The "Amyl" roll top desk questions

Interesting reads! I'm looking forward to buying more furniture for my dorm and cleaning them up.

 

tung oil....can't beat tung oil !!!

 

I used straight tung oil, this has to be 30 years ago, to bring a desk my mother stripped (boo hiss) back from the dead. I think I put 15 coats on parts of it. No lie. She did the damage when I was still in diapers and it sat in the basement until my sophomore year, give or take, of high school. Still looks darned good. All I've done since is dust it once in a blue moon.

 

Got some materials today... didn't know tung oil was so hard to find here in the Netherlands, will have to order some

 

Maybe a bit of a weird or silly question but I've to ask anyway, what kind of a lamp and chair would typically be used with such a desk?

I've been searching for something to fit the style however, I can use a bankers lamp (if you call it that in English, you know those green ones ) but the wiring would be a bit of a problem as I prefer not to drill any holes.

 

You could always use a floor lamp. These work desks were used with whatever came handy in an office setting. If the lamp puts light where it's needed, it goes with the desk. Chair? Same thing. The classic one was made of wood, but these desks lived forever and were used with whatever worked. Search for a "wood banker's chair" or "wood library chair" and you'll see what people used originally.

 

If the desk is going to sit against a wall, maybe use a sconce light that directs the light downward attached to the wall above the desk? Or hang a light from the ceiling?

 

This would be my preference for a desk chair. There are lots of variations of this type. This one is not oak but you do find them.

 

I got one sitting next to me, in oak.
It was my work chair 80's......left work...took the chair home...

 

Dear verybrad. I am restoring a circa 1900 single pedestal Cutler roll top desk and am interested in what the original finish might have been. I have removed the pigeon hole module and have found that mineral turps. dissolves the globules of very dark gunk. Am I right in thinking this was originally a shellac based polish or something more exotic. The dark surface is covered in brittle uneven globs of dark stuff and I need to get an even colour. The inside of the drawers in the pedestal have a reddish finish to them. Any idea what this might have been.

 

Another vote for tung oil. Wonderful stuff. It may not be completely period correct? But it really does make wood look fantastic.

I'll be using it on my floors come time to treat them. Along with a few pieces of furniture that have lost their original finish due to past owners efforts to "improve or modernize" them.

Good luck with it, I'd love to have a roll top some day, my grandfather had one when I was little, so I'm quite fond of them.

Edit: I would say though, it's only original once, so of you don't mind the worn and aged look, consider what was suggested by verybrad

 

Damn it! I got caught out by a zombie, got to remember to check those post dates