# Competition entry WIP: writing desk



## stef (26 Apr 2009)

I'll try to document this build:
From the brief description:
* I will design and make a smallish writing desk which will be (hopefully) pleasing to the eye, and be able to hold laptop and cable modem, plus keep a shed load of cables and supplies out of sight. And a pen. The design will have to be airy and light so that it doesnt clutter/invade the room but still get noticed for its subtelty. it will be used as a ocasional desk for the laptop, nothing heavy duty. a cross between a desk and a hall table. 
level will be intermediate, i think.*

Soooo, after thinkering some more with the leg design, the design is well underway. I also took some good advice on the leg/top joins, and decided on most of the others. Time to get going !







So the first thing i did this weekend was to get the first template for the legs ready. 






I transfered the design onto some MDF, and used this to mark the oak stock.































I picked up a suitable piece from the pile. This stock should be enough to get the project finished ! would you beleive i paid only 70euros for this lot (21 plates of well dried oak!)!
I then started cutting the first of four leg "cores". The legs will be made from 3 pieces laminated. only the middle one has the middle brace. So i started cutting those first. Then for the others, i can just trim the extra bit from the MDF template.
I will also use the template as a copying mask and a router bit with a roller bearing.


----------



## BradNaylor (26 Apr 2009)

I'd just written some comments and then realised that I can't - being a judge and all!

#-o 

Is that blood on your bench?

:shock: 

Brad


----------



## stef (26 Apr 2009)

BradNaylor":1sg4430f said:


> I'd just written some comments and then realised that I can't - being a judge and all!
> 
> #-o
> 
> ...



err.. oh yes.. i like to give myself completely to my work. Limbs, fingers.. it's only flesh.
(ok, it's just some shellac i cooked up a few days ago)


----------



## Night Train (26 Apr 2009)

:?: 
From your drawing I thought that each leg was going to be made out of two pieces jointed together with the grain carefully selected to follow the curves of each piece. 
There is a lot of short grain there that would be a weak point if the leg gets a knock especially as it is also going to be a thinner section.


----------



## richburrow (26 Apr 2009)

Nice jigsaw :mrgreen: 
You have got a bargain on the oak front.


----------



## Ironballs (26 Apr 2009)

I would agree with the comments on short grain, my compo entry is going to have curved legs and my biggest worry is the grain/curve issue and the weight. I think if you went down the 2 piece route you should be alright.

Do like your design though, very good


----------



## stef (27 Apr 2009)

Ah...yes.
school boy error.
Following your comments, i had a closer look at the work so far, and yes, i can see a nice split along the grain waiting to happen.
so i had a bit of a rethink, and will make the legs in 3 components: 2 for the main support (sandwidtched) and a separate piece for the brace. Each will follow the grain. The brace will be tennoned into the main part of the leg.
This has many advantages: It will use less wood, and the legs will end up thinner.


----------



## OPJ (27 Apr 2009)

I also share these concerns about the legs. :?

Are you not preparing the timber and only using it as rough sawn?


----------



## JanneKi (27 Apr 2009)

Noticed the jig saw, too - any comments on it? I think I might have ordered one from Axminster last week and would be eager to hear some comments on it... Based on the specs it should be good, but still reasonably priced.


----------



## stef (27 Apr 2009)

JanneKi":76jwceg0 said:


> Noticed the jig saw, too - any comments on it? I think I might have ordered one from Axminster last week and would be eager to hear some comments on it... Based on the specs it should be good, but still reasonably priced.



yes, i think it is pretty good.
but then i only have a green bosch to compare it to.
but it went through the 1 inch oak like butter really.
only negativ point i'd have is the bevel adujstement, which requires a allen key (hidden in the base plate) and doesnt look too acurate.


----------



## Night Train (27 Apr 2009)

stef":38lvb7qc said:


> Ah...yes.
> school boy error.
> Following your comments, i had a closer look at the work so far, and yes, i can see a nice split along the grain waiting to happen.
> so i had a bit of a rethink, and will make the legs in 3 components: 2 for the main support (sandwidtched) and a separate piece for the brace. Each will follow the grain. The brace will be tennoned into the main part of the leg.
> This has many advantages: It will use less wood, and the legs will end up thinner.


If you make the main leg as two sides glued together you can save some effort in cutting the mortise if you routed out half the mortise in each piece before you glued it together. It will help keep the mortise sides straight and parallel.
Also try to design your joint so that the shoulders of the mortise and the tenon meet on a straight line, preferably also so that the glue lines all come to the surface at or near 90 degrees.

If you glued the secondary piece in following the curved profile and then tried to clean up you will hit the glue line at a shallow skew angle and it will leave a thick glue smear line that you can't hide.


----------



## stef (27 Apr 2009)

> If you make the main leg as two sides glued together you can save some effort in cutting the mortise if you routed out half the mortise in each piece before you glued it together. It will help keep the mortise sides straight and parallel.



yes, i was planning to do just that.


> Also try to design your joint so that the shoulders of the mortise and the tenon meet on a straight line, preferably also so that the glue lines all come to the surface at or near 90 degrees.
> 
> If you glued the secondary piece in following the curved profile and then tried to clean up you will hit the glue line at a shallow skew angle and it will leave a thick glue smear line that you can't hide.



that i dont follow..
i was planning to cut the brace about 2inches longer than required (the depth of the mortice) and then place it on the template, mark the shoulder position. then cut the tenon according to those shoulder marks.
(tenon on 4 sides)
then use the tenon to mark the "half" mortices in each pieces on the legs.
Carve/route the mortices, glue up the leg, and slip the tenon in the leg..
is that what you had in mind ?


----------



## Night Train (28 Apr 2009)

I was thinking of the actual shoulder of the secondary leg piece tenon. When you cut the tenon on that piece it will have a small shoulder. That shoulder would be easier to cut to fit the main leg if it is straight instead of following the curve of the main leg.

However, no matter if it is straight or curved, at the bottom end of the shoulder it will meet the main leg on a long tapering shoulder that disappears into nothing as you blend in the curve but will leave a glue smear.

To avoid this you can move the shoulder inwards and have it inset into the main leg like this:




I don't have any nice drawing packages so this was done in paint! I hope you can see what I mean.


----------



## stef (28 Apr 2009)

I see what you mean.
however, i cannot make the join the way you suggest, because the leg brace is thinner than the leg.
the brace is 1 plank. the leg itself is a 2 plank laminate.
so the shoulder has to stop on the side of the leg.
but yes, the shoulder on the brace will be curved.
in order to cut this shoulder acurately, can use the leg itself has a guide for the router. this way, the curve should be a perfect match. hopefully.


----------



## Chris Knight (28 Apr 2009)

If you are laminating the leg, you could pick the inner piece for grain direction running in line with the brace and the outer two running in line with the leg. The glued-up assembly should be strong enough.


----------



## Night Train (28 Apr 2009)

stef":3micry17 said:


> I see what you mean.
> however, i cannot make the join the way you suggest, because the leg brace is thinner than the leg.


You can if you treat my rough sketch as a cross section through the middle of the whole assembly.
The brace does not need to go in very deep, maybe only about 4-5mm into a shallow socket with the tenon doing most of the work. Or you can skip the tenon altogether and use the whole of that part of the leg as a tenon with no shoulder. It will be both effective and easy to do especially as the brace is thinner then the leg.


----------



## stef (28 Apr 2009)

Night Train":3p1n8rdj said:


> stef":3p1n8rdj said:
> 
> 
> > I see what you mean.
> ...


ah yes. and this way, the brace will be impossible to pull out.
but then again, i would prefer it to be a shouldered tennon. this way, the brace just looks as if it is resting on the leg, rather than stuck in the leg, as if it did not have shoulders. do you see what i mean ?
I'll do it with a shoulder, and seeming as i have plenty of stock, i'll keep your suggestion in mind, and revert to it if i am not too happy about the shouldered tenon.


----------



## Chems (28 Apr 2009)

I'm still intrigued by the same thing olly is, are you using this as a rough finish piece? Not planed down before use?


----------



## Night Train (28 Apr 2009)

I didn't even bother wondering about the finish  

Sometimes I will make up components that are going to be organic in form without bothering to prepare the timber, except around the joints, if I am going to completely carve the piece afterwards.

But, yes, same concern. Have you thought about planing and flattening the timber first to get a flat and square face/edge before marking out so that you know the work will end up true afterwards?
It will help in locating the joints accurately and squarely on each piece and in getting dimensions equal on all the legs.


----------



## stef (28 Apr 2009)

the piece will be planned before the final shaping takes place. at the moment, it's just a rough cut with the jigsaw. the final shape will be obtained with the router and the mdf template.
I am starting from big oak plates, and i dont have a thicknesser. i dont fancy planing the whole plate down before cuting it in pieces!


----------



## Night Train (28 Apr 2009)

That's fair enough, no point plaining waste.

Plan ahead though to make sure that you are able to hold and support the work to allow for planing, shaping and cramping later on.

You can saw out the brace with a built in cramping block parallel to the back of the leg. The block can be sawn off later when it is assembled.


----------



## stef (28 Apr 2009)

Night Train":28dc8hgc said:


> That's fair enough, no point plaining waste.
> 
> Plan ahead though to make sure that you are able to hold and support the work to allow for planing, shaping and cramping later on.
> 
> You can saw out the brace with a built in cramping block parallel to the back of the leg. The block can be sawn off later when it is assembled.


good call !


----------



## stef (27 Jun 2009)

Progress has been good on this project.
i managed to cut all the inner braces and shape the four of them.i shaped the tenon end so that i could use the router table to remove the material to make the actual tenon. That's done, but not shown on the picture. Result is spot on. the curve of the tenon follows exactely the curve of the leg.





I also progressed on the top. I worked out how i wanted to make the panel-like top, and started shaping the oak.
I picked some really nicely grained pieces to form the top. I also followed what was suggested here, and made the top thicker at the joint. I'll thin it towards the edges.





I have almost completely shaped the 5 components of the panel.


----------



## stef (30 Jun 2009)

Top, nearly finish.. the grain on that oak is spot on.


----------



## stef (16 Aug 2009)

Finally got a chance to work on this project again. weather was glorious, so i took the router outside, and routed the mortices for the legs. I also glued some of the legs.













And here is the top, with frame.


----------



## stef (9 Sep 2009)

legs are in..now thinking about the box..


----------



## Blister (9 Sep 2009)

Wooo , nice , its coming on well :lol:


----------



## The Shark (9 Sep 2009)

Hi Stef,
This is looking good. Will be interested to see the finished article.

Malc


----------



## stef (10 Sep 2009)

Thanks !
it is getting tricky now. 
it's not easy to manage all those curves, and cut parts that will fit, without having anything glued in place !
Its also tricky to keep thinking about how the wood will age and shrink, and what impact it will have on the piece. like the squareness of the legs, for example.


----------



## stef (23 Oct 2009)

I worked all day on the desk.
i spent a long time sanding and scraping the legs, ready for the finish.
Most parts are now ready to assemble.
This is the workshop




The legs, finished.
Routing the dust trap on the top









Fitting the edge of the top flap.




The two panels for the flap. I sliced a thick plank using a hand saw to get those two parts ..took me ages !






Glued





The drawer support









I am using a large MDF sheet to check it's all square 






I think i am going to see this project through now.. it's been very difficult.
I underestimated the headache that those curves would bring. There is nothing square to hang on to with them, and i really felt like throwing the towel a few times.
I hope i'll get more points for using reclaimed oak, as it did not help !
:wink:


----------



## oddsocks (23 Oct 2009)

Stef, I really like the look of the desk. For some reason I had missed this thread until now so it was good to see the progress and the finals shape of the legs.

One concern I have is with the flap given that it was recently ripped from one plank - how are you going to stop it cupping (even if slightly) as any cupping would result in it not sitting flush in the top of the desk? I built a much simpler desk many years ago in chestnut and included a lift up lid in one part but it bowed within a few weeks and needed to be re-ripped and jointed to get it flat (hence my concern!).


Dave


----------



## stef (23 Oct 2009)

oddsocks":wyzj8inb said:


> Stef, I really like the look of the desk. For some reason I had missed this thread until now so it was good to see the progress and the finals shape of the legs.
> 
> One concern I have is with the flap given that it was recently ripped from one plank - how are you going to stop it cupping (even if slightly) as any cupping would result in it not sitting flush in the top of the desk? I built a much simpler desk many years ago in chestnut and included a lift up lid in one part but it bowed within a few weeks and needed to be re-ripped and jointed to get it flat (hence my concern!).
> 
> ...



umm..
i am green..
so i didnt really consider this could happen.
however, i have a thicker piece at both ends of the flap which should hopefully keep it all lined up.
i cut the plank about 2 months ago, and just flattened it a bit recently. hopefully all the cupping has already taken place..


----------



## OPJ (23 Oct 2009)

It appears to be coming together very well indeed. I look forward to seeing this one completed in time! :wink:


----------



## crazylilting (23 Oct 2009)

Impressed!!!

Great work, perhaps take the flap pieces inside and let them acclimatize before planing them taking care to flip them every day then when joining them pay close attention to the grains natural movement and put a finish on both sides right away.


----------



## Ironballs (23 Oct 2009)

I remember this piece, very nice design and I can sympathise with the issues curves give you, though mine are much simpler. Keep pushing for that deadline


----------



## stef (24 Oct 2009)

Today's progress report.
a drawer..
The compulsary dovetail work
not the nicest DT in the world, but they are good enough.





lining up






cutting





fitting





and here is a nice little drawer for the desk. big enough for a few pens !


----------



## stef (28 Oct 2009)

almost there...
I stained it this afternoon..


----------

