The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING
Office desks
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gives details of the purpose-made brass handles with turned stems and brazed-on plates out of 31/6 in (5 mm) brass, with the facets filed away and machine buffed. Two steel pins are drilled in either side of the screw tapped into the stem to prevent the handle turning. The final polish to the desk shown was one coat of hard lacquer steel-wooled and matt waxed. 11/8 |
With the exception of senior executives' desks, which are purposely more ornate for prestige purposes, office desks are simply constructed and to a fairly standard pattern. Figure 407:1 gives a representative example with the flat side frames of 2 in (50 mm) by 11/8 in (28.5 mm) or 11/4 in (32 mm) stock, mortised and tenoned or dowelled together, with a 3/4 in (19 mm) stretcher rail stub tenoned in. The stout top of in (28.5 mm) solid blockboard, or 5/8 in
407 Office desk details
(16 mm) plywood thicknessed up on the outer edges, is secured to the frames by gluing and screwing; while the separate pedestal unit with 3/4 in (19 mm) sides, recessed top, bottom and drawer rails, etc. and onset drawers, firmly screwed to the side frame and the top, is usually sufficient to ensure overall rigidity. A small vee or double chamfer can be worked round the top lower edge and edge framing as 407:2. Standard sizes for this type of desk are usually 4 ft (122 cm) by 2 ft 6 in (76 cm) wide and 2 ft 5 in (74 cm) high, while 407:3, 4 and 5 show 5 ft (152 cm) long variations. As these latter have double pedestals the lower stretcher rail can be dispensed with provided the top is strong enough to prevent any sagging action. Executive desks standing isolated usually have an apron front to hide the knees (407:4), which is merely a sheet of veneered blockboard, etc. either overhanging the frames or inset between them (407:6, 7), and screwed in position through the back of the pedestals.
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409 & 410 (left & below) Writing desk in solid rosewood and cherry. Designed and made by Desmond Ryan |
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410 (left) Desmond Ryan's writing desk, seen from the front |
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408 Print chest with adjustable top covered in black leather. Chest in Rio rosewood with two drawers. (HRH Duke of Edinburgh's Prize for elegant design 1962.) Designed by R. DT Russell RDI. Author's workshops |
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412 & 413 (opposite) A quiet but distinctive piece in applewood with sycamore interior. Writing bureau, designed and made by Christopher Faulkner |
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411 (above) A desk and chair in cherrywood and green leather. Designed by John Makepeace |
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414 A detail shot illustrating the type of recessed finger pull also used for the flaps and drawers in the writing bureau by Christopher Faulkner on the previous page |
415 Writing table and boxes, 1985. Natural and ebonized ash; ebony details. By Rod Wales
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416 Writing desk with chair. Size 4 ft x 2 ft x 2ft 8 in (1200 x 600 x 812 mm) high. Frame and drawers in macassar ebony with tops and stretcher |
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frame in American black walnut. Drawer and box interiors in Canadian Rock Maple. Made in Martin Grierson's workshop by Robin Furlong |
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418 Roll top bureau in mahogany with sycamore interior. Designed and made by Paul Morgan, Shrewsbury College of Art and Technology |
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417 Drop front bureau in cherry. Designed and made by Michael Yeomans, Shrewsbury College of Art and Technology |
