desk gallery/ pigeonhole themes adaptations

[farms100]

For a federal style desk I'm designing I'm struggling with the layout of the interior design.

One major change is I'm allowing for a laptop is an open space roughly 20 inches wide around 3-4 inches tall. that precludes the typical center door and pilaster assembly.

Looking at various Desks Ive noticed a few obvious themes. The obvious is the large center door with pilasters flanking it. the arrangement of the other interior parts like  small drawers, pigeon holes etc seem to vary quite a bit, from piece to piece.

Are there any rules of thumb or suggestions I should be aware of?

 

[Adam Cherubini]

I would look at 2 things (not to mention my article on this subject from 2007). 

1) Chippendale's Director show's a desk with a pretty plain interior.
2) The Seaton chest, which dates to that period, has banded drawers with ivory knobs that may give you some style inspiration.  Its also pretty plain.

As to rules, you are right, each desk is an individual.  The basic themes are pretty similar though.  A center door (prospect) is flanked by drawers and cubby holes.  Sometimes the whole interior lies in a single plane.  Sometimes is it like a block front.  Sometimes is has a wrap around feel, with staggered drawers at the ends (called a "winged" desk in the period).  We know that the interiors quite often have architectural themes. 

My desk has a drawer below a door to store a 13" macbook pro.  20" x 3-4" tall sounds more like a military tuff book than a modern civilian lap top.  My advice is to reduce the drawer space to the bear minimum to fit the computer.  Also consider the fact that large laptops are heavy and the drawer may not work as easily as you'd like.  Consider a laptop garage instead. If your laptop really is that large, I'd advise you to reconsider the design.  Some desks have lifting desk portions that provide access to the top drawer or a fixed well in lieu of a top drawer.  Otherwise, store that monster in the top drawer.

One more thing to consider; Depth.  Not sure how deep this computer of yours is, but the depth can be a problem.  I sized my drawers and cubbies for 8-1/2 x 11 paper in business envelopes.  This is deeper than period desks.  We really have to fight scaling everything up.  And we do it all the time.  The result can be an elephantine desk, which isn't pretty any more.

Happy Father's Day!

Adam

 

[klkirkman]

Variety.

When I opened the latest journal and spotted the desk insert mockup made of blue/green urethane foam, I was struck for an instant just how beautiful a painted interior might look; reminiscent of the salmon colored painted scallop shells in the top of some corner cabinets of otherwise natural wood.

Karl

 

[farms100]

I don't have last years sapfm journal.

Adam is that a PWW article?


What I'm thinking about is a 3x20 opening for a space to slide a closed laptop in, then just shut the lid.  With a couple small drawers flanking

above that I'm thinking about a couple 1.5 inch slots for paper sitting flat leaving a center area for a larger vertical door with pigeon holes or small drawers above the paper slots.

What about vertical and horizontal divider thicknesses?

 

[Adam Cherubini]

Still sounds too big.  3x20 is massive.  For sure mock everything up.  I'm currently building a tool chest like a Gerstner. I mocked up the contents of each drawer, laid out the tools, then photographed and measured what I had.

My article is in PWW, Nov 07.  PW has a compilation of my articles- not sure if that article is in it or not.  Send me an email and I'll see if I can help further. 

One thing I thought was interesting was that 18th c interiors tended to be supported by the inside of the desk.  Later desks' interiors were built inside a separate box which was slid into the desk carcase.  Clever and easier to do.  The article also covered how I prepped the stock and cut the joints. I always think all those little details are helpful.  Of course, this was written over 5 years ago and many more woodworkers are using hand tools today.  So maybe my details are all trivial now.

Adam
Attached is an old Philadelphia desk.  Note bad double arch bead and super thin stock.  Thin parts are about 3/16".

 

[pampine]

Don't minimize cable problems. Most laptops have piles of attached cables that not only protrude several inches, but would have to be either channelled through the desk back or out in the open. It's enough to put me off making a box for it/them. And then there's the laptop size problem, all over the place; so how do you handle a new laptop with a larger screen and ....?

Pam

 

[farms100]

Don't minimize cable problems. Most laptops have piles of attached cables that not only protrude several inches, but would have to be either channelled through the desk back or out in the open. It's enough to put me off making a box for it/them. And then there's the laptop size problem, all over the place; so how do you handle a new laptop with a larger screen and ....?

Pam

Right now the is 16 3/4 wide roughly 1.25 thick. a 3x20 should leave enough room to grow.  Computer technology is changing so much that 10-15 years from now current style laptops may have gone the way of the 3.5 inch disk.

I was planning on some sort of cable access thought the back.



yes this is a modern adaptation, not a true period reproduction.

 

[Jeff L Headley]

I have made a few period styled desks for many prominent individuals with numerous different requests including inset electrical strips. You could put them in the pigeon hole compartments which would be hidden most of the time. Your request is not an unusual request. Adams idea of a Queen Anne desk with a sliding opening under the writhing surface would be a great place to store the laptop when not being used. I have seen a few Federal desks with an (envelop compartment, my words) under the prospect door, roughly 1 1/2" tall, which was 18" wide at least. A great place to hide cords. This looks like a fun modern project. Could a laptop be considered a hand tool?

 

[Jeff L Headley]

Winchester Virginia or the Lower Shenandoah Valley has an unusual feature with the interior drawer shelves for desks from the 1790's. Most desk interiors have two drawers, an upper and a lower drawer. Both drawers need supports. The lower drawer rides on the sub shelf and the upper drawer rides on an inset shelf. As Adam noted the revels for lots of Federal interiors are around 3/16" or less (or less). Winchester had an idea of a 1/4 thick inset drawer shelf and a pigeon holes shelf with only an 1/8" reveal on the upper edge which gave a refined look and added another feature, a drawer stop for the 1/2" thick drawer fronts.

 

[Jack Plane]

A well would be my first choice for storing a laptop. With the well lid slid open, the laptop could be lifted out and set on the fall. The cords could be left attached to the laptop and simply exit the backboards at the back of the well. When not in use, the laptop could be packed away in the well and the well lid closed.

 

[msiemsen]

I would think a laptop would be in use fairly often. Putting it away in a well would be a nuisance and would probably not be very efficient unless you never closed the well and just slid the laptop down a ramp under the gallery. My 20 year old would want nearly instant access several times a day. Wouldn't it work to just close the laptop and tip it up on to it's rear or front edge and then close the lid? A small rack might facilitate this. No need to change anything or worry about future computer designs. Easy to grab and go as well.
With a little creative thinking one could also attach the laptop to the lid so it was easily removable.