At the start of lockdown, I bought an extra painting desk, for installation in the attic, and it has served me well since then. Much of my WSS work has been done on it.
The desk, I believe, dates from about 1920, and it has obviously not enjoyed the summer temperatures in my attic. One of the side panels has come unglued, dividing into the two boards from which it was originally made. The stuff in the drawers weighs a ridiculous amount, and the desk itself is very heavy, so I am constantly waiting for it to dismantle itself completely some time soon, which will certainly be messy and possibly dangerous - since dismantling itself might involve a vertical translation downstairs.
I've been trying not to think about this too carefully, but have decided that something had better be done - apart from the functional advantages, this would give me one less thing to worry about.
I have arranged for a friend to come round tomorrow with a 24-inch bar clamp and some proper woodworking glue. This friend is a useful chap, whose hobbies include constructing and repairing light aircraft. I'll get ready by stripping out all the drawers and removables, and we can have a trial shot with the clamp. I can see evidence of some dowels in there, so if the clamp pulls it back together nicely we can have a go with the glue.
If things do not go so well, you may read about me in the papers.
***** Late Edit (Day 2 of the Episode) *****
Well, Ian the 'plane builder couldn't come to help, since he has a carburettor in bits, and his machine has to pass a test by Monday. He did, however, lend me a couple of big joinery clamps, and I got busy on my own - just a flask of tea and some Allen Hinds on the music machine.
My trial run almost got the gap closed, so I reckoned that in the heat of the real thing I would get it even better; I slackened it off again, applied the glue, and really went crazy on the tightening effort. Not only did it pull up nicely, but the glue continued to squeeze out for a half hour afterwards, so presumably it was still shifting a little.
I'll leave it to dry until tomorrow before I touch anything - apart from a preliminary clean up - I've wiped most of the spare glue off, though it will need a good clean and polish later - that is the least of my worries! I suspect that the gap will open again when I remove the clamps, but I've lost nothing by trying, so I shall keep an open mind...
That's all for now. I can't offer you any tea, but here's a bit of Allen Hinds to tighten your clamp - with a little help from Randy Crawford...
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