Secretary's Desk

Darren Wright

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Springfield, Missouri
Have a new project to start for my wife. It's a secretary's desk that my sister had picked up somewhere and gave to us recently.
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No veneers, looks to be solid mahogany and popular, but not fine woodworking. It's joined mostly with dados, rabbets, glue, and nails nothing fancy, so won't feel too bad about painting it once the repairs are done.
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It's got a few repairs to be done. Looks as if it sat in a wet basement for a few years. One of the front legs was broke off and the other side was warped, coming loose. Also had a couple of hole in the top where it looked like they must have had a book case screwed to the top. The pigeon hole was sitting inside, unattached, it was once glued to the bottom side of the top.
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I'm mostly curious if it was a home shop built project or or mass produced at one time, couldn't find any numbers, labels, or writing on it anywhere. The hinges and drop supports were stamped with Stanley, Made in USA, but nothing on the stamped drawer pulls
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I do plan to leave the drawers and inside the desk unpainted, just a stained and varnished look for those. Outside will be painted black to match our kitchen cabinets and such.
 

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Very nice Darren, i have always wanted one of those. Guess with the small pcs now they becoming more practicle.:thumb:

You gonna paint it:eek: thats kinda sad its gonna take away its mystery.:(
 
I finally finished up this project last night.

I didn't do a fine finish on it, simply patched up any cracks and holes, gave it a quick sanding and left any previous dings, then my wife rattle can painted it. It left it with a pretty antiqued look, which is what she wanted.

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I did take the time to tape off around the front edge of the drawers as the old finish was pretty good on these and the pigeon holes in the upper part.
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I put all the original hardware back on with the exception of a couple of spacer washers on the lid support and some new felt feet.
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She was happy with it. ;) :thumb:
 

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I like it. Looks nice and has that "I wasn't made yesterday out of engineered materials in a foreign country and put into a flat pack and shipped halfway around the planet to a store where everything has these weird names and even stranger assembly instructions" type of thing. :thumb: :rofl:
 
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