Oak Desk

[Shawn Stennett]

This is a desk I made for a guy at work, I learned to cut dovetails for this project.

[Jim Rimmer]

That is a great looking desk. Nice work.

[Stephen Ash]

That's very elegant looking. Did you turn the legs yourself? Do you have any shots of the dovetails? Very nice job!

Regards,
Steve

[Shawn Stennett]

I know that I have some on my pone but I will look on the computer. My lathe is not big enough for the legs, I wish I would have bought the bed extention so that I could have turned them.

[Shawn Stennett]

I only wish that I did the top ones like the bottom ones, I spaced them alot better.

[Bruce Page]

Very nice Shawn. It looks like a fun project

[George Sanders]

Very elegant lines. Very nice work.

[John Thompson]

Nice job Shawn... don't worry about the top DT's as a DT is a signature joint. You can space them or make them any size you want which distinquishes them from machine cut.

Well done...

[gary Zimmel]

Nice work on the table Shawn.
And bonus points for the hand cut dovetails..

[Shawn Stennett]

Thank you, all. I learned a lot for this project. I think this project was a turning point for me, I have done mainly country or rusic pieces with the excuss, "It's rustic, it's not supposed to be perfect". I am really focusing on the quality of my work now. I remember a few years ago when I made my first coffee table and some miters didn't match up well, my wife asked me about it and I told her that is what they created wood putty for. We have a good laugh about it, especialy when you look around the house and can see a big progression in skill from project to project.

[Dave Houseal]

absolutely gorgeous! Did you design that yourself too, or was there an inspiration piece that got you started.

If I built a desk like that I don't think I could let it leave the house. Nice work!

[Prashun Patel]

Nice desk, Shawn. I really admire your dovetails. I am trying them on my first project. I think you did wonderfully! I also appreciate where you are on your quest to reach the next level in perfection. I'm strivin' for it too, brotha!

Keep on, keepin' on!

[Michael MacDonald]

shawn -- that is really beautiful... looks like you did cutout drawer fronts too... very accomplished...

tell me about the "learned to cut dovetails" part... by hand? use any particular saw or jig? how many did you cut before you became proficient? how many oopsies did you make in the construction of the desk?

I am determined to avoid a dovetail jig... so I have been practicing the last few weeks... I think I have cut about nine so far... usually with about six pins per joint. the first few were with white oak and were awful... I have started to use pine and after a wobble or two they are looking pretty good... still making some mistakes that would prevent me from doing this on a real product though... hopefully just a matter of practice...

I am interested in your experience... unless you are a prodigy--in which case, I don't want to know. (ha ha)

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Shawn,

I hope my wife doesn't see that desk. Nicely done Sir!

[Shawn Stennett]

Dave, a guy at work wanted me to make a desk for him and described to me that he wanted an old style writing desk, so drew a sketch right then. He said that was exactly what he wanted, so later that night I made a scaled drawing. I tried to get him to let me build it out of QS white oak, but he said he liked the chathedral flat sawn look.

Michael, I watch several videos on youtube of different people including Rob Cosman. I ordered a Japanese handsaw and doveail angle finder from Lee Valley, also a fret saw from Woodcraft. While I waited for the stuff to come in I focused on sharpening my chisels (which are cheap ones I won at a drawing at Woodcraft one day, which became my "good ones" compared to what I had). I knew they had to be sharp since it is all Red Oak, he didn't want anything but red oak and no plywood. My first attemp was nearly perfec, my second was horrible, third was ok and by the fifth I decided to try one of the small ones. They all went good except one side that I had to remake. I think I worked to hard at it though, what I mean by that is that I kind of snuck up to the fit real slow. I was to worried about thembeing to loose and trim and test fit, trim and test fit over and over untill they fit. I have a long way to go untill I am proficient. I haven't tried to use a actual sof wood for sides yet.