Old School Desk re-do project-Discussion and Plans

 Hello Everyone,

Well, it looks like autumn has hit-we're in the middle of an ice storm! It's cold and slippery outside so this is the perfect time for a project.

Many many moons ago I bought an old teacher's school desk at a yard sale. It had several owners before me and it showed-it had lots of dings, the finish was peeling off in places and I always thought it would be the perfect summertime re-finishing project. 

Fast forward about 35 or 6 years and I'm just now getting around to it. It's gone through several large scale moves and numerous smaller moves, the finish is still peeling off, and it's seriously dinged up. Also the frame is sagging so it needs help.

Here's a photo of it upside down

Plans

I've taken the top off and the drawers out. I'm going to assess the framework first. The desk had a noticeable sag in the middle so I'm going to be looking at all the joints and fixing them:

Then I'm going to remove the finish, then look at all the dings:

The legs are really banged up. Once that's dealt with, I'll sand it smooth and apply a new poly finish to it. 

The top is heavy and it has a walnut veneer on the top and of course the finish is peeling off of that as well. That will get sanded and finished.

Lastly the drawer joinery needs to be looked at and the drawer faces re-finished and maybe some new drawer pulls applied.

So hopefully by the time I'm finished I'll have a desk that will last another 100 years or so.

So stay tuned-we're off on another adventure.

VW