# Desk for the grandson



## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

My grandson is at the age where he could use a desk. So I got a plan from Lee Valley . It is marked advanced so It'll test my skills. It will be made mostly of oak from church pews. Started plugging rabbets in pew ends. The legs will be cut out of that. Ripped up a seat for stiles.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

The pile of rough cuts is growing.The slices left from taking material from the thick end pieces will become the panels which are only 3/8 thick. 
The plans call for poplar for the upper and lower internal panels but I happen to have some old maple flooring which will work just fine.


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## woodchux (Jul 6, 2014)

Great to read your plan to build a wood item, IMO not only for your grandson, but (hopefully) for many future generations. Do make it large enough for those growing years and use in his life's adventures. Take your time, post your progress, mark & date the desk, and thanks for sharing. Be safe.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

The case panels and the pull out work surface "breadboard" are put together and planed up to a point.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

I was looking for a place to insert some "significant wood". I have decided on the door panels as they are in front. Here I have to digress a bit. In the early thirties my grandfather lost everything. He had a silver fox farm. When the depression hit, nobody bought fur coats. He had hoped to muddle through but the dustbowl out West had for effect that they ate all the horses after they ran out of cows. He had been feeding old broncos and old workhorses to his foxes. He ordered them by the boxcar load. So he came up here on a land grant and had to start from scratch. The photo shows his homestead in 1938. I managed to get a few of the hewn spruce timbers from one of those buildings. Most were built in 36 so 81 years ago. I counted 115 rings on one timber after it was hewn. So that wood is at least 196 years old. I will use that in the door panels. Spruce from one of the buildings of his great-great-grandfather.


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## Ted Tolstad (Feb 20, 2011)

landman said:


> I was looking for a place to insert some "significant wood". I have decided on the door panels as they are in front. Here I have to digress a bit. In the early thirties my grandfather lost everything. He had a silver fox farm. When the depression hit, nobody bought fur coats. He had hoped to muddle through but the dustbowl out West had for effect that they ate all the horses after they ran out of cows. He had been feeding old broncos and old workhorses to his foxes. He ordered them by the boxcar load. So he came up here on a land grant and had to start from scratch. The photo shows his homestead in 1938. I managed to get a few of the hewn spruce timbers from one of those buildings. Most were built in 36 so 81 years ago. I counted 115 rings on one timber after it was hewn. So that wood is at least 196 years old. I will use that in the door panels. Spruce from one of the buildings of his great-great-grandfather.


That is an awesome idea....totally cool.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Here is the whole pile of rough cuts. Now we get to work. The pews were made by Casavant who are mostly known for their pipe organs.

https://www.casavant.ca/english/news/


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Those pews were made of choice lumber. Obviously you already knew this and decided to put it to good use again. Looking good.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

First cut and I'm already stumped. What bit to use for this bead? 1/4 bead? See circle at bottom of drawing.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

I have cope and stick router bits which cut the groove and the decorative edge at the same time. If you are cutting them separately you can cut your decorative edge by making a shallow cut with a round over bit. Cut it face down on a table router against a fence because your groove won't allow you to use a hand router with a bearing. 
I don't see too many raised panels where the taper is set on the inside. If I wanted that look, I think I would just cut a flat panel.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Toolman50 said:


> I have cope and stick router bits which cut the groove and the decorative edge at the same time. If you are cutting them separately you can cut your decorative edge by making a shallow cut with a round over bit. Cut it face down on a table router against a fence because your groove won't allow you to use a hand router with a bearing.
> I don't see too many raised panels where the taper is set on the inside. If I wanted that look, I think I would just cut a flat panel.


I'm planning to turn them to the outside. "wife's orders". thanks for the bit suggestion.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

landman said:


> I'm planning to turn them to the outside. "wife's orders". thanks for the bit suggestion.


How do you change the color of your font like that in your text? Neat. 
I'm slightly better at woodwork than at computer. 
I better be or I'd still be using a kids play tool set! :grin:


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Toolman50 said:


> How do you change the color of your font like that in your text? Neat.
> I'm slightly better at woodwork than at computer.
> I better be or I'd still be using a kids play tool set! :grin:


You click on Quote. then you see the quote in the reply box. Highlight the text you want to color. On the top row, between the Sizes menu and the happy face is an A. Click on it and a selection of colors appear. Choose one, click on it . When you submit the reply, what you highlighted will be that color.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Toolman50 said:


> I have cope and stick router bits which cut the groove and the decorative edge at the same time. If you are cutting them separately you can cut your decorative edge by making a shallow cut with a round over bit. Cut it face down on a table router against a fence because your groove won't allow you to use a hand router with a bearing.
> I don't see too many raised panels where the taper is set on the inside. If I wanted that look, I think I would just cut a flat panel.


Are those the same as Rail & stile bits?


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

landman said:


> You click on Quote. then you see the quote in the reply box. Highlight the text you want to color. On the top row, between the Sizes menu and the happy face is an A. Click on it and a selection of colors appear. Choose one, click on it . When you submit the reply, what you highlighted will be that color.
> 
> Thanks for the info. I work from an I-pad and I'm unable to highlight the lines.
> Probably a way but I can't see how.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Decided to do the case panels with these instead of tenons and mortises. Will use the red set as it is for 3/4" stock.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

landman said:


> Decided to do the case panels with these instead of tenons and mortises. Will use the red set as it is for 3/4" stock.


Those look like rile and stile bits. (I can't see the picture very well). I'm pretty sure that you are aware of this but I will throw it out there anyway. In the plan section that you posted, they are showing mortise and tenon joinery for the panels. I can just see someone saying that they don't need the mortise and tenon joinery now and reducing their stock length by the length of the tenons. Just remember, that MOST rail and stile joinery bit sets have an offset of 3/8". That is pretty much standard. What that means is that when the joint is fully assembled, there is 3/8" of material that is not seen because it is inside it's mating piece. Because of that, the length of your stiles and mullions has to be 3/4" LONGER than the exposed dimension after the joint is put together. Again, I'm pretty sure that you were aware of this but I'd hate to see you cut all your rails and mullions to their final dimension, rout the coping cuts only to find out that you were 3/4" short on each piece. If it's old hat to you and I am just stating the obvious.....sorry about that. Loving the build by the way.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

One box side cut & dry fitted. Four outer stiles left to rout.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

landman said:


> One box side cut & dry fitted. Four outer stiles left to rout.




Looking fantastic sir!!!!!!


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Today, we're in the panel cuttin' business.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Started on the top and bottom case panels. They have dove tails that hook into the sides. Couldn't get the router's pushbar to work with or without the featherboard. I have a feeling the featherboard pushed the board into the hole in the fence. So I made a fence with no hole. Bingo! it worked. Assembled the frames using tongue and groove instead of tenons.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Added the panels today.


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## sgibby88 (May 28, 2015)

desk is looking real good

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## Larry42 (Jan 10, 2014)

Looking good. "Plans" are just a starting point for better ideas.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Completed the pull out work surface (breadboard) and made the dado groove which rides on the "guide" on top of the upper case panel.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Earlier, I had made the dado along the top and bottom rails of the side panels which accept the internal upper and lower panels. Since the distance to the top isn't indicated anywhere in the plans I made them at 3/4". Later when I made a few practice runs at the dovetail which lock the panels in place I realized that the pull out panel is higher and wouldn't fit under the desktop. Deepening the dado it slides on would only cause the bottom to drag and I didn't want to rout all those top and bottom rails all over again. So I made the executive decision to saw the pull out in half and run it through the planer.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

The new thinner pull out work surface and the blocking to allow the drawers to clear the bifold doors.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Received the table top clamps.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Wide groove for the top & bottom panel side rails, narrow groove for the clamps and dovetail to hold the front rails. Side and back panels are in the clamps before assembly.


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## sgibby88 (May 28, 2015)

Let's see the mustang lol


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

sgibby88 said:


> Let's see the mustang lol
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## sgibby88 (May 28, 2015)

Nice wheels. All original?


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

sgibby88 said:


> Nice wheels. All original?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


No, restored over 25 years ago from an aqua/black car with a damaged rear quarter.


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## sgibby88 (May 28, 2015)

Power train original? What's the mileage. Gonna say it has a 289? What trans


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

sgibby88 said:


> Power train original? What's the mileage. Gonna say it has a 289? What trans
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


289 auto.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Cabinet is together. It wasn't easy. Invented some new swear words.


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## sgibby88 (May 28, 2015)

Looks good


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

landman said:


> I was looking for a place to insert some "significant wood". I have decided on the door panels as they are in front. Here I have to digress a bit. In the early thirties my grandfather lost everything. He had a silver fox farm. When the depression hit, nobody bought fur coats. He had hoped to muddle through but the dustbowl out West had for effect that they ate all the horses after they ran out of cows. He had been feeding old broncos and old workhorses to his foxes. He ordered them by the boxcar load. So he came up here on a land grant and had to start from scratch. The photo shows his homestead in 1938. I managed to get a few of the hewn spruce timbers from one of those buildings. Most were built in 36 so 81 years ago. I counted 115 rings on one timber after it was hewn. So that wood is at least 196 years old. I will use that in the door panels. Spruce from one of the buildings of his great-great-grandfather.


Freaking awesome.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

The table end is cut and dry assembled. Appears to fit.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Made up the drop-down leaf which hides the keyboard shelf. Also test fitted the pull out work surface.


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## dg011 (Jan 4, 2016)

landman said:


> sgibby88 said:
> 
> 
> > Let's see the mustang lol
> ...


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## Masterofnone (Aug 24, 2010)

Toolman50 said:


> I don't see too many raised panels where the taper is set on the inside. If I wanted that look, I think I would just cut a flat panel.


From what I understand that was pretty standard on desks from the late 1800s.

Gives you a flat panel without having to plane a whole bunch of material.


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## GeneT (Feb 24, 2014)

That is such an awesome project! I'm sure your Grandson will treasure the desk and it will become a family heirloom. Thanks for sharing!


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

The next step is the drawers. I will need to learn how to use this. It was given to me but with only one comb and no instructions. But a gift is a gift right? So not being to find the instructions for it I found some for one with an almost identical design.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Masterofnone said:


> From what I understand that was pretty standard on desks from the late 1800s.
> 
> Gives you a flat panel without having to plane a whole bunch of material.


Yes, I can understand the need to plane less in the 1800's. They cut the tapers on a table saw. But now we have plywood. 
If I need a flat panel, I will install plywood for ease of construction. In this case it would be Oak veneer plywood for the panels. But I prefer the solid raised panels with the raised panel side visible.


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## trentwilson43056 (Nov 10, 2015)

You must really like this kid.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

After a long time trying to understand that jig I gave up and whipped out an old one I had made before. It ended up being 3/8 so I made a quickie 1/2 jig. the test cut was not bad so i put in the 2" drawer sides and fronts. the second was worse and the third was terrible. Back to the drawing board. I downloaded a couple of plans for different jigs and will build a proper one.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Opted for a sled type jig. It has twin runners and a tweakable fence. seems to work.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Four drawers cut, three glued and clamped.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Turns out the blocking I had made in post #27 to clear the bifold doors didn't allow for the slides, just the drawers. It is exactly 1" too thick. I also noticed that my box wasn't square. So I made some tapered spacers and installed the drawers like that.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Really looking good. Very well done.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Doors are cut & dry fitted. the panels are 196 year old spruce from my grandfather's original homestead. See post #5.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Here is a preview of the desktop. I know, I know, it's busy, but remember it is for a boy.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Wetted it to raise the fibers before fine sanding.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Mounting the desktop and the suspended slides for the keyboard.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Two garbage cans full of sawdust later, we have a desk, albeit unfinished. Now the real elbow grease starts.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

Very nice job. Your grandson will surely be proud of his new desk.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

The first coat of oil gave it a nice warm tone. However, after three days it doesn't seem completely dry. i gave it a nice rubdown with brown paper and it is smoother, but doesn't "feel" dry. I ca.t upload the pictures. I keep getting an "upload failed". I'm doing exactly as before so I'm not fighting with it. Maybe later....


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

landman said:


> The first coat of oil gave it a nice warm tone. However, after three days it doesn't seem completely dry. i gave it a nice rubdown with brown paper and it is smoother, but doesn't "feel" dry. I ca.t upload the pictures. I keep getting an "upload failed". I'm doing exactly as before so I'm not fighting with it. Maybe later....


Tried uploading again this morning. Didn't work. sorry. :frown2:


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Another test with a different photo......Didn't work again. I'll delete all my links & shortcuts and start fresh to see if that is the problem.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

This time I went to the paper clip and it worked.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Finished with Tung oil


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## kmrace (Sep 7, 2013)

Very Very Nice Sir, He will Enjoy and Cherish that desk for eternity, I'm Sure. Can't wait to see the build go along.


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## WesTex (Jan 5, 2014)

That is sweet!


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Very nice!


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

Delivery completed. Customer happy.


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## landman (Sep 1, 2013)

delivery completed. Customer happy.


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