I'm in the early planning stages for a project that will essentially
be a recreation of an "Amberg's Patent Letter File" cabinet I ran
across while my wife was craft/quilt supply shopping. The only good
thing about those stores: they quite often have some very nifty
furniture. This was was rescued from an old hardware store and still
had drawer labels like "cement" and "manure". Beautiful quartersawn
red oak and, although it's obvious why we've moved from flat file
storage to hanging files, an attractive, versitile design. Also: not
for sale. "Maybe for $20,000," the owner said. I don't blame her,
really.

Anyway, the thing about these drawers is that they don't have a back.
There's a sprung clip that holds the papers down when you slide the
drawer in. Any idea if this sort of thing is available or what else
might work?

In answer to the question "Why not just put a back on the drawer?"
Well, I'm not sure why *they* didn't (maybe just because it's easier
to pull the file that way?), but the way this shop was using theirs
was an impressive demonstration of why my wife wouldn't want one. You
can slide the drawers in backwards and have a little display shelf
sticking out.

I have some pictures on the digital camera of the actual specimen, but
haven't uploaded them yet. The (near as I can tell) exact same drawer
design, with a clear view of the hardware I'm looking for, can be seen
at
http://www.officemuseum.com/Amberg_L..._drawer_OM.jpg

The actual cabinet isn't shown on this site, but you can see some
examples of similar designs (actually I think the closest is the
"Shannon Filing Cabinet" if you pretend it's only three drawers wide)
at
http://www.officemuseum.com/filing_e...t_cabinets.htm

That said, I'm actually considering construction more like the "Globe
Combination or Sectional File"
http://www.officemuseum.com/Globe_Fi...aders_1_OM.JPG
from that same page and integrating it with a modular barrister
bookcase project I've had on the back burner (awaiting space time and
money). But that doesn't resolve the issue of making the drawers.

We have an Amberg's Patent Cabinet Letter File. There are 42 drawers, each with an oval cut out front for a label. Inside the drawers is a spring clip and a form pasted to the bottom to record the movement of files. There are files still in place reading back to the late 1800's. The cabinet dates 1878. We are intersted in selling the piece. Please contact me either at or my cell 612-750-7463. My name is Dan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Collins I'm in the early planning stages for a project that will essentially be a recreation of an "Amberg's Patent Letter File" cabinet I ran across while my wife was craft/quilt supply shopping. The only good thing about those stores: they quite often have some very nifty furniture. This was was rescued from an old hardware store and still had drawer labels like "cement" and "manure". Beautiful quartersawn red oak and, although it's obvious why we've moved from flat file storage to hanging files, an attractive, versitile design. Also: not for sale. "Maybe for $20,000," the owner said. I don't blame her, really. Anyway, the thing about these drawers is that they don't have a back. There's a sprung clip that holds the papers down when you slide the drawer in. Any idea if this sort of thing is available or what else might work? In answer to the question "Why not just put a back on the drawer?" Well, I'm not sure why *they* didn't (maybe just because it's easier to pull the file that way?), but the way this shop was using theirs was an impressive demonstration of why my wife wouldn't want one. You can slide the drawers in backwards and have a little display shelf sticking out. I have some pictures on the digital camera of the actual specimen, but haven't uploaded them yet. The (near as I can tell) exact same drawer design, with a clear view of the hardware I'm looking for, can be seen at http://www.officemuseum.com/Amberg_L..._drawer_OM.jpg The actual cabinet isn't shown on this site, but you can see some examples of similar designs (actually I think the closest is the "Shannon Filing Cabinet" if you pretend it's only three drawers wide) at http://www.officemuseum.com/filing_e...t_cabinets.htm That said, I'm actually considering construction more like the "Globe Combination or Sectional File" http://www.officemuseum.com/Globe_Fi...aders_1_OM.JPG from that same page and integrating it with a modular barrister bookcase project I've had on the back burner (awaiting space time and money). But that doesn't resolve the issue of making the drawers.