Thomasville desk 1971?

[buecherlcraftsman]

I have a question for all who restore old furniture. I have bought this Thomasville desk done in real wood, burl wood, and wood veneer. The top of this desk was destroyed and needs to be redone, but it had chit board on it with wood veneer, but i want to replace it with solid wood, but dont know it that would hurt the value. I have e-mailed thomasville on this piece i have to get more info and still waiting on them. At the bottom of the desk it had a piece of paper stapled to it explaining burl wood and how they build there furniture, also there is model number on it that im waiting for thomasville to tell me what it is. There is also a date on it that say 1971 under it.

[iSawitFirst]

This appears to be a production run desk that, while interesting in design, probably doesn't have much value. As is, I'd say it has virtually no value. Anything you do to it will increase it's value, especially substituting cheap materials with solid wood.

[buecherlcraftsman]

This is done in poblar, cypres, oak, and burl wood. Its is all solid would and all jointed even the round coners are wood, it just have wood veneer on it and the only chit board was top but wanted to replace with solid oak

This appears to be a production run desk that, while interesting in design, probably doesn't have much value. As is, I'd say it has virtually no value. Anything you do to it will increase it's value, especially substituting cheap materials with solid wood.

[Lawrence Brown]

I don't know what your woodworking level is, but keep in mind that furniture was made out of things other than "solid" wood for more reasons than just being cheap. If you replace that top with a huge slab of solid oak, it's going to expand and contract like crazy with the weather. Unless you make it floating, you're going to end up with some nasty cracks, not to mention that that much wood is going to get expensive, possibly worth even more than the rest of the desk.

Remember that veneer isn't used just to bring the cost of the furniture down; it's a legitimate choice for making high-quality furniture when done right. The wood used in the desk may or may not have been because it was cheaper. I wouldn't worry too much about the value. Unless you can restore it to original Thomas specifications, replacing the top will put the value into it's appeal to the buyer, not the name. If done right, you could probably make it "worth" more than if it was kept in it's current original condition since the top is so deteriorated.

Of course it also comes down to why you are fixing it up. Are you wanting to sell it, or do you want it for yourself? since it's from the '70s, it's not really an "antique", but I'm not familiar enough with the name to know if it has any value to collectors. If you are concerned about that, then I would suggest getting in touch with some collectors and get their opinion on it before you do anything. That could of course take some time.

Given the above considerations and my points on the use of veneer, I would recommend against solid oak unless you really know what you are doing and are used to working with the challenges of that large a solid piece and instead use decent furniture-grade plywood. Remember that plywood today is not like what it was back in the '70s. If you want to spend the money, you can go to a hardwood store and get ply that is made out of oak. All you have to do is stain and/or finish the outside, apply edge banding, and you are going to have a gorgeous piece of furniture with the added benefit that you can attach that top solidly to the base and the ply isn't going to expand or contract at all. You could also use walnut ply, birch ply, or whatever appeals to you and stain it however you like. The surface behaves more or less like solid wood. You just have to hide the edges, which is what they did with the rest of the desk anyway.

Or if you want to get extra-fancy, you could go with a less expensive birch furniture-grade ply and put burl veneer on it, though that again will not be cheap and you would want some experience working with the stuff before tackling such a large project.

To sum it up:

1> I don't know exactly what you paid for it, but given it's present condition, you could easily put more money into the top than the rest of the desk is worth, so I hope it's something you're doing for your self.

2> Ply is probably a better choice than solid wood for that size. Ply now is not what it was then. Just make sure you are using "furniture grade", which more or less means that all the layers are hardwood, there are no voids on the surface (and no patches if you're willing to pay for it), and the glues are probably better. They in no way behave like chipboard, particle board, or mdf.

3> Awesome score! I don't know anything about the manufacturer, but I love the design and would be excited to fix it up and put it in my house

[buecherlcraftsman]

I paid less then $100 for it and yes i am excited about it but like to know if this would be worth it down the road. Im new at this woodworking i did a bookcases last year and wow i relized i was good at it and needed to learn alot on woodworking. I have restored pieces sence then and built wine display but was alot easier then this desk. Thomasville furniture has been around sence 1904 with 1 chair and it grew from there, he built quility furniture and a good price but later prices got higher and quility went up even more. This desk is a mix of real wood and dove tails and wood veneer but only a 3/16 on an inch was chipboard ontop and wood venner ontop of it in a dimoand patern. there cheap desk today are $1000 according to dealers. So im going to restore it just want the best route possible for it and if down the road it will be worth something then i will keep it i like the desk alot. Maybe i get Bush to sit at it and sign it that it would be worth alot lol.

I don't know what your woodworking level is, but keep in mind that furniture was made out of things other than "solid" wood for more reasons than just being cheap. If you replace that top with a huge slab of solid oak, it's going to expand and contract like crazy with the weather. Unless you make it floating, you're going to end up with some nasty cracks, not to mention that that much wood is going to get expensive, possibly worth even more than the rest of the desk.

Remember that veneer isn't used just to bring the cost of the furniture down; it's a legitimate choice for making high-quality furniture when done right. The wood used in the desk may or may not have been because it was cheaper. I wouldn't worry too much about the value. Unless you can restore it to original Thomas specifications, replacing the top will put the value into it's appeal to the buyer, not the name. If done right, you could probably make it "worth" more than if it was kept in it's current original condition since the top is so deteriorated.

Of course it also comes down to why you are fixing it up. Are you wanting to sell it, or do you want it for yourself? since it's from the '70s, it's not really an "antique", but I'm not familiar enough with the name to know if it has any value to collectors. If you are concerned about that, then I would suggest getting in touch with some collectors and get their opinion on it before you do anything. That could of course take some time.

Given the above considerations and my points on the use of veneer, I would recommend against solid oak unless you really know what you are doing and are used to working with the challenges of that large a solid piece and instead use decent furniture-grade plywood. Remember that plywood today is not like what it was back in the '70s. If you want to spend the money, you can go to a hardwood store and get ply that is made out of oak. All you have to do is stain and/or finish the outside, apply edge banding, and you are going to have a gorgeous piece of furniture with the added benefit that you can attach that top solidly to the base and the ply isn't going to expand or contract at all. You could also use walnut ply, birch ply, or whatever appeals to you and stain it however you like. The surface behaves more or less like solid wood. You just have to hide the edges, which is what they did with the rest of the desk anyway.

Or if you want to get extra-fancy, you could go with a less expensive birch furniture-grade ply and put burl veneer on it, though that again will not be cheap and you would want some experience working with the stuff before tackling such a large project.

To sum it up:

1> I don't know exactly what you paid for it, but given it's present condition, you could easily put more money into the top than the rest of the desk is worth, so I hope it's something you're doing for your self.

2> Ply is probably a better choice than solid wood for that size. Ply now is not what it was then. Just make sure you are using "furniture grade", which more or less means that all the layers are hardwood, there are no voids on the surface (and no patches if you're willing to pay for it), and the glues are probably better. They in no way behave like chipboard, particle board, or mdf.

3> Awesome score! I don't know anything about the manufacturer, but I love the design and would be excited to fix it up and put it in my house

[harmsdph]

Because the desk was initially designed with a composite top, if it were my desk I would find a nice piece of Oak plywood, back it up with a piece of 1/2" mdf just to get a thicker top and edge the whole thing with solid oak, it will keep your investment cost down and will still look great.

[Jerry_in_SD]

I grew up in the retail furniture business. My father (now my brother) has carried Thomasville for many years. I would characterize it as middle of the road as far as manufactured furniture is concerned. It not junk by any means (well by our custom hand crafted fine woodworking standards it is ). It is not really expensive nor it is really cheap (read Junk) like you might find at Ashley Furniture.

My bedroom suite is Thomasville -- have had it for 20+ years. Will keep it until I build that Greene & Greene inspired bedroom suite my wife wants to commission me for but years away....

I paid less then $100 for it and yes i am excited about it but like to know if this would be worth it down the road. Im new at this woodworking i did a bookcases last year and wow i relized i was good at it and needed to learn alot on woodworking. I have restored pieces sence then and built wine display but was alot easier then this desk. Thomasville furniture has been around sence 1904 with 1 chair and it grew from there, he built quility furniture and a good price but later prices got higher and quility went up even more. This desk is a mix of real wood and dove tails and wood veneer but only a 3/16 on an inch was chipboard ontop and wood venner ontop of it in a dimoand patern. there cheap desk today are $1000 according to dealers. So im going to restore it just want the best route possible for it and if down the road it will be worth something then i will keep it i like the desk alot. Maybe i get Bush to sit at it and sign it that it would be worth alot lol.