Jewellers Desk For Watchmaker

[Affnan]

I had been using a study desk as my work bench, due to the height it's giving me pain in the neck and making it difficult to concentrate and work for longer that few minutes at a time. I need a proper desk to work on the watches. I am contemplating on getting a new workbench made, however it expensive and there are no ready made unit available, since it's not many people looking for it over here where I am at.

 

Few days ago, stumble upon an ad in the local used market on the internet for an old Jewellers desk and it's going for RM 100.00 that about USD 30.00. Here it is below, it's 36 inches tall and 31 inches wide with about 20 inches depth, just nice for me and it doesn't cost a bomb.

 

 

It's heavily used by the old Chinese gentleman that quit jewelry making and just decide to get rid of it. It's made of hard wood and must be around 30 years old, about that.

 

 

I will need to clean it and probably give it a much needed rub down and stain it back to seal the wood.

 

 

Very heavy and made to last.

 

 

All looks ok, except the skirting on the right. The wood crack and I will need to remove all the skirting and redo them.

 

 

It has three drawers, the top most is the widest.  I can use it as a catchment and the keys are still there :)

 

 

Okay, I am excited today and will need to do lots of work on it. Slowly I'm getting my work area done.. :)

 

Affnan

[Geo]

That was a good buy for the money Affnan. Once it's cleaned up it should look great! :)

[ash145]

A few hours cleaning it up makes it good for another 30 years.....great buy.

[Mark]

Thats a good solid bench and will clean up great. And for about £18 thats a bargain. Good find!

I would imagine they had some kind of pendant drill on the side where the damage is, but it's an easy fix.

[Affnan]

Did a quick preliminary assessment and remove the skirting, right side skirting split in two other than that everything looks good. Will glue the two piece and make use of wood filler to make it good. I think the old wood can be reuse, no replacement required.

 

 

After removing the skirting, wow..  the worktop... it's almost 2 inch thick of solid wood !! Maybe because it's a jewellers desk it was made to be thick for hammering and what else the jeweller need to do on it.

 

 

Will continue tomorrow with some sanding, fixing the broken skirting and cleaning up the rest.

 

Affnan

 

[Affnan]

Just realized that I made a typo on the topic title... must be getting old :)

[SSTEEL]

Looks like that should clean up nicely.  Look forward to seeing your restoration :)

[Geo]

Just realized that I made a typo on the topic title... must be getting old :)

Fixed! :)

[bobm12]

Excellent purchase and anxious to see the outcome!

[Don]

Nice and compact and quality construction. I could use something like that, given my limited space. Good score!

[Affnan]

Work bench nice and cleaned and replaced the top lock, made a mistake of getting the plastic wood. It is same color as the sides but the work top is darker.

Applied Mahogany wood stain and sealer, the worktop being a jeweller desk it has sign of burnt on the front part and some surface dent due to that. So the plastic wood used as filler... but wrong color :( well, the top may need to be skimmed... but it is not that critical.

I will put a table mat on top for better work surface and a good work light next. So far I can only find the round but not the rectangular work lamp.

Affnan

[BlakeL]

Big difference! Looks great!

[Mark]

Very impressive. I love it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Geo]

A bargain at $300 now! B)

[bobm12]

Very much impressed with the great job!

[SSTEEL]

Looks great, well done, as for the top surface, you have the option to laminate, and fit a watchmakers mat anyhow.

[Don]

It turned out great! Nice job.

[Affnan]

Completed with worktop mat and Ikea lamp, will get a better rectangular watchmaker lamp if I can get it here at reasonable price.

Now I can do more hours on it.

Affnan

Edited April 1, 2015 by AffyNoX

[zenon]

As far as I can see you got yourself quite nice piece of antique furniture. The drawers sides are dovetail joints? Are draws bottoms solid wood?  If so it is not just an average furniture making job. The whole desk looks like it is being built by an experienced tradesman.

 

Co you stick a close up of the different woods there? Maybe we can identify them so you would have complete description of this little beauty.

 

:-)

Edited April 9, 2015 by zenon

[bobm12]

Looking good Affnan now there is no excuse for you not to work on your watches and post pictures! :)

 

Cheers,

 

Bob