Steel Tanker Desk Restoration

Finished desk and file cabinet.

My grandfathers desk

Inherited my grandfather's steel tanker desk, and found a General Fireproofing file cabinet to match.

Desk before restoration in workshop.

Initial teardown before moving.

Desk disassembled parts in room.

Desk loaded into the trunk.

Desk and cabinet after pickup.

Tear-down

The starting point was solid but rough, with rust, dirt, and worn paint all over the working parts.

Worn mounting bolt closeup.

Lead test kit.

The lead test took about 24 hours to develop, which points toward a chromate-based lead yellow rather than a quicker-reacting pigment.

Grandfathers die found within.

I put my grandfather's die back inside as an easter egg for whoever is next to disassemble it.

Prep

Once the desk was apart, the job became cleaning, sorting hardware, and getting every panel ready for paint.

Sorted hardware bags.

Cleaned parts staged for paint.

Door panels ready for paint.

Linoleum desktop.

Steel age nameplate closeup.

Masked nameplate before paint.

Shoe covers and paint can.

Respirator selfie 4.

Paint

The blue frame color and gray panels brought it back fast once the pieces were clean and ready for paint.

Garage paint booth wide.

Painted parts hanging in garage.

Cabinet shell in primer.

Freshly painted cabinet shell.

Painted desktop underside.

Reassembly

Once the paint was done, the desk started to come back together in stages, beginning with the cabinet and working back toward the sliding parts and locks.

Finished file cabinet.

Desk top and side panels fit check.

Typewriter shelf installed.

Desk reassembled with the typewriter shelf.

Drawer shelf installed.

Typewrite body partially reassembled.

Desk during final assembly.

Desk lock closeup 3.

Door latch closeup.

Finished

The finished set keeps the industrial look but feels a lot less tired than when it came home.

Finished desk and file cabinet.

Finished desk.

Open left cabinet and typewriter shelf.

Finished desk with chair and file cabinet.