I just finished making this desk for my church auction. It went for $3,100
Here are some details about the piece...Problems & Issues:
- The design is based very loosely on the Mayhem Reading desk at Dana Robes Gallery.
- The bottom is cherry... the front apron/drawers were cut from the same piece (I used my Domino for the joints... very fast & precise)
- The top is "blistered" maple (had many problems with this... see below for details)
- The shelving unit was made from very wavy maple. I matched the top & sides. The top is unbelievably wavy, huge 3D effect with big "hills & valleys". The camera doesn't do it justice. (FYI... I can never seem to capture highly figured wood it my photos... any tips or tricks
)
- I used the Domino to make the shelving unit. Worked great for this application.
- Drawers are made of poplar, knobs are walnut and Baltic birch plywood bottoms.
- Here is something kind of cool... My 16 year nephew turned a pen out of the same wood as the top and included with the auction item... (You can see it on some of the photos) (My nephew & son also built a hall table for the auction.. Will post pics later)
- I originally had a back on the shelves, but it made the piece look too "top heavy" and too dark.
- I used the Fibonacci numbers for the shelf spacing. (I made a simple Excel spreadsheet to calculate shelves/drawers based on the Fibonacci proportions ... PM me if you would like me to send you a copy)
Thanks for looking!
- The Domino is very precise and it requires the user to be very precise. The biggest issue I have is the system is so precise that it requires the user to be precise as well. It's not nearly as forgiving as my biscuit joiner. Every little issues I have found (slight misalignment...) can be traced back to "pilot error"
- I used the Domino to cut the slots on the aprons for the metal ties to attach the top. Worked really nice.
- The top was made from 2 11" pieces. I finished the topside first with 3 coats of H20-poly (My plan was to get the topside perfect & then finish the bottom side) . This approach created an imbalance in the wood moisture and the top warped about 3/8". I posted the problem here and found out I should have applied a finish on both side at the same time. Stupid Me... Lesson learned
Thanks to the advise here I finished the bottom & used a few extra metal clips to tie the top the aprons. Problem solved!!!
- The H20 finish caused a lot of grain raising on the blistered maple top. I wet the surface with water, let it dry and lightly sanded the "fuzz". But after I apply a coat of the H20 poly, some of the grain swelled and got really big... caused a lot of unevenness on the top. I have to re-sand the top and reapply several coats to get it right.
- I was originally afraid that the blistered maple on the top and the heavily figured shelf top would be "over the top". Luckily the blistering was subtle enough to play "second fiddle" to the wavy top on the shelf.
-jj
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