Walnut Desk

[edward alexander]

To lay out the angled dovetails I first set this square the thickness of the stock-I make it just a little proud,just a little-then mark the shoulders of the tails-


I set a sliding bevel at about 12 degrees ,the angled cut off will go between the bevel and the piece being marked-

when you flip the bevel to mark the other side of the tail the block stays the same-


next I continue the mark across the end grain,then put the piece back on the bench and with the sliding bevel and cut off mark the other side

before I saw down the line I take a chisel and tap each marked line-just a tap-the saw will find and follow this groove-I do the same on the shoulder marks-


my dovetail jig-

next cutting the dovetails
alex

[John Keeton]

Great progress post Alex! Some really efficient shortcut layout tips, and saving the angled waste is a super idea. I have done that on building stairs before, and it is a lot simpler than trying to duplicate an angle again.

I particularly like the exotic glue bottle on the bench with the cork - kind of holds together the woodworker????

[Tommy Emmons]

One word. Wow

[edward alexander]

Sawing the tails-










next chiseling out the waste.
alex

[Chris Padilla]

OOooooohhhh, handcut off-angle dovetails!!! Good stuff!

[mreza Salav]

Great series Ed, thanks for showing the masterpiece and all the steps.
I, like others, have been enjoying the step by step photos.

[Andy Gilbert]

Beautiful design, gorgeous wood and best of all a play by play. Thanks for sharing. It really helps those of us who are trying to get to that level to see how others work. Love the large crisp photos!!!!

[Dan Mages]

LOML wants to thank you for the beautiful wood porn. I sure hope you use a very good waterproof top for this desk to protect it from all of the drool.

Dan

[edward alexander]

Before I start chiseling away the waste I sharpen a few chisels-one of the chisels I'm going to use has a little chip off the corner of the edge,I've been planning on grinding it for awhile - also nearly all my chisel have been honed to where the hollow grind is about gone,so I grind a few chisels ,(six) the ones I'll be using today-first my grinder-I took a 1/3 hp 1725 rpm motor made an extension that screws to the shaft,the wheel is a 6" 60 grit pink wheel,I dress it so the center is a little higher than the edges,the tool rest is from a Delta wet dry grinder,I taped threads in the top corners so I can screw the 1" wide piece of cocobolo on-



I set the angle of the tool rest with the chisel I'm going to grind-first I grind the edge down blunt,if there is a chip out on the edge grind down until it's gone,I just eye-ball it to keep it square-next I grind down to where the blunt edge is sharp again-I keep a jar of water for dunking the blade after three are four passes,also I keep my fingers close enough that if it starts getting to hot I'll know in time,if I should burn the metal it will be at one of the corners,the I grind it back blunt again and start over--but that never happens-
setting the angle-

grinding the edge blunt-


grind down to the edge-

the hollow grind from the 6" wheel-

alex

[John Nesmith]

I just found this thread. I sure am looking forward to the continuation of it. Incredible work, and much appreciated documentation.

[Igor Petrenko]

Edward! This is very cruel!
I have this thread bookmarked and checking every week for progress for almost a year now.
I hope you are just lazy and nothing bad happened to stop you posting here.

[Joe A Faulkner]

Alex, the desk is a phenomenal piece of work! Great design, and nothing works together as well as walnut and curly maple in my book. Just great! Can't wait to see what you do with the "leftovers."

What John Keeton said.

[Joshua Culp]

Edward! This is very cruel!
I have this thread bookmarked and checking every week for progress for almost a year now.
I hope you are just lazy and nothing bad happened to stop you posting here.

Alex was posting the same desk project on familywoodworking.org. He last logged onto that site 30 Oct 2009. He posted his phone number on that site (512 360 3083) if you want to check up on him.

[Zhi Tian]

Woo, what a masterpiece!

[Ken Shoemaker]

Edward,

As someone else said. Your "design sense" is outstanding. Very nice work.