Rolltop desks

[Kizar_Sozay]

Anyone ever take one apart?

My daughter was gifted one with a pretty tired finish on it.  Its a pretty decent one that's solid red oak (heavy) with some really crappy looking door fronts and slides.  Desk sits on eight casters. She comes over and its a daughter/dad project.  After it was delivered I got curious and went on the facebook marketplace and searched.  There are tons of them and cheap.  One, just a few blocks away was in the color she wanted (dark) and had some nice features like brass pulls on the small drawers, the kind with the space for a label and had some nice carvings and fretwork. Priced at $75.  We went to look at it and it was as nice as shown.  Problem was it would have to be disassembled to get it out of the room it was in.

We grabbed some tools and four of us started taking the top off.  What a puzzle. We found half a dozen screws across the back but nothing moved when taken out.  Then we discovered two screws inside vertical slots like for file folders.  Too narrow for a screw gun so it was a phillips with half a turn, regrip, repeat.  After about half an hour we discovered the part with the cubbies and pigeonholes didn't lift off.  It was a separate assembly that slid out.  That done the search continued.  Long story short, as we got it half way apart, I was getting discouraged because a lot of the 'what you don't see' was masonite, MDF, and the case was veneered lumber core ply.  At that point I decided I'd keep my $75 and, to the seller's amazement, drove away.

This last weekend, now that we were pros, we started on her desk.  10 screws, six inside drawer spaces, got the top off.  Then the puzzle began.  Probably removed a dozen screws hidden under stapled strips around the inside of the perimeter.  The perimeter was loose but there were two vertical shelf brackets that wouldn't move.  Got underneath in the kneehole and in the drawer spaces looking for screws.  Finally, decided there were staples.  We pried up the verticals and yup, there they were.  The insides of the upper had been fastened to the desktop prior to assembling to top to the base.  The staples were directly under the sides of the kneeholes.  Pried loose, clipped the staple ends and nail set them.  Now the rolling part gets a life of its own and every twitch of the top sends it off sliding every which way.
Finally apart, the sanding got easy or at least easier.  I sent her home with the rolltop part, some sandpaper, a couture block and a dremel tool with mandrel and tiny sanding discs. 

Next, the ugly drawer fronts will be removed on the bandsaw.  They are glued on. I'm going to put a channel in the slot in the sawtop to keep it level as I pass the drawers through. Then put a new front on the box part and make new oak fronts.  Then we put in rails for seven full extension slides with some kind of period drawer pulls or maybe just cut an arc in the top of the drawer front to serve as a "handle".

From there, stain, seal, finish.  Then we start on the wooden desk chair.

Anyway, if you like puzzles, there are tons of rolltops out there.  Saw another one for sale for $25 desk and chair.  Looked decent but the finish was worn and peeling.

[fredhargis]

We had a newer rolltop that my wife bought in the mid 90s. This thing was huge (desktop was 30"x60") and was made for the computers of that era. It must have weighted 4-500#, and when we moved I managed to get the top off so the movers could deal with the rest of it. I swore if we moved again it was coming out with the help of a chainsaw. Welp, we did move again and I was told we really needed to bring the desk with us, no chainsaw. So we moved it a second time, even though by now computers had become the Imac style tat just looked like a small TV on a stand. Last year I made a replacement desk, one more accommodating to the new computer design, and I finally got rid of that desk. The reason it weighted so much was that every piece (except the drawers) was veneered MDF and I was in disbelief that it was such a piece of crap. This was a USA made desk and wasn't cheap (in price). I had hoped to save some of the "wood" to re-use.....only there wasn't any. Every piece of it went to the burn pile, except the plastic parts that went to the landfill.

[hcbph]

Till I retired, I did repairs for a number of refinishing shops, including probably dozens or more roll top desks.  Most were reassembly or minor repairs, but some required substantial parts replacements due to missing parts.  Some were partially disassembled while others were just a box of parts.  I've worked on some that probably were early 1800's to current timeframe.  Other than newer factory made desks you're unlike to find any 2 that are the same so you'll have to research each by itself.
Probably 1/2 of the units I worked on were either partially or completely apart before I ever saw them.
I was able to eventually get them together, but only because I had an idea what all the pieces and parts were for.  The locking mechanisms were perplexing, but the locking hidden drawers were worse.

[Stwood_]

You can do mine when yer done with yours.

Mine was my Grandfathers, who acquired it from a HS office. Some of the markings indicate 1940's.........

Mine looks like someone practiced sawing and hacking on it during their first year woodshop class.