Re: How would you like to build this?

I've only just seen this because Billy bumped it up. Those were the days when craftsmen were proud of their work, and rightly so. The intricate skills that went into making that were fantastic. Not just for the woodwork or the mechanism (which few would be capable of these days) but the art work as well. It must have taken years to design that, and years to make it.

Very beautiful indeed.

Re: How would you like to build this?

I'm a carpenter but that kind or work would drive me buggy. Those guys apprentice from when they are 12, way back when. Hard to do that kind of work now. I'd think very few furniture makers could do it.
Nice piece.

Re: How would you like to build this?

That is brilliant .. Must be one heavy piece of furniture ...

Re: How would you like to build this?

they were skilled in those days

Re: How would you like to build this?

That is just incredible!

But imagine trying to find something in a hurry - you would have to be a really organised person to deal with a piece of furniture that good !!

Re: How would you like to build this?

Amazing skills those old craftsmen had, no Black and Decker in those days.

Re: How would you like to build this?

Wonderful piece of engineering and craftsmanship. That sort of thing appeals to me with all the hidden compartments, but would I be able to remember what I had put in which compartment? I think not!

Re: How would you like to build this?

Fantastic piece of cabinet work with mechanical hardware that just could not be copied today. Made in an age when perfection was an achievable aim and people were willing to dedicate themselves to doing so. Sad to say that today all that has been forgotten, now it's the quick fix that is required.

Re: How would you like to build this?

What an amazing piece of craftsmanship! wonderful to see it still in perfect working order.

That thread was a while ago folks, Ikea have the flatpack version out now.

Re: How would you like to build this?

After looking at the video, this was "manufactured". It was a shop project with parts that were outsourced and manufactured. Look and the wheels, cables, hinges, lock sets, -all the hardware, the veneers came from a mill. This desk- secretary is a product of the early industrial revolution. It was hand fabricated in a furniture shop for sure, by skilled craftsmen and their apprentices, but it was a team effort. There was a designer and a shop foreman- owner.
So get rid of the idea that one or two people put this together by themselves and made every part. Even some features might have been sub assemblies coming from different shops.