Kind of odd desktop made from every long board I had on hand

[Dean Karavite]

I don’t post often, but what the heck. I wanted a 7’ desk and it had to be lower than normal to help with some wrist issues I have with the computer. I could not find anything meeting my requirements, so I had a local shop weld together a metal frame, then used a few boards I had laying around to make this kind of odd desk top from sapele, QS white oak, cherry and walnut. I have a long bed 6” General jointer, but it and my cramped shop were not up to jointing 7”+ boards (or more likely my technique was not up to it). I tried hand planes, but failed there too. Instead I edge jointed all of this with a router and a 8' piece of MDF that, lucky for me, was straight. It was a mess, but worked perfectly. Finish is BLO, shellac then Arm R Seal gloss.


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[Augusto Orosco]

As I told you before, I wasn't too sure about the mixing of the species, but it's certainly a good use of what you had at hand. And the finish ended up selling me on it. The desk feels right at home with all that nerdy hi-tech equipment. I think it looks great!

[Mel Fulks]

Not something that would have occurred to me, but I like it. So some of us will remember the project as "mind expanding",especially with those vivid colors.

[Dean Karavite]

Ah yes, Augusto, in most cases it is a good idea to keep the species separate! :-)

Mel, that's very nice of you to say, but it was really more wallet contracting vs mind expanding project as I forced myself to work within a small budget and use whatever I had on hand. Plus, I actually got the idea from a local architectural salvage place. They were making table tops from reclaimed bowling alley wood, floor, joists... you name it and in many cases mixing it up.

[Andrew Joiner]

Kind of odd= real cool to me.

[Dean Karavite]

Thanks Andrew!

[Mike Null]

That's a neat look--I like it.