.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

The top's quite cupped and I'll need some force to hold it down. I'd probably have to use 2 each end as well as the 2 on the stretchers.Buttons are also great for allowing movement in the top.I'll have a think on this.Cheers

One way to fix a cupped table top is to wet your lawn on a sunny day and place the tabletop, top down on the grass, and let the warm sun and moisture take out the cupping. Don't get the grass too saturated though as you dont want to weaken the animal glue joining the boards (if more than one board). Then seal the straightened top on both sides with shellac.Good restoration removes as little as possible and adds as little as possible so I would caution against ripping the top and rejoining. Apart from anything else you lose a series of kerfs and end up with a smaller top that does not look antique.

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If it is that warped, thought maybe given to ripping into 125mm boards, jointing with a 7 or 8, unless it is one single slab/board. If it is one slab/board, joint it the best you can.

The top is one piece, so I'm not going to rip it. I have in the past, using a backsaw, undercut some rips (10 mm or so into the underside of the board) along a badly cupped top to get it to sit down a bit.
It's not really that bad. Nailing down would work (but I'm reluctant because of new holes), or pocket screws should pull it down. There's enough meat in the top for this. I've been thinking about buttons, but they were never used in this period (not that I've seen anyway).

One way to fix a cupped table top is to wet your lawn on a sunny day and place the tabletop, top down on the grass, and let the warm sun and moisture take out the cupping. Don't get the grass too saturated though as you dont want to weaken the animal glue joining the boards (if more than one board). Then seal the straightened top on both sides with shellac.Good restoration removes as little as possible and adds as little as possible so I would caution against ripping the top and rejoining. Apart from anything else you lose a series of kerfs and end up with a smaller top that does not look antique.

The top is one piece, and it's going to stay that way
I have used the same (lay it on the lawn, or even concrete) technique to straighten newer cupped boards. It's worked quite a few times. This top is over 150 years old and I don't think it's going to want to go in any direction other than it's current state. It's not too bad. I'm confident that I can pull it down mechanically. I will seal both sides probably just before I attach it (while it's still a bit moist).

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I did some cleaning this morning.

The drawer face before and after.
There is some grain there

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The drawer bottom and sides.
I love the way the maker has used up bits of scrap cedar to make up the drawer bottom. It gives me an excuse to use up bits and pieces when I build the new drawer.
You can see the pieces I've added to the drawer sides to build up the runners.
Second pic is the cleaned drawer bottom face.

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The side rails. One is filthy one is clean. Can you tell which is which?

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Some pieces had a lot of paint deep in the grain.
I had to use stripper and a good scrub multiple times.

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I need to fix the chewed out leg next.
While the glue's hot, I'll glue the drawer together.

[jcge]

I've a similar single drawer table in the same condition - I'm watching and learning
Thanks for posting this
Regards
John

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Here's some of the plaster filler I need to dig out. This section is at the front and will be seen.
I'll splice in a cedar piece.
Before and after. I've also flattened the section of chewed out leg in order to glue on a new piece before shaping.

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I had some warm hide glue bubbling away, so I glued up the original drawer.

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I'll glue in the patches when I get some more time in the shed.

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I cut and glued in some patches last night.

On the top of the leg ...

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And on the turning ...

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Here's the result after some carving and sanding.

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I always do the patching before the cleaning so that the colour of the new pieces blend with the old shellac and dirt.

[Christos]

Really enjoying the work in progress on this one.

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I built the new case runners and started the glue up today.

Here's the old runners and guides. Quite worn and will need to be replaced. I normally try and reuse what I can. Often turning them upside down, but because of the tenon position this is not possible here.

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I was able to get the marking gauge settings easily from the old runners for the tenons.

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This is just the dry fit to make sure the runners and guides sit properly.

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Ready for the glue up.
It took me about half a day to clean the legs. Scrubbing away the old paint and stain. I had to pick a lot of paint out of the grain with a scribe.

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The runners/guides and the table ends are now glued.
I was able to use the original rose-head nails to put the runners together.

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Next job is to scrub the top and see how clean I can get it

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One more thing achieved today was the pockets for the pocket screws.
I decided to run with this method to attach the top.

The old way.
Chisel, gouge, eggbeater and a countersink bit.

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I haven't had a chance to clean the top yet.
I sliced my finger open with a freshly sharpened tenon saw on Saturday, and after bandaging it up, and not having any man-sized rubber gloves in the house, I was restricted to 'dry' work .

Day one was the first part of the glue up.

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Day two I glued in the front top rail and the drawer divider block. The block was originally only nailed in. I couldn't find any traces of glue.
I used a couple of dabs of glue to keep it in position prior to nailing. This will make it easier to nail and it made it easier to check the drawer size and to square it up.

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All that's left is cleaning the top and making a drawer now. The drawer needs to be completed before I install the case runners.
Off to the shops to buy some rubber gloves (although I can make the drawer when I find some time).

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I didn't have much time in the shed this weekend.
I did manage to get the drawer pieces dimensioned, marked out and drilled. I haven't cut the dovetails yet.

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I haven't installed the case drawer runners yet (I've checked everything with a clamped dry fit). I've set the original nails with the tips protruding which makes it easier to check that they are missing the original nails holes. It also makes it easier to position them when it comes time to install. I drilled pilot holes for the nails to avoid splitting. They will be glued as well.

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The drawer knobs are turned and ready to be polished.

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