Rosewood “Office Tools”

[Mike Allen1010]

A brief explanation before I get to the woodworking.

I would like to think I’ve reached an age where I know what I like. Just like my fellow Neanders here in the Cave, I like tools! Not just any tools, but tools that work for me. I include in this definition of “tools” those things that enable me do the things I like; certainly woodworking tools, but also my: car, guns, surfboards, hi-fi system and whiskey. I invest an embarrassing amount of time tinkering with all these things because I enjoy them.

The reason for this post/project is I’m not excited about the “tools” I use in my professional life. The problem is my office is boring and my primary tool is a computer. I’ve made an effort to personalize with family pictures and framed quotes I like (Teddy Roosevelt “Man in the Arena”, Collin Powell’s “10 rules of Leadership”, John Wooden’s “Pyramid Of Success”), but the fact remains I spend most of my time with spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations.

I’m old and favor analog technology like pen and paper (probably why I’m a hand tool woodworker). Here’s a picture of the generic things I used to organize the pens, notepads and file folders I keep on my desk:
1.jpg

I decided replace these with a desk set made from East Indian rosewood with Holly highlights:
2 (2).jpg

The frames in the folder stand are about 3/16” thick joined at the corner with tiny half laps. I found it was easier to actually saw these with a Dozuki, rather than trying to plane the tiny work pieces with a rabbit plane. The inlay is Paduk and Holly cut with X-Acto knife and tweezers.
3 (2).jpg4.jpg

I’m not really sure how you’re supposed to do inlay into solid wood and I’m not very good at it. Here is a note pad and business card holder. I was fairly successful at excavating the recesses for my initials with a dremmel tool and small chisels. The problem is cutting out the initials and getting them to stay in place during the final surfacing. I cut them out is whole letters in their entirety, but I wonder if it would have turned out better if I cut separate straight segments and tried to bend them in place. Any suggestions?
5.jpg12.jpg11.jpg14.jpg
You can probably see I replaced a couple pieces of the inlaid initials that got pulled out. I tried to use a card scraper and chisels to level the inlay because I thought it would avoid contaminating the white of the Holly with the dark bits from the Rosewood, but when I brushed on the shellac that happened anyway. Maybe I should have wiped with a tack cloth before applying the shellac?

[Mike Allen1010]

The sides of the pen holder are joined with dovetails and the mitered trim on top is ebony, but you can’t really tell now that it finished. I included some Rosewood with lighter colored sapwood, but it was pretty unstable and there was some chip out with the dovetails.
6.jpg

Here’s a little paperclip holder I turned. I’m a novice turner, and this was my first attempt at a hollow vessel. I really wasn’t able to get the lathe tools to cut the face grain to create the cavity. Maybe this is what "Hollowing tools" are for? I ended up drilling it out with a forstner bit and was then able to shape the lip on the lathe.
7.jpg

Here’s a picture of the desk set on an end table I made. Now I have some wooden “office tools” to play with when I’m supposed to be solving problems at work.
8.jpg

I'm definitely looking forward to doing a larger scale project where the mistakes are not nearly so noticeable.

Thanks for looking,
Mike

[Jim Koepke]

Looks like fun at work. Your co-workers will be jealous or wanting you to make them sets for their desks.

jtk

[Reinis Kanders]

Did your half laps fit straight from the saw? I am asking because I am aspiring to that. I always end up having to clean them up with a router plane.

[Mike Allen1010]

[QUOTE=Reinis Kanders;2435041]Did your half laps fit straight from the saw? I am asking because I am aspiring to that. I always end up having to clean them up with a router plane.[/QUOTE]

Hi Reinis,

The pieces for the frames with a half lap joints were so small (1" wide x 1/8" thick) that I couldn't use any planes (either router or shoulder plane). I tried that initially, but really couldn't find an effective way to clamp the work piece to get clean Cross grain rabbits. Another option would've been to plane the rabbits first, before re-sawing the stock to final size . I don't have a table saw and my cheesy bandsaw is not nearly that accurate.

I really like Western saws because I can keep them sharp/tuned myself, but I have to admit when it comes to tiny, delicate cuts like this I really could've done them without a dozuki (Japanese, pull stroke dovetail saw). Mine is an inexpensive replaceable blade model. The kerf is so small it's perfect for this kind of work. I cut the half laps a little over long for final cleanup with the block plane once assembled and cleaned up the joint surfaces with a couple strokes from a small file.

The biggest headache was really the glue up – trying to clamp all those little pieces and keep them square was a handful.

Cheers, Mike

[Brian Holcombe]

Nice work Mike!

I have a trick for clamping half laps, I clamp one side with holdfasts. Just use butcher paper between the bench and the work.

[Matt Lau]

Make sure that your "office tools" don't walk away!