I have this Army field desk, which as best I can tell is 1950's vintage. It was in the basement of the wife's house when we got married, no idea where it came from originally.

I'd like to clean it up, make some minor repairs and use it for a shop desk or foreman's desk.



Main body of it is plywood, with the outside covered in what appears to be a thin layer of vinyl and the corners and edges trimmed in an unidentified material. At a guess, it's either leatherette or some sort of treated paperboard.

It's been sitting on the floor of a damp basement for years, and the riveted trim around the corners on the bottom is rotting away.

Looking for either an ID of what it is and a source, or ideas for a replacement material. Original-looking would be nice but preservation is more important than originality.

I believe that is WW2. If you are on Facebook there is a page called Steve’s militia restoration and reproduction. It’s a page for people looking to restore their own items or items they have created. I think you could find some help there.

Checkout militarytextiles.com

They may be able to help…

Or, if it is too far gone… use the existing desk as a pattern, and build a brand new one. Might be an interesting build.

quote:

Originally posted by oldfireguy:
I believe that is WW2. If you are on Facebook there is a page called Steve’s militia restoration and reproduction. It’s a page for people looking to restore their own items or items they have created. I think you could find some help there.

That was my first thought, but the ones I see from WW2 have leather side handles, this one has metal handles.

Not on FB, but thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Patriot:
Checkout militarytextiles.com

They may be able to help…

I'll send them an email, but I expect they're not in the business of selling 4 feet of something.

quote:

Originally posted by SigJacket:
Or, if it is too far gone… use the existing desk as a pattern, and build a brand new one. Might be an interesting build.

The wooden structure is sound. The only real issue is whatever that materiel is that was used to trim the edges, and then only on the bottom.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by oldfireguy:
I believe that is WW2. If you are on Facebook there is a page called Steve’s militia restoration and reproduction. It’s a page for people looking to restore their own items or items they have created. I think you could find some help there.

That was my first thought, but the ones I see from WW2 have leather side handles, this one has metal handles.

Not on FB, but thanks!

I'm not the least knowledgeable on such stuff, but it is possible it could be from that period as production changes often occurred as supply ability changed. Unless I was misunderstanding that the actual corner reinforcements are some man-made textile, I'm assuming they're metal?

That said, it looks like some generic trunk corner. This place doesn't have exact duplicates, but it's one of many places that offer such hardware. They appear to be in Lewiston, Maine-IDK how close you are, but they might could help find parts and offer advice. You might even just drill out another hole or use some aviation snips to make the right contours.

The banding strip looks nothing special. I'm sure a metal shop could bend some mild steel strips and you could drill holes.

That textile covering looks like generic stuff that old an inexpensive luggage used-I could even imagine something like that covering a guitar amplifier. You might search online around those terms.

One more link for generic trunk corners.

Sorry, I wasn't clear.

The actual corner pieces are metal and in reasonable shape, just need a little rust removal and repainting.

The edges -or perhaps joints would be a better word- between sides and bottom/top/back are wrapped with some sort of material and riveted through the plywood every couple of inches. That material has rotted away on the bottom.

If I can't find a suitable material, the plan is to bend up some light sheet metal or use some light aluminum angle.

Maybe that place in Lewiston could help with the material ID? Worth a call or trip if you're close.