The Butler's Desk - Build Thread

[Christopher Charles]

Brian, thanks for the reply on the plans. The video is indeed helpful, would enjoy more.

C

[Kees Heiden]

I just watched your blog post. Man that's some incredible work!

I'm going to hide all my contraptions in some dark corner....

[Stanley Covington]

Brian

Beautiful work. Please help us understand the "fancified" joinery.

Also, a front and side view pic of that beautiful gennou handle would be much appreciated. I'm pretty sure I have seen that head before.

Stan

[Phil Mueller]

Enjoyed the video, Brian, thank you. A bit of an expensive experience though. I think it may cost me one of those smoothing planes! I'll have to check the name of it from one of your other posts.

While I understood the process, some may find a bit of narration helpful. I also think you could add a lot of credibility if you wore the planing robe

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks fellas, you are too kind.

Stan has spoiled me! Acquiring two Hasegawa Kosaburo gennou for me and provided detailed instructions on how to plan out and make the handles to suit my purposes very specifically and also how to test their accuracy. Doing so has changed my perception dramatically, realizing now that smaller gennou heads are all that is required when their forces are applied very accurately.









To provide some insight into the logic behind my joinery on the front desk legs; I started with Roubo's bench leg joinery and made some modifications to it to suit my purpose. I wanted a leg joint that would self tighten, self lock and provide full engagement to utilize the entirety of the adjoining skirt.

I have built a desk using a similar base in the past (I'm actually sitting at it currently) and while I enjoy my desk I thought I'd like to improve on it's ability to resist racking forces while reducing the height of the skirt from 4" tall to 3.5" tall to provide more leg room at the same height. My desk is built with plain joinery (not fancified).

I decided that in order to resist racking as much as the joint would possibly allow, I would need to provide full engagement between the face of the mortised leg and the seat of the tenoned skirt, I did so by providing a full haunch in addition to a staggered shoulder. This provided interlocking grooves between the two surfaces. For the joint to remain secure over its lifetime I decided that I would like it to tighten as it came together, so I took the plain dovetail and tapered it. To provide the joint the ability to secure itself without reliance upon glue, I took the tenon and cut it for wedges. So if you look at this joint from the side you'll see it's wedging in both directions which will hopefully prevent it from loosening, ever.

This leg does not have the advantage of having a skirt in both directions because the skirt is replaced by a drawer. So to account for replacing the skirt I used a crossmember to tie in the joint at it's lowest point, and I will cut a stub tenon at the top of the leg.

I haven't posted it yet, but there is another crossmember completed under the desk that helps provide additional support.

The purpose for doing all of this is that a lower stretcher could be eliminated. The desk being only 18" deep means a low stretcher will of course become a shin basher.

[Brian Holcombe]

Phil,

Just saw your post, thanks for the comments! Those smoothing planes are dangerous, hehe. Yokohama Kunio is the maker of both. I'll warn you as I've come to find out about Japanese planes (kanna) you can't buy just one....in fact not even close to just one.

I think I will narrate through the next video and try to find a way to provide a better viewing angle.

Cheers

[Mike Brady]

Your shop looks very nice. Am I seeing carpeting throughout? I have that same carpet style in my basement, but I have to say I kept it out of the workshop portion. With all of the grungy stuff I do in my shop I can't imagine berber carpeting there! You appear to be a tidy person, but what else would you expect from the Prince of Wales.

[Stanley Covington]

Brian:

Thanks for the insight into the purty joints. Nicely done.

You make a nice handle. Beautiful wood.

I too miss the planing robe, and most of all, the embroidered planing slippers in the video.

I see I will need to send some jikatabi your way. What's your foot size in cm measured diagonally across the foot from tip of big toe to heel?

It appears to be carpet on your workshop floor, but judging from how immaculate your shop is, clearly it must be a cleanroom grate. What class of cleanroom is it?

Are you left handed? You use the Western foreplane right handed, but the Japanese finish plane left handed... Switch hitter maybe?

Stan

[Rich Greinert]

Wow, loved that video!

[Pat Barry]

I too miss the planing robe, and most of all, the embroidered planing slippers in the video.

I agree with Stanley, however, I'm not sure that the fellow in the video was actually you Brian. I have had this mental image of you, a rather shall we say, elderly gentleman, clad in your slippers and smoking jacket, or robe, the pipe in your mouth, the servant carefully gathering up the shavings, etc and this completely ruins that. Now all I can hope for is Sean Connery accent in your upcoming 'talkie' video.

[John Roth]

Looking forward to seeing the completion of this, Brian. Contemplating a transition from (mostly) power tools to (mostly) hand tools, so your posts are quite helpful. Loved the video.

[Brian Holcombe]

Your shop looks very nice. Am I seeing carpeting throughout? I have that same carpet style in my basement, but I have to say I kept it out of the workshop portion. With all of the grungy stuff I do in my shop I can't imagine berber carpeting there! You appear to be a tidy person, but what else would you expect from the Prince of Wales.

Hah! Thanks Mike. Takes a special bit of insanity to have carpet in the workshop, but it does come in handy. I hate to admit it (incase my wife is reading) but I like it for when I'm assembling case goods, you can flip them around without worry of scratching. If you keep plenty of cardboard sheets around thats a non-issue, but I dont.

Brian:

Thanks for the insight into the purty joints. Nicely done.

You make a nice handle. Beautiful wood.

I too miss the planing robe, and most of all, the embroidered planing slippers in the video.

I see I will need to send some jikatabi your way. What's your foot size in cm measured diagonally across the foot from tip of big toe to heel?

It appears to be carpet on your workshop floor, but judging from how immaculate your shop is, clearly it must be a cleanroom grate. What class of cleanroom is it?

Are you left handed? You use the Western foreplane right handed, but the Japanese finish plane left handed... Switch hitter maybe?

Stan

My pleasure and thank you for the gracious offer! I'm 27cm, and from what I've gathered in a bit of research that seems to correspond correctly to my us shoe size (9) so I'm pretty confident I've measured correctly.

Adding the cleanroom effect I'm going to be drywalling a few areas of the shop (tired of looking at boxes) and painting them white.

It's odd, as much as I've studied how to grip the Kanna, I always find that left hand grip to be more comfortable. It's quite strange as everything else is predominantly right hand.

I'm going to break out the robe and slippers for one of these videos, with my luck it will go viral on youtube....which could be interesting.

Wow, loved that video!

Thank you!

I agree with Stanley, however, I'm not sure that the fellow in the video was actually you Brian. I have had this mental image of you, a rather shall we say, elderly gentleman, clad in your slippers and smoking jacket, or robe, the pipe in your mouth, the servant carefully gathering up the shavings, etc and this completely ruins that. Now all I can hope for is Sean Connery accent in your upcoming 'talkie' video.

LOL, you may very disappointed! My wife says I have the personality of an 'older gentleman', so it seems that everything adds up except my actual image.

You may have missed it, but for gags I posted a video a while back sawing while wearing a pair of house shoes. I dont think anyone really noticed.

Looking forward to seeing the completion of this, Brian. Contemplating a transition from (mostly) power tools to (mostly) hand tools, so your posts are quite helpful. Loved the video.

Thanks John!

[Brian Holcombe]

hopefully this doesn't spoiler too much;

http://youtu.be/IuHyjkdfx_o

Still working my way up to narration, but you do get a nice glimpse at how important the espresso is to my operation.

[Charles Bjorgen]

Surely your inspiration must have come from wearing the plaid shirt and did I also detect bare feet in the sawing segment?

[Patrick McCarthy]

Brian, your videos, like everything else you post, is most appreciated. Patrick