The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING
CLERGYMAN’S DESK
Figure 514 shows a clean, timeless example in solid English oak designed and made by Kenneth Marshall for Pauntley Church. Gloucestershire, England. 515 illustrates a similar design but uses solid frame and panel construction for the ends.
Solid wood must always be considered the right and appropriate material for church work, and anything else but a poor substitute, particularly in older buildings.
LECTERNS
Two forms of lectern are shown in 516, while 517 gives details of adjustable lecterns where both the height and the angle of the top can be varied. Figure 517:1 shows a variable height top with a boxed-up standard and a 11/4 in (32 mm) central shaft a sliding fit. The movement is controlled by a brass spring plunger engaging in a series of brass sockets let into the central shaft at I1/2 in (38 mm) intervals. In 517:2 the counterweight principle as applied to sliding sash-windows is employed for larger lecterns. The central shaft is slotted to pass freely over a small V2 in (12.5 mm) pulley fixed to a spindle which rides in brass socket bearings let into the sides of the standard. A length of piano wire is attached to the base of the shaft, looped round the pulley and secured to a suitable weight below. These cast-iron cylindrical sash weights are obtainable in a range of weights, but a more exact method is to weigh the complete top and shaft and cast an equivalent amount of scrap lead in a suitable container, embedding a metal hasp for the piano wire at the time of casting. This gives finger-tip control, but the movement must be capable of being locked in any position by inserting a length of metal strip in the side of the shaft, with a brass thumb-screw passing through the side of the standard. A series of holes can be drilled in the metal strip to form locations for the screw. Figure 517:3 shows an adjustable hinged top with the angle of tilt controlled with two brass stays and locking wing nuts.
514 Priest's chair and desk, Pauntley, Gloucestershire, England; designer-maker: Kenneth Marshall
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515 Clergyman's desk details |
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520 Lectern in English brown oak for Liberian Senate House, Monrovia (1952). Designed by Ernest Joyce MSI A. Author's workshops |
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519 Adjustable table lectern with centre pillar. Author's workshops |
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521 & 522 Lectern in oak and ebony with sycamore inlays for St Stephen's, Old Ford, Bow, London, by David Field: photos by Frank Thurston |
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523 & 524 A pair of oak doors and frames for a Devon church, under construction in the workshop of David Savage, 1986 |
