100+ Year Old Larkin Desk

[Larry Buskirk]

I'll start this off with an ad from the 1905 Larkin Co. Premium List Catalog which can be browsed here.

https://archive.org/details/1905-larkin-co-premium-list-bflo-ny/mode/2up

The ad that shows the desk is on page 36.

Yesterday I fought with getting the cabinet top back together after drilling out the four broken off original 7/16" diameter dowels from the hinge section and other two pieces of the top which had come apart at the center glue line. Someone in the past had drilled different dowel holes that didn't quite line the hinge board up with the rest of the top properly.

The two sections that had come apart were cupped in opposite directions making things a bit more fun. 

Here's a few views of the top in clamps which I'll be leaving clamped for a couple of more days.

You'll all have to bear with me, I'm still getting used to posting from this W11 Komputator which will occupy a custom built case that will resemble an old Victrola style phonograph.

W10 was much easier to post photos from. 

The first view shows my board straightening method using two 2 x 2 oak boards.

The second shows the repair I used for the torn-out screw holes. I simply drilled and glued cross grain plugs into the holes I drilled halfway into the top.

I also had to repair two holes from that someone's attempt at repairs where they ran two longer screws through the top. I'll have to show those when I take the clamps off.

Due to the cupping in the two sections I also added a 1/2" x 1 1/2" oak cleat to help keep things aligned.

I've also been working on replacing the broken leg set for the drop leaf section using a pair of "Salvage" Oak balusters.

Not an exact match, but close enough for me. I've so far got them stripped and cut to length. I'll be using slides instead of wheels.

 

More later. 

[Gene Howe]

Fun, fun,  fun. Great old desk. Where did you find it? Is it going in your house? 

Nice work and thanks for bringing us along.

[Larry Buskirk]

6 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Fun, fun,  fun. Great old desk. Where did you find it? Is it going in your house? 

Nice work and thanks for bringing us along.

Thanks Gene.

Bruce found it "Curb Shopping" then decided it needed more work than what it was worth.

It will end up being a roll around stand for a Komputator case I'll be building that will look like an old Victrola Phonograph complete with a USB turntable (Also a "Curb Shopping find new in sealed box) a slide out from the side 22" monitor, and an all-in-one printer.

I need to get back up in Bruce's attic next door so I can dig for more goodies.  Can't do it during open hours. 

[Grandpadave52]

Great save and repurpose Larry. Tagging along for the journey. Will there be donuts during breaks? Asking for a friend.

[Cal]

Free with a $10 purchase!  I wonder what the value was pegged at new for it in 1905?

Cool project Larry, hope you keep us in the loop with your progress.

[Larry Buskirk]

6 hours ago, Cal said:

Free with a $10 purchase!  I wonder what the value was pegged at new for it in 1905?

Cool project Larry, hope you keep us in the loop with your progress.

Not sure what the value of the furniture they gave out for coupons, or a $10.00 purchase would have been. 

Kind of reminds me of the old S&H Green Stamps from when I was a kid.

I'll probably be doing two topics with this project. The desk rebuild/refinish, and the Komputator case made mostly from "Salvage" items.

Some guys recycle pallets for projects, I recycle what most people consider old basically junk furniture saving the good parts for projects.

This desk if I hadn't taken it would have been broken up and trashed. I'm sure glad Bruce asks me before he trashes these types of items.

 

Here's one of those "Salvage Items" from my last trip up into "The Attic". 

I'm sure you know where this is going. 

 

I can't imagine trying to build that, and free sure beats what I figured out to be a bit over $100.00 worth of Oak if I tried. 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2023 by Larry Buskirk

[Cal]

18 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

Some guys recycle pallets for projects, I recycle what most people consider old basically junk furniture saving the good parts for projects.

 

Good on you Larry!

What I just completed (cabinets) began as so many bed headboards from a Holiday Inn in South Carolina...

 

 

 

 

 

That corner of the garage where the headboards are stacked is the same corner where the single cabinet is by the door leading into the house.  That set now holds overflow and occasionally used kitchen items for SWMBO.  It's full of stuff already!  Crock pots, platters, cookers and such... I couldn't tell you where all that stuff was two weeks ago!!!  But I digress, the headboards saved me hundreds of dollars on this project

[Larry Buskirk]

 It would appear that my board straightening technique worked! 

You can see where I glued in a piece to fill the blowout caused by the longer screws. Still needs quite a bit of work.

And since I had the clamps freed up, I decided to assemble the leg set.

Here's the parts cut, drilled, and ready to be assembled.

And the legs glued and clamped.

Once it's out of the clamps I'll show the differences between the original, and replacement leg sets.

 

 

 

[Larry Buskirk]

@Cal Very nice, nothing wrong with used materials in my book.

I needed to get an Oak 1 x 2 for the leg set almost $6.00 for a 3' one at Menards.  

I only needed 16" and probably have one stashed away somewhere but couldn't find it. 

[DuckSoup]

 Great job on the cabinets @Cal. The advantages to having an analytical brain, some see old headboards others see cabinets.

 

12 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

Very nice, nothing wrong with used materials in my book.

 I couldn't agree more

[Larry Buskirk]

Not looking to shabby at first look. 

New leg set back.

Original leg set back.

New leg set front.

Original leg set front.

 But on second look. ...  ... 

If you can't see what I see, here's a better look. 

 

 Wonder how I did that? 

 

  Guess I'll have to come up with a "Plan B", I'm not going to take it back apart. 

 

  "Plan B" coming up,...  ...  ...  ...  ... GOT IT!!! 

 

 If I shave the stop edge off of the hinge board and add a 1/2" x 3" to the back of the top spreader board it'll work! 

 

 

[Grandpadave52]

Great save Larry as well as period match. Coming along nicely.

[Larry Buskirk]

On 8/20/2023 at 3:06 PM, Grandpadave52 said:

Great save Larry as well as period match. Coming along nicely.

Thanks Dave, guess I didn't compensate for that Dyslexia when I laid it out. That or I spun the plan around one to many times in my head. 

 

All is well though, as can be seen here.

View of the front.

View of the rear. I thought about making a filler strip for the gap created removing the original stop, but the spindle legs act as stops so decided against doing so.

I figured doing so would just create a rub spot that would wear through the finish. I didn't have a 1/2 x 3 piece so doubled up 1/4" stock. It didn't need to be the full size as it's the stop for the swing down leg support that goes into the hole at the edge of the hinge board. It's on the back side so won't really show anyway.

The original legs didn't quite go to 90° from the drop leaf top to begin with but this setup does.  

Edited August 23, 2023 by Larry Buskirk

[Larry Buskirk]

Yesterday I removed the hinge board from the drop leaf section of the top stripped and reassembled the leaf.

It also required the use of my board straightening technique as well as adding a cleat to the hinge and drop-leaf boards.

Both ends of the top were rather wavy with cups in the boards going in opposite directions.

Here's a view of the hinge board end with the added cleat. I went with the left over 1 x 2 from the leg set spreader.

This will act as a stop for the legs when they're in the closed position.

I'll also be adding a cleat at the outside end just behind where the leg set hinge board mounts. I could just mount and glue the leg set hinge board but prefer to have it removable.

Don't know how much I'll get done today, it's already "Muggley"  out there. 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Larry Buskirk

[Larry Buskirk]

Finally got a bit of time to get back to "FUN" projects! 

Yesterday afternoon I removed the back panel from the desk cabinet so I could reglue a loose bottom stile, but as soon as I removed the finishing nails from an attempted previous repair the whole shebang came apart.

So today I cleaned up the joints and reglued the stiles and mullion strip tongues into the grooves in the legs leaving the 1/4" solid oak panels floating as they should.

The whole assembly is now in clamps. 

From what I could tell the back was originally just glued in place with four triangular shaped blocks. A couple of the blocks were missing and whoever nailed it back on had it slightly off location. I'll be filling the nail holes and remounting the back panel using screws through square blocks I'll be adding from inside the case. 

[Grandpadave52]

Another great save Larry. Some beautiful grain in that old growth oak. The one panel even appears to have some spalting?

[Larry Buskirk]

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Another great save Larry. Some beautiful grain in that old growth oak. The one panel even appears to have some spalting?

 

Thanks Dave,

The grain in the old furniture is probably why I prefer salvaging my project lumber. That and you can't beat the price. 

Could be some spalting due to what looks like the desk having been partially submerged at some point in its history. 

(Could also be why about half of the glue joints are loose?) 

 

Sometimes Bruce decides to scrap certain pieces due to the amount of work they would need to put out for sale. This was one of those pieces.

He scrapped a couple of dressers the other day, and I grabbed the drawers for the 1/2" oak sides, backs, and veneered plywood bottoms.

After looking at the oak at Menards I'll probably get about $75.00 worth of lumber out of those drawers. And it's better looking lumber! 

[Larry Buskirk]

Got a bit more done between the the past couple of days.

Since most of the glue joints had come loose the case required a bit more work than I anticipated.

The front tenon joints are cut in an interesting way.  Sorry about the photo.

Pretty much all of those joints had came loose.

A bit of Titebond II and a few clamps fixed things right up. 

I also replaced the original triangular glue blocks with rectangular ones for easier clamping.

These are the lower glue blocks I installed.

These are the upper.

This morning I reinstalled the back panel, it's glued the full length of the sides and to the glue blocks.

I'll be pulling the clamps off later this afternoon.

That's about it for now, more later. 

 

[Grandpadave52]

Coming along really nice Larry. Love the time you've put in it to keep it original but more gooder. Gonna be a nice piece.

[Larry Buskirk]

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Coming along really nice Larry. Love the time you've put in it to keep it original but more gooder. Gonna be a nice piece.

 

It's one of those pieces that cried out "Save Me" when I first saw it.