Writing Surfaces

[Hjanes]

I am refreshing a desk owned by Thomas Sparrow made about 1825 which our church inherited.  The question is about the writing surface.  The pull-out surface is a frame and panel, with the top of the panel being about 1/16 in below the frame surface.  It was previously surfaced in green felt.  The panel is original, likely poplar, surfaced nicely on top, incomplete and sort of flat on the bottom.
Was green felt available and used in 1825 or so for mid-range quality desks?
I don't see signs of leather on the old surface, but it could have been refreshed several times in two centuries.
If felt is appropriate, is there a particular definition of a felt that would be most like the original?  And if felt, is there a preferred adhesive method for putting the felt down?
It's not a super-high value desk, but we don't want to go too far afield either.
Help, please.


Wow, in 14 hours I get solid advice and understanding.  Thanks to all of you.

[klkirkman]

When one of the high end reproduction kit manufacturers brought out the Jefferson writing desk a few years back ,it was done with agreen  felt surface. As that item was made under license, I would hope and believe that the material used was probably period correct.

Karl

[John Cashman]

I believe that writing surfaces usually used baize instead of felt. Baize is a woven fabric, usually wool but sometimes cotton, while felt is a non-woven wool product. Baize is the material used on better pool tables these days. Both materials were around for centuries before 1825.

I would first shellac the surface of the panel, to make future removal easier, then use a very thin hide glue to attach the fabric. If the glue is too thick, it will make the fabric too stiff. Hide glue will ensure you can reverse the restoration in the future if you need to.

[klkirkman]

The material used for the kit may well have been baize; I have learned the difference now from this thread, but did not know then to look for the difference. I certainly was not leather, it was a green wool material.

Not to excuse my ignorance in any way, but one source states that "felt" is an American English term for baize, an example given being pool table  bed covering which is usually baize today as noted by John, but commonly called felt.

Karl

[awleonard]

Mack Headley addresses the subject in the card table video he did.  Can't recall how much detail, but I seem to recall he used a hot iron to smooth the "green material."  Might be worth a look.

Tony

[John Cashman]

This would be consistent with hide glue as well. The heat reactivates the glue, and would allow smoothing.

[pearle]

The hide glue sounds good to me. When I made this card table several years ago, I used pool table baize obtained from a local pool table supply house. It was two-ply: green cloth with a white backing. I tested a couple of aerosol PS glues before settling on regular contact adhesive to attach the cloth. This worked for my purposes, but I'm not sure it would be commercially satisfactory.  Applying the fabric without wrinkles and with satisfactory adhesion at the corners were the major problems. I did have to contend with the joint between the two tops (which won't be an issue on a writing top.) The white undercloth showing along the edges of the cloth is a continuing problem.

I don't know how much of a problem the two-ply would be if you used hide glue. You could test to see.

(My baize source was here.)

Preston Earle
www.sawdustforbrains.blogspot.com

[John Cashman]

Very nice table, Preston. I particularly like the Goddard-style skirt.

[msiemsen]

Londonderry Brasses stocks baize
http://www.londonderry-brasses.com/
Nancy is great to deal with.
Mike

[Jack Plane]

Seemingly, baize is used mainly for lining billiard and snooker tables these days and unfortunately for us traditional types, contains about 10% Nylon to 'improve' its durability. Snooker table baize is also much finer than furnishing baize with imperceivable warp and weft threads ? more akin to felt (perhaps that's where the confusion in nomenclature emerged from). And it just looks plasticy to me.

Some of the re-enactment suppliers keep 100% wool baize and even some of the wool serge is fine enough for tables etc.

I've only ever seen replacement baizes laid with animal glue: Traditionally it was laid with wallpaper paste (flour and water, though the modern cellulose stuff works just as well). There's no fear of heat damaging polished surfaces and no worry of shrinkage, plus the fabric can be more easily straightened when laid 'cold'.