In August I bought an old, 7-drawer student’s desk at a garage sale. Since then I’ve been converting it to a clockmaker’s bench. This note is a quick update; I plan to write a full, how-to booklet once I’ve completed it.

I learned amateur clock repairers often make their own benches, starting from a solid writing desk. I bought mine at a garage sale.

The main changes I’m making to turn this desk into a clockmaker’s desk:

1. Replace most of the drawers with a lot more, thinner drawers.
2. Add height to bring the desktop to a comfortable 33 inches (about 84 cm).
3. Add a trim around the desktop, to keep parts from rolling off.
4. Paint the whole thing, because I didn’t think I could match the new drawers to the old stain.

Here’s a mid-way picture of the new drawers and height:

I also made my own 3D printed knobs for the drawers.

At this point I’ve added the trim along the top, routed a pencil trough in the desktop front to catch rolling parts, and am almost done painting the desk, less the drawers.

I expect painting the 22 (!) drawers will take quite a while. Again, I plan to write a “how I did it” brochure once the project is done. Wish me luck!