Thread: Restoration of Antique Australian Cedar Cylinder-Top, twin pedestal Secretaire desk

The people who sold the desk reported that the piece originated at Port Macquarie in NSW as part of a judge’s furniture at a courthouse, and further, that it had always been in their family. In common with many verbal provenances, this may not be the full story as one aspect of the construction points to a possible origin in Tasmania. The two stories are not necessarily incompatible however, as a judge could easily have first worked in Tasmania, where they acquired the desk, and then taken the desk with them when they were relocated to Port Macquarie.

Design
Antique Australian cedar cylinder top secretaire desks are uncommon, and may even be considered rare. This is the first one I have been able to purchase in over 30 years of collecting. I would have much preferred to find one in original or at least much better condition, but beggars can’t be choosers and this one has some lovely figured timber in it. Also, it was cheap enough to tempt me to take on such a mammoth task!

This secretaire desk is of small proportions and is in the form of a twin pedestal desk, each pedestal with two drawers above a cupboard section with an arched panel door each side. Each drawer has a single, central linear pull of unusual design. The kneehole centre between the pedestals is closed in towards the rear, again with another, slightly larger sized arched panel door. The pedestals sit above a plinth base capped with an ogee moulding. All these components are in solid cedar, without veneer.

The cylinder section opening front to the desk is of coopered construction with the majority of the boards cut from one wide board of cedar so that the figure of the board continues around the cylinder section. The construction is excellent.
The pull-out desk section is veneered over solid cedar, cross-banded with a thick cedar veneer, onto which have been glued two linear pulls the same design as the drawer pulls.

The desk has an interesting security construction mechanism. Instead of each drawer having its own lock all the drawers are locked closed when the cylinder top is locked down. Each drawer has a deep notch in the rear of the side nearest the outer carcase side. An iron bar with attached lugs slides in a rebate in the carcase side. The iron bars are moved up and down by a lever mechanism actuated by curved brass rods on the rear edge of the cylinder top. When the cylinder top is open the brass rods press down on one end of a timber lever. The opposite end of that lever lifts up, and brings with it the iron bars, thus releasing the lugs from the notches in the drawers. Conversely, as soon as the cylinder top is closed, the drawers cannot be opened and if the cylinder top is locked then the whole piece is secure.

Timbers and materials
The body and carcass are of highly figured Australian cedar with some areas having an applied cedar veneer two to three mm thick. The fronts of the small drawers in the secretaire are of a light coloured, straight grained timber, with a strip of dark stained or ebonized cedar down the middle of the outer two drawers to line up with the divisions of the pigeonhole section above.

The board at the centre of the pull-out desk top is Baltic Pine. It would originally have been covered by leather. It is this use of Baltic Pine as a secondary timber that argues for a Tasmanian origin for the desk, as in my experience the use of Baltic Pine as a secondary timber was only common in Tasmania.

Secretaire small drawer RHS.jpg Interior with Baltic Pine centre to desk top, light coloured (pine?) drawers. The inside of carcase to the right shows one of the only two remaining areas of original polish on the piece.

The drawer knobs were either missing or had a couple of later added, loose fitting, Mahogany and European Beech knobs.

I used white spirits to remove the vandalised initials and the whiteout on the small drawer knobs. I used a pencil eraser to remove the pencil inscriptions.

At this stage I could see that a significant part of the repair work was going to require replacement and repair of cedar veneers, which were all two to three mm thick (except where they had been sanded away). So I went through my stock of cedar (I’m a hoarder of interesting timber) and selected some with as close as possible figure to the veneers in the desk. I had been lucky enough to persuade a mate of mine to part with some beautifully figured cedar some years ago and Trevor Gaskell also provided some very special birds-eye dark red cedar via Woodwork Forums at a propitious time for the project. I set up the bandsaw to cut some veneer slices approximately 3 and 4 mm thick and machined quite a few of them to have plenty on hand. Then I used the drum sander to smooth both surfaces and bring the veneers down to 2 and three mm respectively. Once I had that on hand I was prepared to begin.

I was quite nervous about the veneer work because, previously I had only used veneer to laminate onto ply to make panels for the backs of furniture and the bases of boxes using a vacuum press, I had never re-veneered an antique, so this was all new for me.

At this point I realised that I had to disassemble the cylinder section top from the desk so that I could sand the score marks out of it and steam out some dents. That was quite a challenge. I had to remove the brass rods, timber levers and iron bar locking mechanism. Next came the small secretaire pigeonhole and drawers unit, which was screwed down with some tiny steel screws. At that point I could access the larger steel screws that retained and acted as pivot points for the two quadrant shaped brass plates (one each side) that are screwed onto the cylinder top. Then I could carefully withdraw the cylinder panel through the back.

First, I used my $12 K-Mart steam iron to reduce and remove some of the dents that the cylinder section had collected over the years. Then I used my trusty Bosch Pro 150 random orbital sander to smooth out the surface and remove the numerous nasty circular sanding scars left by the previous paint-remover. Fortunately, the cylinder section panel is made of quite thick cedar and I was able to remove the majority of the damage. It took a few hours of sanding up through the grits to get it right, before I finished it by hand with 1000 grit wet and dry on a shaped block.

At that stage I was eager to see what it would look like polished so I pulled out my rubber from storage (in a sealed container) and reinvigorated with some metho. Then, I used brown button shellac that I had previously dissolved and double filtered. It took many hours (I didn’t count) but I achieved a high level of finish and was very pleased to see the beauty of the figure. The original maker certainly knew his stuff because the way that the figure runs around the cylinder looks really good. It was also interesting that the cedar to the cylinder section is much lighter in colour than the cedar of the sides and veneers, making an interesting contrast (which is also seen in the colour of the pulls).

Restored cylinder top section.JPG Repolished cylinder top (seen after reassembly in the finished top section)

With the cylinder top out of the way I could begin the rest of the work that would have been difficult to do with it in place.

The veneer on the left hand side margin of the secretaire was too badly damaged to be repaired so I made the hard decision to replace it completely. In general terms I prefer to repair what was there rather than replace, but in this case it was complicated by the fact that the curved side to the piece is made up of two sections. The thick side of the carcase is cut into a curve to match the cylinder top, but on the inside of that is planted a curved piece of cedar to give a wide enough overhang to enclose the sides of the cylinder top. In this case that inner piece of cedar had “sprung” at the lower end and was loose along much of its length. The only way to re-glue it was to remove the veneer over the top of the join.

I removed what was left with boiling water. Then, I trimmed some of the veneer I had previously prepared to the approximate width of the edge to be veneered. I made a former from a piece of 38 mm thick ply (two laminated together 19 mm pieces) by marking the curve on cardboard and transferring the line to the ply. I cut the curve with the bandsaw. I sanded the final cut surface of the former smooth with a linisher and then taped two layers of polyethylene foam packaging on to it to give it the ability to span any unevenness. I then made up a piece of pine to fit at the back of the item to give purchase for the clamps (see photo). I heated up my glue pot with fresh pearl glue (animal hoof and hide glue), soaked the veneer strip briefly in warm water then applied the glue to the veneer and the curved face. I pressed the veneer into place and clamped it up as shown. I was surprised at how much the veneer expanded in length when I did that, but it certainly went on well. After the glue had set and it dried out I trimmed the veneer to width and length. I used some spirit stain to match the colour of the new veneer to the original.

Cylinder top secretaire - glueing the replacement side veneer.JPGGluing the replacement cross-banding on with a ply former. Note pine bracket at rear to support clamps. Pigeonholes and small drawer section sitting on top, glue pot and kettle to the right.

Very nice work.

Unfortunately, the original cross=banded veneering around what would have been a leather insert top was mostly sanded off and had to be totally re-veneered. I removed the desktop and placed it on the bench. Then I used my random orbital sander to gently remove the circular sanding score marks and to even up the cedar and Baltic Pine surface. Once I had that reasonably flat I began the process of replacing the cross-banded veneer around the pine centre.

I selected some of the highly figured cedar veneer I had prepared earlier and cut strips just wider than the cedar edges of the tabletop. I cut a few more pieces than I absolutely needed so that I could select the best matches in the figure and also allow me to recover if I made a few mistakes.

My emphasis with veneering the cross-banded margin to the desktop was to match the figure for the front of the desk, as that is the most visible and to ensure that my mitre corner joins were flawless, as they would also be glaringly obvious if I got them wrong. I chose to book match the veneers for the front, centred around the mortise box catch style lock housing.

Veneer to desktop.JPG

I was quite pleased with the result of my veneer to the front of the desk at first. However, the only box catch style locks that I could find were half mortise style, not full mortise, so I had to modify one to drop into the slot. My work there was not quite so successful as because of its shape and some protrusions on the rear of the lock so I could not get the lock to slide easily into the mortise without having to widen the hole more than I could cover up with the top plate of the lock. That means I have to live with more of a gap around the lock than I would like.

After I cut the mitre joins for the veneers I glued them on strip-by-strip using cauls and clamps (with Go-Between freezer film to prevent sticking) until the hoof and hide glue set. I did have to re-do one of them as it moved on me. When it was finished I fine sanded the surfaces down to 1000 grit and stained the cedar to match the rest of the veneers on the desk then French polished with brown button shellac.
I then began to make some enquiries about where I could get a leather insert fitted. Sherwood Bazaar recommended a restorer in Salisbury, not too far away, so I took it to them. They had available a selection of different colour leather and a range of gold trim designs. I consulted my in-house expert (essential for colour and style issues!) and placed the order. At that stage I found that they only had one person who could do the job, and he had retired and spent most of his time being a grey nomad! Fortunately, he was in town for a few weeks so I grabbed the opportunity and committed to the cost. The finished product was excellent – and cost me as much as buying the desk had!

Secretaire desk and interior restoration nearing completion.JPG Finished desktop

The outer sides of the carcase were also scored and scarred with semi-circular gouges and the birds-eyes in the cedar were either filed with white paint or pinkish filler of some kind. Also, the grain was filled with specks of white paint. First, I used a gel paint stripper on the surfaces to soften and remove as much as the remaining paint as I could. I removed the stripper with water and a scrubbing brush. After the surface was thoroughly dried I used my 150 mm random orbital sander to take the surfaces back significantly. The more aggressive setting on the sander was excellent at dislodging the white paint from the pores. I then used a sharp probe to pick out the paint and filler from the birds-eye holes and a few cracks that had developed because the piece had been left in the weather and unfinished for so long. Next, I used my Aldi soldering iron the melt brown button shellac into the holes and cracks. Then I sanded smooth again and finished off by hand with 1000 grit wet and dry paper.

At that stage I began to repolish the sides and adjacent surfaces with my rubber and brown button shellac. It took a lot of coats with frequent rubbing back between them, but the surfaces came up pretty well and show off the superb figure that was part of what attracted me to the desk.

Right hand side of secretaire repolished.JPG

There has been quite a delay in this project as I managed to damage my leg/ankle over Christmas, and as my workshop is over 60 m away and down a 12 m high slope, that has restricted my activity there. However, I have none-the-less machined the cedar to replace the missing "skirting" around the plinths and have found that the moulding that I previously manufactured is not right. You see, there is a small moulding on top of the plinth. The "butcher sander" has hit the moulding, like everything else, with coarse paper and has changed the whole shape in the process. Given the age of the piece I was not surprised to see what looked like an ogee moulding, so I machined a few lengths of similar dimensioned cedar in ogee to fit as the missing pieces. However, when I started to apply the ogee moulding I found that I could not match it to the surviving, butchered moulding. OK, reality check. I levered off the surviving moulding and had a good look at it. To my surprise it was much closer to a cove moulding than and ogee. I did not expect that, but have to accept the evidence before my eyes,

So, I have now manufactured a very similar cove moulding from some of the damaged cedar components of the original top. However, given my bad leg the work is at a standstill.

Once my mobility returns I will post the final stages.

The Secretaire has finally been finished. Here are some photos of the finished item. I actually finished it a couple of months ago, but I had to let the polish settle and harden and had it located somewhere that was too tight for photography. Now it has been moved to the lounge room so have been able to take some photos. I am so glad to have finished this one. The project has extended over 20 months, though that has been very part-time of course and I have made a few other things in between.
3-Cylinder top secretaire finished open c.JPG Open top showing the interior.
1-Cylinder top secretaire top a .JPG Cylinder closed. Note how the maker cleverly kept the figure almost continuous as he coopered the cylinder shape (sorry about the flash).
2-Cylinder top secretaire LH side.JPG Left hand side - beautiful figure (the RHS is even better but I can't get a photo from that side).

Wonderful work David. I love colonial furniture in Red Cedar and you have really done "justice" with the restoration of this piece (judge, judge, wink, wink!)

I am really impressed with the quality of the finish achieved, the grain and colour is stunning. While it has been a long and complicated restoration, I think the results achieved really do make the effort so worthwhile. Seriously well done mate. Cheers Dave

Thank-you very much Dave. I really appreciate your and other comments and the likes that I have received.

It has been a great project as I have learned a lot in the process and was rewarded with the response from the timber. It is also good to have returned such a beautiful item of furniture to something like its former glory and to be able to pass that down to future generations.

David

For some reason I missed the original post. I may have thought that I will come back to it?

I am glad that I read it now. Really interesting on the process and steps involved. Thank you for sharing.

Originally Posted by Christos

For some reason I missed the original post. I may have thought that I will come back to it?

I am glad that I read it now. Really interesting on the process and steps involved. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks Christos. It is good to share our experiences with these projects and I hope that seeing the beauty hidden in the faded and damaged piece of furniture will encourage other forumites to rescue items too.