Charles Rohlfs Revolving Slant Front Desk

One of my woodworking objectives is to reproduce a room full of Charles Rohlfs furniture, similar to the pictures of the living room in his Park Street Home in Buffalo N.Y.

So far I have reproduced Rohlfs 1898 Desk Chair, Tall Back Chair, Oak Rocker and Coal Hod (in the form of a coffee table).

On my list this year are the Tall Case Clock and Revolving Slant Front Desk.

Original versions of Rohlfs desk are on display in museums in Kansas City, Dallas and Detroit. Prior to staring my reproduction, I had planned to travel to one of these locations to view the desk first hand. However, last year, fate intervened in a wonderful way. Through the good graces and generosity of another woodworker, who was aware of my interests in Rohlfs, I had the opportunity to see, photograph and measure an original Rohlfs desk. There are no plans available to reproduce Rohlfs work and only a limited number of pictures available on the internet and in books. It was a great opportunity to see first-hand how the desk was built.

So I snapped as many pictures as I could and recorded the dimensions of the various parts and pieces. I plan to make my version of the desk out of Mahogany.

To make sure that I had recorded the information and interpreted the photograghs properly I decide to make a mock-up of the swivel desk. This way it would give me a chance to make sure everything fit together and better understand how to build the final version.

The mock-up is about 90% complete. A few decorative elements need to be added along with the four drawers. I will make basswood samples of the major carvings on the desk to get some practice before tackling the final product.

-- Peter, Woodbridge, Ontario