# Desk top project



## shazapple (Jun 16, 2010)

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum and to wood working. l figured I would show you my desk project.

For as long as I could remember there was a disassembled desk in the corner of my dad's workshop. It used to be an old oak desk that was previously used as a place to hold paint cans. The top used to have a fold out section used for type writers, but the hardware was removed long ago and the veneer of the original top is peeling and covered with paint.

I sanded and reassembled








As for the top, my father had glued together a 4cm thick slab of butternut, but it was not deep enough for the desk, which was probably why it sat in the corner for so long.








I decided to surround the butternut with oak in order to tie it into the desk and protect the relatively soft butternut. 








Unfortunately, 4cm thick oak is hard to come by, so I ended up glueing two pieces together. 8cm x 2cm oak boards are $texas! 








Lots o' clamps. I should have used more though!


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## shazapple (Jun 16, 2010)

Glueing and assembling desk bits.








The original oak panels on the inside were ruined so we installed new ones. Unforunately they didn't come out as dark as the rest of the desk because of the previous stain. 








Finished bottom! In order to match the new oak on the desk top to the rest of the desk we are going to try to stain it. Currently the bottom of the desk only has varathane.








Oak boards glued on front and back of butternut. The butternut piece was not straight (nor were the oak boards) so I lined them uip as best I could and will sand out the differences.








Squared the ends. Pain-in-the-ass. As mentioned the butternut is not straight because of knots so it wouldn't lay flat on the table saw. I ended up using the hand plane (in the background) to flatten it out.


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## shazapple (Jun 16, 2010)

Finally getting onto the breadboard part. Because of the size of the piece I figured building in some expansion room would be a good idea.

Tongue in the breadboard end. When cutting the butternut I forgot to cut long so I could router out the tongue, so instead I use some old hardwood wainscotting.








Because the desktop isn't perfectly flat, I ran the router along a straight edge. 








Groove in the desk, about 3.5cm deep. After some nicks I quickly learned not to move the router until it stopped!








The front 1/3 of the breadboard end will be glued. The back 2/3 will be held in place with a dowel and slot which will allow expansion of the butternut. Of couse, this means that most of the time the breadboard end will either be too short or too long :thumbdown: 








Perfect fit! so pleased. There is still some unevenness in the butternut so it will take some sanding to get it even with the oak.








That's as far as I've gotten for now. Next step is to glue and dowel the breadboards, then sanding and attemping to find a stain that will match the desk bottom.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

Looks pretty good so far. Keep up the good work.


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

That's going to be sharp! They're a PITA, but I love reworking older furniture.


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## shazapple (Jun 16, 2010)

FINALLY, this desk is finished! Well, it's not quite finished. I still need to screw the top of the desk into place! We bought a house 2 months ago, so I had my own room to work on it (I just needed to buy the tools!)

Here is a picture of the breadboard ends. I drilled 4 holes and slotted 3 of them. One end of the breadboard is completely glued to the desk while the rest is free floating. 








After that, it was just a matter of sanding down the butternut and oak to match in height. A belt sander is a dangerous thing!

Now for the finished pictures! I am very happy with how the stain came out. If I were to do it again I would make it have less overhang. Ohe well, the fiance isn't complaining, lots of room to work!

















We are hoping that the metal on the legs will eventually tarnish to match the handles. We went with the double pull because the holes were so far apart.


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## paintr56 (Dec 31, 2006)

Very nice job saving an old piece it looks great.


Jim


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## burkhome (Sep 5, 2010)

Nice...just wondering where you are from. From the references to metric sizing I am guessing not stateside.


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## b00kemdano (Feb 10, 2009)

That is a great story, and nice work on the desk!


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

First off, welcome to the forum Schazap,
The desk looks wonderful. Nice story too. That is a very special piece. Good work,
Mike Hawkins


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## shazapple (Jun 16, 2010)

An update: it's probably the driest time of year so l took a look at the desk. Breadboard in action! 5 mm of shrinkage from October (when it was flush).









I'll be interested to see what it does in the summer, although I don't think the change with be as dramatic.


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## R.J. (Feb 11, 2011)

Thank, very much was pleasant to me.


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