Restoring a Duncan Phyfe-Style Writing Desk

When a refurbishing project crosses my path, I listen to what the client’s requests are. After taking inspection of the project, there comes to mind a host of questions before ever working on the item. Repairing the item based on sight or conversing with obvious questions to the owner is just the beginning of providing a solution. There are additional concerns that will help the project restoration. Understanding the connection of the piece to the client, such as what the item means to them; what the environment will be in its placement and surroundings; and attaining a clearer perception of the history, as well as the heritage of the piece; can also be important.

This desk was passed down from a deceased family member and sat in a basement until it was needed for a work from home time period. The initial idea was to clean it up and decide to either paint it with a flare of current upcycling style, or restore the natural look of the wood, as the client was not yet sure as to where the desk would be used. I offered to look into its value first, based on its history, before making a final decision.

Reproductions may be constructed of a single type of wood, whereas antiques were often constructed using multiple types of wood due to scarcity and expense. Reproductions tend to have consistent signs of wear, while authentic antiques will have varying degrees of wear due to years of use. However, this unit was mostly surface worn from sitting in a damp environment.

After cleaning it up along with some initial sanding, I found the desk had no markings, stampings, or brandings. The construction consisted of Mahogany and mixed wood species. The drawers had dovetail construction, and the entire assembly, although very dry, seemed to be sturdy and quite solid. Two of the console-styled legs were loose with single heavy bolt attachments.

The desktop had three framed insets from previous leather upholstery material, which were no longer present, and a small corner surface area was warped, seemingly raised from dampness or water. Nothing that a bit of sanding time wouldn’t take care of.

At this point, the desk owner had a choice: a finished aesthetic of different wood shades due to original construction using several woods or a more even color achieved by using a General Finishes Pre-Stain first to help blend her choice of stain application. The lightest area to consider blending was the inset desktop and the two drop lip drawer areas.

Taking the desk outside, I applied two additional final coats. Let us spray….

The old maple leaf-shaped drawer pulls were replaced with new pulls. The existing drawer pull screw holes were a larger diameter than the new pull screws, which would have too much gap for the handle to possibly loosen and shift over time through use. I filled all of the previous screw holes with wood dowels followed by gluing and re-drilling for the new handles with smaller diameter screws. The desk drawers consisted of three flat exterior drawers and five curved surface drawers. The bottom right drawer extrinsically looked like two separate drawers, but was actually one deep drawer with two handle pulls. Finding drawer pulls that had curved posts to match the curved drawer exterior profile was difficult. The solution I used, was to grind the flat pull post backs to match the curved drawer surface. I drilled countersink holes to the interior drawer backs, so that the screw heads would lay flat to the surface.

If you have projects to refurb, be sure to check out all of the finishing options and accessories from your local Woodcraft store and online at woodcraft.com. Our expert staff can certainly assist you in Helping You Make Wood Work as we create together.