Honey I Blew Up The Writing Desk

[Uncial]

So I saw a writing desk for sale. It was for sale on a local 'buy and sell' type site and the photograph of it was against a white background. No information was given on it at all - nothing. A little suspicious, I rang the number and a desperate seller on the other end explained they were in the process of moving house and the desk wasn't coming so they just wanted to find a good home for it. Now normally I would run from this kind of comment, immediately thinking the worst (maybe it is stolen, maybe it's total junk) but I knew it wasn't a high pressure sale as they were asking for a very small amount of money. I could also hear the removal men in the background and a conversation about what else had to be left behind because of a lack of space in the truck. So I had a day and a half to collect it or it was going into a skip. They explained there was one hinge damaged but could probably be easily fixed. So, not being able to see it in time I took a risk and hired a man and a van to collect it and deliver it.

 

Well; what seemed like a great idea at the time turned into a tiny....or should I say a very big surprise. What I thought was probably a smallish desk turned out to be huge! With a little re-arrangement of the room, it fits - but it sort of dominates a bit. Anyway, it is very nice and with lots of little cupboards and drawers and things. Closed it is a bit dull - all black - but open it reveals a bit of character. The finish is lacquer and is in good condition and the hinge hasn't been fixed yet, but should be an easy job and doesn't effect its use. So here it is; a surprise purchase, but a really nice desk.

 

[Uncial]

The black thing on the floor is not a dead mouse, but the cat's fluffy moustache which she carries around to various locations.

[Parjanya]

neat piece of furniture, it's a nice place for a scriptorium

[debraji]

Very nice! You're the sumgai of writing desks.

[FOUR X FOUR]

It looks nice. Can it be moved away from the corner?

[Uncial]

In a bigger house, yes; and with about three men.

[fountainpagan]

Beautiful piece of furniture.

 

Congratulations.

[amberleadavis]

That is awesome.

[dcwaites]

1) Grouse desk. Wish it was mine...

 

2) Does the radio work?

 

3) I think you need a nice chair to match..

[Uncial]

Sorry I missed your questions. Been an age since I saw this thread (I was searching for something else and noticed the 2018 time stamp).

 

The radio does work, but the volume doesn't, so when you turn it on it's permanently stuck on very, very loud. Not sure if anyone fixes these things anymore. Have pondered if it might be possible to digitize it's innards though.

 

I got a better chair

[PAKMAN]

Very nice find! Got my huge desk in a very similar way many years ago. Still love it!

[BaronWulfraed]

Sorry I missed your questions. Been an age since I saw this thread (I was searching for something else and noticed the 2018 time stamp).

 

The radio does work, but the volume doesn't, so when you turn it on it's permanently stuck on very, very loud. Not sure if anyone fixes these things anymore. Have pondered if it might be possible to digitize it's innards though.

 

I got a better chair

 

The volume control is likely just a potentiometer. Stuck on full would tend to indicate a failure on one side of the pot' (broken ground connection would mean the full signal goes to the output amplifier rather than being split between amplifier and ground -- though there should be a small attenuation if you have the full pot' resistance in place). The fixed labor cost by a repair shop is likely going to be 3X the cost of the repair itself (most shops have something like $100 just to look at the product; a pot' is maybe $2.50 retail, and soldering it in place a 15 minute job, so maybe $20 actual working labor).

 

Not like modern gear where the "potentiometer" is a digitally controlled analog circuit, and the volume control is a rotary encoder.

[Uncial]

You're making me ponder repairing it. It does have a lovely sound quality.