I got the inspiration for this portable writing desk from the “Treasure Chests” book from Taunton Press. The original desk was made of camphor wood in the mid 1800’s and was owned by a sea captain by the name of Elisha Palmer. All I had to go by for the project were the pictures in the book and the museum catalog entry for it from the Mystic Seaport Museum giving the overall dimensions.

It took me several design attempts before I was happy with the overall “feel” of the desk. I did not make a reproduction as I did not have enough information about the desk for that. What I ended up with is my interpretation of it and if I ever do it again, there are several things I would change, but I guess that is normal for most projects.

I used Honduran mahogany as my primary wood and quarter sawn white oak for the secondary wood. There is a removable tray under the tambour area that i veneered in crotch mahogany. I was lucky with the tambour slats as I only had 50% rejection on them. They are backed with linen attached with yellow glue. The tambour is linked to the drawer so it retracts as you open the drawer.

There is a secret compartment and a hidden compartment. (Secrete – because you have to know it is there to even look for it. Hidden – because you can stumble across it just checking out the desk.) The area just behind the pen tray has removable lids to access three small storage areas.