Golden Oak Desk Restoration by Artisans of the Valley

it reminds me of the desk the school teacher had in the christmas classic…...you know…you’ll shoot your eye out…....a drawer full of vampire teeth…....a turkey devoured by the bumpis dogs…....and a goose with its neck stickin out…while china men try to sing with words that have lots of r’s in there…...lol…...but yep…thats the desk…......

-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']

Interesting

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

This is a nice restoration, Eric. You have taken, what was destined for a landfill, and converted it into a piece of furniture that will see many more years of use. This is definately a win-win situation.

How did you finish it?

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

I am sitting at an almost exact replica of your fine restoration. These “school” pieces were in most cases, mass produced, but were also built to last. Just take one apart, you will see.
Can’t buy one of their quality in Walmart today

-- A childs smile is payment enough.

One thing I forgot to mention. I removed the center drawer and built a keyboard slide out. Now a 1940’s desk is modern day.

-- A childs smile is payment enough.

I love reading your restoration stories, Eric! It breaks my heart when I see what people do to these things, but it’s always a happy ending once you get them… Another Great job!

-- Mike in Concord, NH---Unpleasant tasks are simply worthy challenges to improve skills.

Nice Job

-- Jim, Kentucky

Greetings,

Finish is our standard use of Waterlox tung oil – works great for all around use good protective surface and brings up the beauty of the wood.

I’ve seen a few conversions to computer drawers with these. The only thing with the smaller desk setups is they leave limited chair room. This one is not big enough for a comfy leather office chair to fit under it.

I’m currently using this one in the game room just as a general surface for buffet serving and storage. In the process of building a flip top server to save space but it’s in storage and I haven’t had two seconds to finish building it.

Thanks for the feedback!

-- Eric M. Saperstein, Master Craftsman www.artisansofthevalley.com

Great job Eric.

I agree with you that there are too many nice pieces being thrown out. The desk I’m sitting at right now is a golden oak desk that my neighbor was going to throw out, if I didn’t take it. I told him that I couldn’t even get wood that nice to build one. So, just like you, I restored this one, and it has served me well. Also, like you, I really love the Waterlox finish.

Restoring furniture is very rewarding and cost effective. Maybe with the current economic recession, people will become more resourceful and less wasteful.

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

I picked one up one day from the neighbor’s curbside – tossed it in the truck and migrated on my way. Redid it real quick not a fancy desk a 1/4” plywood type panels nothing great. Just did a fast track refinish on it and rebuilt a few sections threw it up on ebay just for fun.

What was funny was last minute someone bid the extra $1 so it sold for $401 … to someone in CA. (We’re in NJ) ... didn’t hear from her for a while sent a note saying look give me the $1 if it makes you feel better the $400 bid is local and it’ll cost a fortune to ship this I’ll release you from the deal.

She sent a note back saying NO NO NO – I want it – I don’t care what it will cost to ship it. She then explained it was saving her marriage, it matched her husband’s desk perfectly. They retired and tried to share a desk, it didn’t work. She said get new matching desks – he refused he loved his desk. She had a symmetry complex so that meant she had to find an exact match desk to partner with his in the same room.

If I remember right it was almost $600 to ship it to Beverly Hills … and she was glad to pay it!

Funny – that was destined for the dump before I wandered randomly by and retrieved it.

-- Eric M. Saperstein, Master Craftsman www.artisansofthevalley.com