Industrial Metal Desks

[mikesova]

Yeah, me too. Laser eye model?

Yep, he's a laser cat!

 

[Inventive1]

Does anyone know where to buy repair parts for a steel case desk?

 

[JC23]

Find out who made it and Google from there. Then try metal desk repair.

Good luck.

 

[JC23]

Saw one on Cleveland, OH CL for only $10!

 

[JC23]

Saw one on Cleveland, OH CL for only $10!

Two days later and some guy has one listed for $450!

 

[Call me the Breeze]

So JC... you bought the one for $10, and you are selling it for $450 ?

 

[Ole_Red]

There is one of these desks currently at a Goodwill in Seattle if anyone is interested.

 

[JC23]

So JC... you bought the one for $10, and you are selling it for $450 ?

Yeah, but it's CASH. ONLY for you!

 

[tinbender 66]

Got this one off CL for $20. It's a Steelcase. I just started fixing it up. Painted the drawers flat black, polished/added hardware. Gotta get it out in the garage for the rest of the paint.

I think it would look awesome with some pinstriping.

 

[tinbender 66]

Finished up the desk.

 

[jdaallen]

Finished up the desk.

WOW, desk looks really great! ! Now you got to do something with that chair!!

 

[rickybennett]

hi new hear found your board by trying to find some info on my desk and was wondering if you guys can help he find out what kind it is

it is all metal and the top has that soft top on it i cant find any marking on it at all there is a spot that looks likes there was a plate on one drawer

 

[93sr20det]

hi new hear found your board by trying to find some info on my desk and was wondering if you guys can help he find out what kind it is

it is all metal and the top has that soft top on it i cant find any marking on it at all there is a spot that looks likes there was a plate on one drawer

Don't hold me to it but it looks like my Shaw Walker... The name panel would be right below the lock.

 

[csp]

Steelcase also has the name plate below the lock.

Nice color Tinbender! I've seen something very similar somewhere.

 

[rickybennett]

what would be good to fill in some holes in the soft top of it??

 

[Adrien]

Just picked this up from CL for $50.

Adrien

 

[DonkDonk]

Steelcase also has the name plate below the lock.

Nice color Tinbender! I've seen something very similar somewhere.

Man that's a nice desk!

 

[gatewaysysop]

What a cool topic to be revived, reminds me that I need to share one of my more recent acquisitions. My parents found this gem for me in a used furniture store. Price? A whopping $45! The condition is outstanding!

I actually had one exactly like it in graduate school and I always thought it was the most awesome desk ever. I missed it sorely but now I have one again, for a steal!

Still trying to figure out the best way to set it up, either in my den or reading room, but I'll make it work one way or another. Best part, it came with keys!

Pics, enjoy!

McDowell and Craig, 60" x 30" and close to 200 lbs., what a beast!

 

[D KRAGER]

I'm sitting at a Steelcase desk right now at work. LOL We have several of them. Can't destroy them hardly.

The emblem on this one is on the front of the center drawer.


I would love to have one in the shop, but don't have any room.

 

[Jamesbbh]

Got one of C/L and made it into a little workbench/desk

 

[SebringSilverZ]

Finished cleaning up my tanker desk so I can finally contribute to this thread. Like many others in here I picked up the desk on craigslist for $60. The desk (Allsteel brand) and top were in good condition, but the colors were not to my liking for use in my house. I started to sand down the desk to bare steel but couldn't get a uniform finish. So I decided to give 3m scotchprint 1080 vinyl wrap film in brushed steel finish a try. The wrap was very easy to apply and looked pretty good so I went ahead and covered the entire desk. For the top I picked up a 60" x 30" stainless steel table top from ikea. Here are the results.

 

[Cougar67]

That's awesome. Now you need a Goodform office chair to go with it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mid-Century-Modern-Aluminum-Good-Form-Goodform-Chair-Swivel-Desk-Rolling-/330678760522?pt=Antiques_Furniture&hash=item4cfdfd744a

 

[trbomax]

That is really nice! tell us more about the wrap and how it goes on please.

 

[Yojinbo]

A Steelcase gumtop was my first desk when I made "manager" back in the day. Too narrow and too shallow for my legs, but I loved the sound those drawers made...

 

[richtersrodz]

Wow!!! SebringSilverZ, that desk is beautiful.. You give me some hope on making mine look good one day.. More info on the wrap please.. And I love that top!

 

[SebringSilverZ]

That's awesome. Now you need a Goodform office chair to go with it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mid-Century-Modern-Aluminum-Good-Form-Goodform-Chair-Swivel-Desk-Rolling-/330678760522?pt=Antiques_Furniture&hash=item4cfdfd744a

Thanks. I've been looking at chairs like that. Have also been looking at a stool. If I go the chair route I will definitely use something period correct.

That is really nice! tell us more about the wrap and how it goes on please.

Wow!!! SebringSilverZ, that desk is beautiful.. You give me some hope on making mine look good one day.. More info on the wrap please.. And I love that top!

Thanks guys. The wrap is really very easy to put on. It is peel and stick, so basically a big sticker. I peeled back a little at a time, stuck it down and smoothed with my fingers from the middle to the outside of whatever piece I was covering. The wrap also sticks down and comes back up if you mess up and get a crease or bubble you can't smooth out. I cut the wrap pieces with scissors slightly oversize to what I was covering and then after application I trimmed the excess with a razor knife. Each of the drawers I covered with a single piece, and then for the left and right towers I covered them with 4 pieces each - one piece for outside wall, one piece for inside wall, one piece for back wall and one piece for bottom front. The back wall of the desk (behind where your legs would go) was covered in 2 pieces, one for the inside and one for the outside. All this was done with the desk completely disassembled - drawers out, handles off drawers, towers separated, etc.

And as I mentioned, the wrap is a 3M product (here is more information on 3M's website - http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Graphics/3Mgraphics/Products/Catalog/?PC_7_RJH9U5230GE3E02LECIE20S7M3000000_nid=L5VQSLRKQQbeGW5VRFJ6Q9gl ). They have various finishes including brushed, matte, gloss and carbon fiber, and then a number of colors within each finish. I bought the film on ebay - there are a few sellers on there. I bought four 2' x 5' pieces and one 1' x 5' piece to cover everything and used almost all of it. I have a little less than $200 in the wrap itself. I think this wrap is a great alternative for anyone wants a DIY but doesn't have the skill/patience/setup to paint/powdercoat (which I do not). Any more questions I'm happy to answer.

 

[JC23]

Thanks. What can you tell us about that top?

 

[Cougar67]

He said he got the top from Ikea. Here it is:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40115532/

$129 plus shipping is a deal! I know it's thin and over partical board but it would be outstanding for a desk top. Not so much for a welding table. I'd really like to get one of these desks and a Goodform chair for my teen son. He needs a large desk.

He just saw the pictures and said he'd like one. How much do they weigh and do they come apart?

 

[JC23]

Sorry I missed it - thanks!

 

[SebringSilverZ]

He said he got the top from Ikea. Here it is:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40115532/

$129 plus shipping is a deal! I know it's thin and over partical board but it would be outstanding for a desk top. Not so much for a welding table. I'd really like to get one of these desks and a Goodform chair for my teen son. He needs a large desk.

He just saw the pictures and said he'd like one. How much do they weigh and do they come apart?

Desk is pretty heavy assembled. I looked online and see where someone has weight listed at 175 pounds for a similar desk. This particular desk came apart very easily - all flat head screws. The drawers just pull out. The feet are attached via 4 screws each. The left tower and right tower are connected by the back piece, with 4 screws on each side. The top was bolted down from underneath, but with the drawers removed you can get the top off fairly easy. All in all the desk disassembled into 14 pieces (6 drawers, 4 feet, 2 towers, 1 back piece, 1 top).

 

[grail21]

I just picked up 7 of these desks for a song. I've been looking for a bunch of them for a while and happened on the right deal. At least 4 of them are steelcase, not sure on the make of the other 3. You can't be afraid of hard work if you're going to be moving these puppies around - they are heavy and unwieldy to move by hand, but that's what makes them so great. Virtually indestructible - they don't make desks like this anymore.

I'm going to take this one and restore it to use as a proper desk in my office, love the look of the uni-legs.

I'll take three of them for use in the new shop as work benches (once the shop gets built). I'll elevate them on concrete pads to get them at workbench height and potentially put a piece of steel plate across the tops to use as welding benches. The rest I'll sell on CL. If you use the right keywords in your ad (tanker, battleship, mid century modern, vintage...etc) you can get good money for them. Anywhere from $150 - $400 (if you restore them, that price jumps even more). I'll make my money back by selling just 1 of them, the rest is gravy. Not a bad investment.

This one has the arched legs, the mid-century design folks love this.

Straight Angled legs

 

[64dragnwagon]

Check govdeals.com for these type of desk. It is a site where kocal and state gov. auction off surplus equipment and furniture. I bought a fire resistant upright file cabinet real cheap there. I have yet to restore it but when I do I will use it in my used car lot to protect my customer files from fire and theft.

 

[Ole_Red]

There is one of these desks currently at a Goodwill in Seattle if anyone is interested.

The desk is still there. Was pretty cheap if I recall correctly.. $40 maybe? If I had the room to get I would.

 

[page2171]

A timely pullback of this thread...

I got this desk on Saturday.

I would love to find a desk like that. That desk is awesome.

 

[Blackie94Gt]

I just saved of these from my work, they were going to throw it away. It's manufactured by the Invincible Steel Furniture Company of Wisconsin. It's a tanker style and the top was some type of rubber that has dry rotted. It has a little surface rust but all the drawers work fine so I'm going to disassemble, clean, sandblast and powdercoat it. Not sure about the top, once I get the rubber off it's going to look odd, so maybe I'll get some glass.

 

[fizix]

Bull, in case you are still poking around this thread, based on the picture you posted back in '09 that might be the brand "General Fireproofing". Maybe the logo is missing but it should be just under the lock on the center drawer. I have one very similar to it from GF. One of the companies that does restoration has scanned copies of the original catalogues. Mine is a model 1660 F (60"x34"). Check it out:

http://pastpresentfuture.net/furniture/desks/gf1600/index.html

To see other brands follow the link that says "Archives" near the top.

Also, the tops weren't normal linoleum. They were usually thicker and also a different consistency for the benefit of writing.

 

[fizix]

Hey Bull, look what I found on that website:

http://pastpresentfuture.net/examples/images/desk32.html

Looks like yours!

 

[Blackie94Gt]

I spent a couple of hours taking this beast apart. It's amazing to see how this was built. There is a mechanism in the rear for the drawers that I'm not sure what it does and the top connects with a latch type system similar to a window in your home, everything else unscrewed pretty easily. The top is trashed, the rubber is not salvageable and I'm not sure how to replace, so I will try and blast it off or just get a stainless top from Ikea. I removed the feet and hardware and polished them up, turned out nice. I think I will powder coat in metallic deep red. I'll get some pics of the insides with the top off tomorrow.

 

[reddog289]

@grail21. The desk you plan to use as your office desk is almost like the one I had at work. Miss that desk. Also, I would rather move one of those desk any day over the crappy ones the teachers use now.

 

[poolmike]

I have a vintage Steelcase in my basement. Got it for free(you move this tank and it's yours) It is olive green. Hoping to use it for a home office soon. Right now it is a catch all.