Every Man Should Have a Roll-Top Desk

Metallicman ^ | 16DEC18 | Editorial staff

[vannrox]

Here I would like to discuss a long standing dream that I have had since I was a small boy; the possession of a large roll-top desk complete with a multitude of tiny drawers, chubby-holes, and spaces for all my personal junk and treasures. I have had this dream for a long… long… long time. With that in mind, let’s discuss this work of art; this magnificent idea and concept of the roll-top desk.

During the last century, the idea of a Roll-Top desk was appealing and very popular all over America. Many American homes had these styles of desks and throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s they faded into obscurity. There was a brief revival of Roll-Top desks in the 1980’s and then they have been forgotten as overly expensive and extravagant items of furniture. This is unfortunate, because every man should have a Roll-Top desk.



The first time that I encountered a roll-top desk was a very long time ago. One of my friends had inherited it from his father. It was in his bedroom and he would work on his various projects at the desk. He had this kind of glue with a rubber top that you could use to spread glue on paper and make scrap books with .

He also had a punching bag in his basement and me and him would try boxing at such an early age. Heck! We were only in second grade, for goodness sakes. It was kinda goofy at the time, but our fathers both thought that boxing was something that all boys had to learn.

What is a Roll-Top Desk?

A roll-top desk is a large

[super7man]

Oh, and I agree with our regarding the wonderful sounds of old shortwave radios.

[bgill]

Best desk chair is a round cooler with a pillow on top. The plastic swivels just fine on carpet and no wheels to break. Cheap enough to replace when my fat butt breaks down the top. No arms that get in the way. Scoot closer to the desk by pulling on the handle.

I’ll pass on the roll top desk because I’d rather have the nice view out the windows. Sitting at a $35 garage sale find regular desk of solid wood and lots of drawers.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Everyone should have a QUALITY roll-top desk.

Actually, I really don’t care if it’s roll or just regular. Many pieces were made with all kinds of shelving and so on.

Anyway, believe me, I’ve experienced CHEAP roll-top and it ain’t pretty.

[Salgak]

I picked up one on Guam, when I was stationed there in the 1980s. No leather writing surface: mine was marble. .

[Keyhopper]

Check out a company called, “Wood by you”.
They have unfinished roll top desks that you can finish yourself.
I find that a little stain mixed with boiled linseed oil provides a beautiful finish. Or just stain it and shoot it with a clear coat lacquer.

[KC Burke]

Do you prefer lacquer? I always want varnish on anything that has hands frequently touching or possible moisture from coasters etcetera. I has some wonderful red mahogany kitchen cabinets I had to completely refinish as the lacquer finish failing pulled stain off along with it.

I find a moisture resistant varnish and go for about six coats.

[CJ Wolf]

They buy “old looking” distressed crap and think it’s cool. I know lots of millennials that are into cars and classic cars. But they are all retro-sexuals too and are techs that work with their hands.

[TruthWillWin]

Have one that looks almost identical to the one pictured. Only the drawer pulls are different.

The only piece of furniture I was able to keep in 1983 when going thru my 1st divorce.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

“Millennials view cars as a piece of transportation, in the same way you might view a refrigerator.”

I have never viewed a refrigerator as a piece of transportation.

[Mears]

“Millennials view cars as a piece of transportation”

---

So do I,and I’m the grandmother of a couple of millennials.

A car is something reliable to get me from Point A to Point B——no more,no less.

.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

About 25 years ago, I acquired a very nice table-top radio. There was a grad-student lounge area where people would leave unwanted items when they moved out of an office, and one day there was a nice radio sitting there, playing music, so I picked it up and still have it (sounds great). What happened, I’m sure, is that some youngster turned it on, decided it didn’t work, and walked off without waiting for the tubes to warm up.

[muggs]

I love them. I don’t know where I would put one but I would make room.

[Redleg Duke]

Thanks for the advice.

[catnipman]

i’v got one ... a big solid oak one ... biggest waste of space and most useless piece of furniture in the entire house ... it’s huge, but has no room for a computer, which is the most essential piece of gear for any home office, or away-from-home office for that matter ...

also, it has to be shoved up against a wall, so you’re always facing the wall, and can’t easily see anything else going on around you, particularly a football game on the 60” plasma TV ...

[catnipman]

at least ice boxes can be renovated inside with felt lining and glass shelves to function as a bar for storing liquor and barware ... roll-top desks are just a waste of space ...

[catnipman]

“The closest we got to a rolltop desk was a rolltop breadbox.”

much more practical than a rolltop desk ...

[GingisK]

If you teach with an Arduino using sketch, nobody actually learns anything about microprocessors or digital electronics. Not only that, little is learned about software tools. All one has to do to make use of an Arduino is assemble a project using the pictures and then download the software for that project. Hey, it works, but the student knows little more than before doing the project.

I teach students first how to make things work using only 74xx00 series integrated circuits. Next I teach them about the internal architecture of the AVR micro controller. Then they will write their first project in assembler for the AVR. Moving forward, they write their projects using the gcc toolchain under the Code::Blocks workbench. Students learn to manipulate the compiler by tweaking its flags, same as they do the linker. Port I/O is accomplished by directly accessing the registers. If they want to use a timer, they must set it up directly.

The objective is to allow them to create viable projects without publicly supplied crutches. They can also plop an AVR processor on a breadboard and make something work.

They are fashioned to be designers, not users. Leaders, not followers.

[GingisK]

That is funny, and sad at the same time. If you see another, snatch it for me.

[Larry Lucido]

Actually, a large enough roll top desk could have worked better for George.

[HotHunt]

My wife manages our cattle operation from this very desk.

Read 'em and weep....