by Daniel Diehl
Rocker Slot
On the inside face of each support post, locate the position of the slot that will hold the spindle. The opening into which the spindle is dropped is 8 inches below the top of the support post; the lowest point in the slot is 1¾ inches lower on the support post. The dimensions of this slot are shown in the rocker mechanism drawings. The rocker slots should be on the same side of the finished leg assembly so that they are mirror images of each other, not identical. Cut the rocker slots.
Leg Assembly
Sand all the pieces, then assemble the leg units in the same manner as previously. Pull the joints together with cabinet clamps, being careful not to damage the curved surface of the brace. Drill and peg the support post into the foot with 3/8-inch doweling. Follow the same procedure with the mortise joints on both ends of the braces.
Stretcher
Cut a 1-inch-long tenon, ¾ inch thick and 1¼ inches wide on both ends of the stretcher. Mark an outline for a corresponding mortise on the interior face of each leg unit. The stretcher should be in the center of the foot, directly in line with the support post. Position the mortise so that the stretcher will be ¼ inch above the floor. In cutting the mortise, you may cut into the edge of the tenon on the support post; this will have no effect on the structure of the cradle. Insert the stretcher into the mortises and pull the entire structure together, making certain that it is square and plumb. Drill dowel holes into the underside (bottom) of the foot and through the stretcher tenons. Dowel the stretcher into place.
Spindles
The original rocker spindles undoubtedly would have been forged by a smith. You can turn the spindles on a modern metal lathe. Follow the diagram of the spindle in the drawings, leaving them slightly longer than necessary to allow for an exact fit when they are installed on the cradle.
Drill eight mounting holes around the outer ring of each spindle. Locate the spindle on the end of the cradle bed. The center of the spindle should be centered on the width of the end panel and 4½ inches below the top edge of the panel. The original spindles are mounted with forged nails, which are probably all the support that will ever be necessary, although if you are building a cradle for your child, we recommend attaching them with coarse thread screws.
Before mounting the spindles, measure the combined length of the bed and spindles, and compare that measurement with the distance between the farthest points of the rocker slots. The ends of the spindles should just touch the outside walls of the rocker slots. If they are too short, the frame can wobble; if they are too long, they will push the frame outward, creating stress on the entire structure. If necessary, cut a length of 2-by-4 the exact length of the cradle bed and attach the spindles to the ends. This will allow you to file or grind the ends of the spindles to the right length without the encumbrance of working around the cradle. When the spindles are the correct length, drill pilot holes and attach them to the ends of the cradle. The cradle bed should now drop into position.
Finish
Give the cradle either a painted or oiled finish, following the instructions on page 7.
PROJECT 28
Fourteenth-Century Reading Desk
Reading Desk, English, fourteenth century. Oak and wrought iron, 38½ x 43 x 18½ inches. Collection of Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo by Mark P. Donnelly
This interesting desk is probably of ecclesiastical origin. This can be assumed not only because of the simplicity of construction, but also because so few people during the Middle Ages, outside of the clergy, knew how to read or write. The desk’s exact function is less clear. Its height would have made it convenient for someone of average height to stand behind it while delivering a lecture or sermon. It could have served dual functions as desk and lectern, so it may have been in a monastic order’s chapter house (classroom) or dining hall, where readings from the scriptures were delivered during mealtime.
The slight lip, formed where the back boards extend above the top surface, prevents books and papers from sliding onto the floor. The interior compartment provided storage space for books, papers, writing utensils, and parchment when they were not in use. The piece has been altered and repaired several times over the centuries. The design of the iron banding suggests that the desk may have originally been constructed so that it could be disassembled for easy transport from one location to another. This rare and unusual survivor of medieval literary endeavors can be seen in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Construction Notes
The construction of the wooden case of this attractive desk is extremely simple; however, the ornamental ironwork adds a bit of challenge to the project as a whole. This piece was altered several times over the past six or seven centuries, but the plans given here are based on the original design. Should you wish to copy the desk as it now stands, the necessary alterations should be relatively simple to make. The most significant change was to the door on the front. It is now in two halves, forming an upper and lower door. In its original form, however, it likely was one full-length door supported by only three hinges. When the door was divided, it necessitated the addition of a fourth hinge. It is likely that the upper of the two middle sets of hinges was originally located at the bottom of the door, and the current bottom hinge was a later addition.
Materials
All the wood used in the body of this desk is English oak. Surprisingly, most of the boards in this massive-looking piece of furniture are only ¾ inch thick, so with the exception of the bottom rails, the desk can be constructed with standard lumber while still retaining historical accuracy. The width of the boards, however, is quite another matter. Ideally, you will discover a lumber mill that has access to oak boards 1½ feet wide. Realistically, you will have to butt-join boards to make the planks used in building this desk (see page 2). The bottom rails, which are in reality skids, are distinctly oversize lumber, but they could be made by gluing up an oak 2-by-8 and a standard mill-dimension oak 1-by-8.
All the fasteners, for joining wood to wood (unless specified as a dowel joint) and for attaching the hardware to wood, are 2-inch hand-forged nails. On the original piece, where the nails come through the inside face of the wood, they are crimped over for extra strength (see page 2).
Setting Up
Because the construction of this piece is so simple, it is possible to cut all the lumber to finished dimensions before beginning any actual construction. Label each board so that it can be easily located. All markings should be made in chalk so that they can be removed from the wood. Allow an extra inch on the total width of the plank selected for the desk top so that the front and rear edges can be trimmed to the angle necessary to achieve a proper fit. The planks used for the sides and floor allow extra length at the point where they are to be mortised into the skids.
Cutting the Mortises
Cutting the mortises in the skids is the most tedious piece of work on this project, but it needs to be done before any assembly can begin. A router can be used to cut at least a portion of both the blind mortise, into which the side panels fit, and the open mortise, into which the floor board fits. Squaring the corners of the mortises requires careful work with hammer and chisel.
The entire width of the floor board sits in a 1-inch-deep blind mortise, but there also is an extended tenon that passes completely through a small open mortise in the foot board. Take care that the mortise for the side panels is both flat and level on the bottom. The side panels sit directly on the bottom of this mortise, and if it is uneven or the side panels are sloppy, the finished desk may wobble or be uneven.
Execute the mortising so that the two skids are mirror images of each other and not identical; there must be a left skid and a right skid. When the mortising work is completed, the decorative egg-shaped toe can be cut into the front of the skids. As the mortises and tenons are being cut, check frequently to ensure that they will fit snugly together. Seating the tenons into the mortises should require a firm tap with the palm of your hand or a wooden mallet.
B
ase
Because the interior shelf cannot be adjusted or removed from the desk, the entire desk must be built from the ground up, around the bottom and shelf. The first step is to attach the floor boards to the skids. Turn the skids upside down, so that the mortise for the side panels faces downward, and seat the floor board into the mortises in the skids. Pull the assembly together with bar clamps or a strap clamp. Drill a ½-inch hole through the center of the open mortise and floor board as shown in the drawings. Tap a maple dowel into the hole and saw it off even with the bottom of the skid. Turn the assembled bottom unit into its upright position.
Side Panels
Cut the ½-inch offset at the front and rear of each side panel so that the tenon fits into the mortise in the skid. Cut the tenon only on the outer face of the panel. That is to say, the side panels are ¾ inch thick, and the tenon on these panels is to be ½ inch thick. Remove the necessary ¼ inch entirely from the side of the panel that will face the outside of the desk.
Next, set the side panels into the mortises in the base. If the mortises and tenons have been neatly cut, the side panels should tap into place and stand nearly vertical without additional support. Determine the position of the interior shelf and mark its location on the inside of each side panel. Remove the side panels and drill pilot holes for the shelf nails.
Reinstall the side panels into the base and drill two ½-inch holes through the skids so that they intersect the mortises as shown in the drawings. Drive ½-inch dowels through the holes and cut them off close to the surface. When the cabinet is assembled, you can come back and level them with a rasp or sandpaper.
Shelf
Nail the shelf in place. When installing the shelf, avoid placing too much strain on the dowel joints at the base of the side panels by twisting or pulling the sides.
Rear
On the rear of the desk—the side at which a person would stand to deliver a lecture—at least the three center boards are replacements, so the widths of the boards may not correspond exactly to the original ones. Therefore, if yours differ slightly from the ones in the drawing, it will make little historical difference.
Establish the left and right outside boards. The left board needs to be notched out at the lower left corner, and the right one at the lower right. The notches allow the boards to fit over the edge of the skid and extend ½ inch beyond the edge of the side panels. All the back boards should rise 1¾ inches above the low edge of the side panels. This will allow the back to rise 1 inch above the bottom edge of the desk top and provide a book lip.
Before final installation of the rear panel boards, chamfer the inside edge of the boards where they form the book lip, shown in detail B in the drawings. This chamfer will probably most closely resemble the original, which is quite uneven, if it is cut with a drawknife or spokeshave. When the chamfer has been cut, install the outside panels first and the rest of them sequentially from left to right. Ensure that each board is square on the frame of the desk and aligned at top and bottom with the previous board. After drilling pilot holes, nail the back boards onto both the floor and center shelf. The outside panels are also nailed to the side panels as shown in the drawings.
Top
The top plank may now be fitted into position. With the plank cut to length, lay it in position on top of the desk. The book lip will keep it from sliding off. The top should overhang the sides by ½ inch, making it flush with the outside edges of the back. The lower edge of the desk top must be cut to allow it to rest squarely against the book lip. Then cut a corresponding angle at the front edge of the top so that it is on a plane with the front edge of the side panels. On the original desk, these two angles appear to have been cut with a spokeshave. The top may now be drilled and nailed into position into the side and back panels.
Front Panels and Door
As with the back panels, establish the left and right panels and notch them to fit over the skids and extend ½ inch beyond the side panels. These boards should be flush with the upper edge of the desk top. The top of these boards are cut square and not on an angle.
On the inner surface of each panel, mark the position of the floor and shelf boards. Also determine the point at which the ends of the hinges will pass through the front panels. Remove the panels, drill pilot holes, and cut the holes through which the hinges will pass, as shown in detail C. Be very careful when cutting the hinge slots; working this close to the edge of an oak board with drills and chisels is courting disaster if you are not careful.
Nail the panels into position and trim the door panel to size. So that there will be enough play to allow the door to open when attached to the hinges, the door panel should be about 3/16 inch narrower than the opening into which it will fit.
Ironwork
Forge the ironwork according to the instructions on page 9. The large, decorative circles on the ends of the hinges may be formed by using a wider piece of metal than the rest of the hinge requires and cutting out the overall shape of the hinge. Alternatively, the circular end of the hinge and, if desired, the fleur-de-lis decoration may be cut from a separate piece of metal and welded onto a hinge body made of the specified 1½-inch stock. On the materials list, these are listed as though the entire section of hinge were being cut from wide stock. If the entire hinge is cut from a single overwide piece of metal, the fleur-de-lis will have to be split or sawn, and then bent into position following the instructions for making lateral bends on page 9.
After the hinges and straps are forged, attach them to the body of the desk. Set the door panel into place, positioning it so that most of the 3/16-inch gap is on the left side of the door (the side that swings outward), and attach the loose ends of the hinge to the door panel. The escutcheon plate and striker plate from the lock are cut out of lightweight metal as specified on the materials list.
Door Lock
If you want the door to lock, refer to the instructions on page 11. This would be an ideal place to adapt an antique door lock. If you do not wish to have a working lock, you may still want to cut a keyhole and make and install an escutcheon plate. Cut the keyhole in the door before nailing the plate into place. The turn buttons that currently hold the doors shut were added to the desk in the 1920s. Whether to install them is up to you.
PROJECT 29
Writing Slope
Writing Slope, English, circa 1670. Oak, 123/8 x 29¼ x 19 inches. Collection of Bolton Castle, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England. Photo by Daniel Diehl.
From the early Middle Ages onward, writing slopes were common possessions among those fortunate enough to be literate. Not surprisingly, the earliest surviving examples are found in monasteries, where monks copied rare books and works of holy writ and decorated them with the illuminations that are reproduced in many books about the period. By the late sixteenth century, the vast majority of the merchant and upper classes had learned to read and write, and the writing slope, which doubled as a traveling office, had become standard equipment for the well educated and well heeled.
The writing slope was far more practical than much of the massive furniture produced during the medieval and Renaissance periods. Lightweight and portable, it could be moved easily as business took its owner on his travels. The flat surface above the lid provided a convenient place to set an inkwell and a sand shaker, which was used like a primitive blotter to dry excess ink from the page. The slope’s interior was large enough to hold important papers, ledgers, and personal correspondence, as well as quills, a penknife, ink, and a sand shaker.
Although writing slopes date from the earliest years of the mercantile revolution of the thirteenth century, few early examples survive. Fortunately for us, they changed little over the centuries, but it makes exact dating difficult and often impossible. Rarely does a furniture maker date his work for the convenience of future history buffs. However, in the case of this piece, from the collection of Bolton Castle, that is exactly what happened. Directly beneath the lock plate is a carved panel bearing the initials R. S. above the
date 1670.
Although part of the S is obscured by the lock plate, it is still clearly readable and tantalizes us with clues about the origins and history of this lap desk. The initials probably indicate that it was once the possession of a member of the Scrope family, who held Bolton Castle for many centuries. The date also indicates that the box was not built until twenty-three years after the castle was severely damaged by Cromwell’s Roundheads during the English Civil War.
Construction Notes
Made entirely of oak, this elegant piece is easy to construct. Its compact size suits even the smallest modern home. Built from only ten boards, it is of amazingly simple construction. Only the carving work adds an element of challenge, but even that is not too difficult.
Materials
All the boards from which the case is made are 7/16-inch-thick oak. The 13- inch-wide section used for the writing surface may be difficult to obtain. This can, however, be glued and pegged together from two narrower boards, following the instructions on page 2. The two runners, or feet, on which the chest rests are slightly thinner, at 3/8 inch thick.
Setting Up
Because this piece is so simple, all the boards can be cut to size before any assembly begins. Mark each section so that it can be easily located when needed; use chalk or light pencil for easy removal from the wood before applying a finish.