Late last year, I found a couple from the 1950’s and 60’s that were in horrible physical shape that were going to be scrapped for their steel. I got both of them for $10 bucks and did some research on how to refurbish them myself.
I stripped off the corroded, stained, and torn linoleum off the tops, took them to a local place that does sandblasting to have them stripped and then sanded down the heavily rusting portions. (These desks are usually made of heavy 20 gauge solid steel, so they’re literally the “tanks” of office furniture.) Both were in relatively good condition structurally and didn’t have any significant body damage aside from some significant rust, so I decided not to bondo the couple of dings they had, which in the end I think just adds to their vintage beauty.
For the blue/gray one I found an industrial paint shop to do an old style enamel process. For the smaller red one, I sandblasted and painted/sealed the undercarriage and inside drawers and then used a special brushing process to obtain a nice brushed steel effect followed by a 5 layer clear coat seal to give it a high shine while still having the brushed steel visible through the clear coat.
Finally, I tried to find a place to recreate the original linoleum desktops, but there really isnt’ a supplier who does this and some of the alternatives were prohibitively expensive as was the process of redoing the metal trim to hold it on after the fact. I contemplated doing some various laminates and even formica, but ultimately decided that the bare metal top was too pretty to cover up. I finally gave a local glass shop a template for the top of the desk and had them cut out custom 1/4″ glass tops with rounded corners to match the desk shape and then bevel the edges slightly.
At long last they’re now both finished! They are truly beautiful and it’s nice having a desk about the size of a compact car and certainly as heavy! When I originally got the desks, Sonia refused to let me keep them they were in such terrible shape, and I spent a while convincing her to let me keep them. Once the first one was done she forbid me to “hide” it in our office and insisted that I put it in our living room because it was so pretty. I finally got the second one finished and gave it to her for her birthday in September.
It’s been an interesting enough process with such a beautiful end result, that I’m in the midst of acquiring a few additional desks including one that may be from the 30’s/40’s with some nice art deco design touches.
So I suppose I’m calling it my “hobby” at the moment.
I’ve posted a gallery of additional photos of the desks on Flickr.
@michaelhoffman I don’t think anyone makes 20-gauge steel desks with linoleum tops anymore. http://boffosocko.com/2008/11/29/vintage-tanker-desk-hobby/
Nice job. I’ve been looking for the same style of desk. I am picking a Shaw Walker Desk Chair tomorrow and have some leads on a few desks. I’d like to know where you found some of the refurbishing research you did to save me some time. thanks Chris
They go for $1200 at steel Santos in LA.
I’ve seen that for the refurbished ones. I have 2 leads going for $30-$100.
Ohhh yeah not redone, i see them a lot on the Facebook marketplace.
I’ve worked in some manufacturing related spaces and have some friends who do autobody work that loaned me some space, so the research really wasn’t so much web-based.
My guess is that you could get an autobody shop to do a custom paint job with racing stripes if you wanted. I’ve used bondo on heavy dents on these before with good results, but usually the smaller dings just add to their authenticity in my opinion.
Steel Santos has some okay stuff, but I don’t like the finish on whatever their process is. I suspect they may be doing a more direct priming/paint-based approach whereas I was doing a powder coating process similar to the original they had when they were made.
Good luck, and do share your results.
@ChrisAldrich OK you get a point too.
I have one of those monsters in my garage and want to figure out how to make it pretty. its in great shape just the ugly gray color. still has the green linoleum on the top. Maybe I’ll give it a go!
Sherry, you might find some additional examples like those at http://www.twentygauge.com interesting. A lot of this furniture refurbished goes in the $3,000 range in trendy Los Angeles boutiques.
You guys can also contact Santos at Steelsantos.com their prices are cheaper than othe companies and they refurbish your own pieces for a smaller amount plus they do free pick up and delivery.
I’ve seen the quality of the refurbishment they do at Santos as well as Twenty Gauge in West Los Angeles. Both are alright, but based on their quality and prices, I can do a much better job for far less by myself.
Wife ordered this little friend for our home library.
@gmatthewthurman That is awesome. I now need to have one to go with my desks.
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Did you take any precautions in removing the linoleum top? Is there a risk of asbestos exposure?
Not many in my case as the top was already peeling and came up pretty quickly/easily. There didn’t appear to be any friable material, so I didn’t worry too much. One desk didn’t have anything on it at all. You can do it outside with mask and gloves and take care in disposal. I suspect it will depend on the manufacturing date and materials to know if their old process included any asbestos in the first place. Your mileage may vary as a result. If worried, have a professional do it.
Episode 14: A loose collective of developers and techno-utopians
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Summary: Our first episode since January. David Shanske and Chris Aldrich get caught up on some recent IndieWebCamps, an article about IndieWeb in The New Yorker, changes within WordPress, and upcoming events.
Recorded: May 19, 2019
Shownotes
6 camps later…
Austin
Online
New Haven
Berlin
Düsseldorf
Utrecht
National Duckpin Bowling Congress
Duck Tours
Streaming rigs for remote participation at IndieWeb Camps
Ad hoc sessions (🎧 00:11:28)
Can “Indie” Social Media Save Us? (The New Yorker) by Cal Newport (🎧 00:13:50)
Swarm Account deletions and posting limits
New Checkin icon within the Post Kinds Plugin: example https://david.shanske.com/kind/checkin/
Weather now has microformats mark up in WordPress
Fatwigoo problems with icons
IndieWeb Bingo
Webmention Project
Project of updating Matthias Pfefferle‘s Webmention and Semantic Linkbacks plugins (🎧 00:26:10)
https://github.com/pfefferle/wordpress-webmention
https://github.com/pfefferle/wordpress-semantic-linkbacks
Parse This
Ekby Jarpen
SteelCase Executive Tanker Desk
Readers & Yarns
Readers & Yarns update (🎧 00:40:50)
X-Ray
Indigenous Replacement: Final Indigenous Log: The Future of the App
Post Kinds Plugin
Post Kinds and new exclude functionality (🎧 00:48:15)
widgets
titleless posts
On this day
David’s list of 24 IndieWebCamps he’s attended
Looking back at past IndieWebCamp sessions and wiki pages for interesting ideas and new itches
Date and time stamps on webmentions
Call for tickets in WordPress
Subscribing to h-cards with WebSub
Is Mastodon IndieWeb?
Fixing IndieAuth
Improving scoping, particularly for multi-user sites
Coming up within the community
IndieWeb Book Club
IndieWeb Book Club is coming up featuring Mike Monteiro’s book Ruined by Design(🎧 01:13:04)
More details: https://boffosocko.com/2019/05/04/indieweb-book-club-ruined-by-design/
https://indieweb.xyz/en/bookclub
IndieWeb Summit 2019
9th annual IndieWeb Summit (Portland) is coming up in June. RSVP now.
Questions?
Feel free to send us your questions or topic suggestions for upcoming episodes. (Use the comments below or your own site using Webmention).
Perhaps a future episode on Micro.blog?
Syndicated copies to:
Flipboard icon
Tumblr icon
WordPress
Twitter icon
Syndicated copies:
Summary: Our first episode since January. David Shanske and Chris Aldrich get caught up on some recent IndieWebCamps, an article about IndieWeb in The New Yorker, changes within WordPress, and upcoming events.
Recorded: May 19, 2019
Shownotes
6 camps later…
Austin
Online
New Haven
Berlin
Düsseldorf
Utrecht
National Duckpin Bowling Congress
Duck Tours
Streaming rigs for remote participation at IndieWeb Camps
Ad hoc sessions (🎧 00:11:28)
Can “Indie” Social Media Save Us? (The New Yorker) by Cal Newport (🎧 00:13:50)
Swarm Account deletions and posting limits
New Checkin icon within the Post Kinds Plugin: example https://david.shanske.com/kind/checkin/
Weather now has microformats mark up in WordPress
Fatwigoo problems with icons
IndieWeb Bingo
Webmention Project
Project of updating Matthias Pfefferle‘s Webmention and Semantic Linkbacks plugins (🎧 00:26:10)
https://github.com/pfefferle/wordpress-webmention
https://github.com/pfefferle/wordpress-semantic-linkbacks
Parse This
Ekby Jarpen
SteelCase Executive Tanker Desk
Readers & Yarns
Readers & Yarns update (🎧 00:40:50)
X-Ray
Indigenous Replacement: Final Indigenous Log: The Future of the App
Post Kinds Plugin
Post Kinds and new exclude functionality (🎧 00:48:15)
widgets
titleless posts
On this day
David’s list of 24 IndieWebCamps he’s attended
Looking back at past IndieWebCamp sessions and wiki pages for interesting ideas and new itches
Date and time stamps on webmentions
Call for tickets in WordPress
Subscribing to h-cards with WebSub
Is Mastodon IndieWeb?
Fixing IndieAuth
Improving scoping, particularly for multi-user sites
Coming up within the community
IndieWeb Book Club
IndieWeb Book Club is coming up featuring Mike Monteiro’s book Ruined by Design(🎧 01:13:04)
More details: https://boffosocko.com/2019/05/04/indieweb-book-club-ruined-by-design/
https://indieweb.xyz/en/bookclub
IndieWeb Summit 2019
9th annual IndieWeb Summit (Portland) is coming up in June. RSVP now.
Questions?
Feel free to send us your questions or topic suggestions for upcoming episodes. (Use the comments below or your own site using Webmention).
Perhaps a future episode on Micro.blog?
I’d love to know the exact blue that you used.
Crafts or crafting is a range of common hobbies about which some IndieWeb sites focus some of their content.
The Newest Piece Comes Home
It’s been far too long since I’ve done a furniture refurbish project, so it’s extra nice to finally have this fantastic piece move into the family room today.
I’ll probably post something more detailed at a later date with some “before” pictures, but these few “after” photos will have to suffice for now.
History
I acquired this 20 gauge steel, stick leg, architect’s table originally manufactured by The General Fireproofing Co. of Youngstown, Ohio eight or so years back as part of a scrap sale. It was once owned by the National Bureau of Standards and had some markings and scrap paper hiding underneath the drawer which made me think that it was previously owned by a college, university, or similar institution in the Southern California region. It’s been hiding patiently in the garage as a general work table in service to my Little Free Library. I’ll have to dig into some paperwork to find it, but I recall this being circa 1959 from my research. It wasn’t in as bad a condition as some of my past projects. The original linoleum top was almost in good enough condition that I seriously considered keeping it.
Refinishing and Specifications
I started cleaning it up in November 2021 and have finally moved it into the house today with a 1/4″ clear annealed 29 3/4″ x 49 3/4″ polished glass top with 1 1/2″ radius corners.
The table itself is refinished in an electric sort of robin’s egg-color called “Waterfall” (SW 6750, loc #162-C1; DE 5722 RL#267, LRV 68, Munsell: Hue=7.36BG, Value=8.5, Chroma=2.6; BM 2050-50, LRV 55.75). The original linoleum top, which actually wasn’t in horrible condition, was completely stripped off, and I did the same sort of brushed steel process as my last tanker desk. There is a bit of blemish on the table top surface in the form of black flecking with a few small manufacturing blemishes that were left untouched for show before throwing down eight layers of clear coat. I also left a few incredibly minor dings to the body and legs for character instead of doing any bondo work.
It’s still got the original General Fireproofing Co. badging. I’ve also left all the original drawer pulls and metal leg caps, though I’ve cleaned them up quite a bit. It has presently got all the original screws, nuts and bolts as well, though many are rusted and in poor though functional condition. Perhaps I’ll replace those with new fittings in the near future, but I’ll have to hunt down the specs and find something that will stand up a bit better for the next century.
I’ve added some 1/2″ thick heavy felt pads on the feet to prevent scratching on the floor as the table is quite heavy. I’ve also got some temporary cork pads between the tabletop and the glass which I’ll probably replace with some decorative felt sometime soon.
You never know what you’ll find when you strip the tops of these types of pieces, but all-in it came out far better than I expected. It truly is stunning.
What’s next?
Still in the queue for future projects, two stick leg chairs, a panel leg architect’s table, and a 1930’s double pedestal tanker desk all of which I have on hand. I’m also due to reupholster a few chairs. If anyone comes across any, I’m on the look out for a 4×6″ index card filing cabinet, a multi-drawer flat file I can convert into a coffee table, and a credenza.
Commissions
I’ve done this enough times now, I’m contemplating taking commissions from folks who have ideas for pieces. I’ve seen some of the tanker desks go for between $3,000 and $5,000 on Melrose or at HD Buttercup in Los Angeles, but by comparison, I’ve got a far better finishing process for these with better results than I’ve seen in any of the high end showrooms. With the right price on a scrapped or distressed piece, I think I can significantly beat the high end shops and provide a better look and value.
I suspect that when I refinish my next tanker desk for my office, I might be willing to sell the one I’ve been using for the past 13 years.
Syndicated copies:
I suppose if you’re gonna goin “all-in” on having a zettelkasten (slip box) or index card-based commonplace book you may as well invest in some serious atomic-era heavy steel hardware…
So today I took the plunge and picked up a Singer Business Furniture 20 gauge steel industrial index card filing cabinet. It’s the sort of thing that Niklas Luhmann or Roland Barthes may have only dreamt of.
One of the double drawers pulled out.
The monster has 8 sliding platform chassis with 16 removable file drawers. I’ve done a little bit of clean up on it, but it has been well loved over time. Much like my prior furniture refurbishment projects, I expect I’ll bead blast off the original finish and rust and re-enamel it. I’m debating colors or potentially going brushed steel with heavy clear coat, though that’s a lot of work for the size and configuration. I’m initially thinking perhaps gunmetal grey with metallic blue flecked paint to match my desk, or perhaps a fun orange highlight color on the drawer fronts?
Specifications
Singer Business Furniture, Corry Jamestown index card filing cabinet (114 OB)
8 slider chassis with 16 individually (and easily) removeable drawers
Exterior dimensions: 22 7/8″ wide x 52″ tall x 28 3/4″ deep
Interior drawer dimensions: 9 3/8″ wide x 4 3/4″ tall x 27 3/8″ deep (or 26 1/8″ deep with the card stops installed)
Fits cards: 3×5″, 4×6″, 7 3/8 x 3 1/4″ (Hollerinth cards)
Removable metal slider card stops
13 removeable index card rods (3 missing)
Aluminum drawer pulls
Aluminum label frames
Original industrial beige color, chipped and scratched
20 gauge steel
I thought about weighing it, but the thing is just too big for any of the nearby scales I’ve got access to. It’s definitely a bear to move even by sliding and required a heavy dolly and at least two people to maneuver. Three or more would be required to pick it up physically. One drawback to the size and weight is that it isn’t easily portable if there were an emergency, but the construction is so solid that it should definitely survive the most dire earthquakes or possibly nuclear bomb blasts. I suspect it’ll be a bit before I have multiple drawers full, so I can always individually remove active drawers.
A quick calculation on the front of an index card—no more backs of envelopes for me!—indicates that packs of relatively standard Oxford index cards should put the capacity of this monster at 55,700 index cards (with the drawer stops in place).
Photos
It’s going to need some rehab work, but it’s quite magestic Front view of the massive slip box One of the double drawers pulled out. View of one of the individual drawers from above
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