custard
Established Member
Last job before Christmas :ho2
It's a quick and easy build so I thought I'd do a WIP, especially as it will use Domino joinery which I know quite a few people on the forum either use or would like to use. I'm not saying my methods are the best or only way of going about it, but it works for me so there may be some useful information for someone.
It's a waney edged, slab top desk. The top is Leadwood, I believe this is one of the world's heaviest timbers, not quite the absolute heaviest but probably the only one from the super heavy weight division that's available in quite large boards. The few timbers that are even heavier, such as Snakewood, are from trees that are pretty small, not much bigger than large bushes really, so they don't yield sizeable sections.
This is about 5' x 2' x 2", I don't know what it weighs but it's absolutely at the very limit of what I can manage on my own, in fact it's a bit more than I can manage so I tend to "walk" it around the workshop rather than lift it. It's a beautiful timber, similar to a Rosewood (look at the very pale but hard sap wood for example) but with a finer grain. This particular board has a lot of figure which unfortunately doesn't really show in these phone photos. I planed it flat by hand as it's too big for my machinery. I've covered hand planing big slabs in previous posts so I won't go through it again. I've thought about building a router jig for slab flattening but to be honest I can get the job done with a few hours of bench plane work, and storing yet another big jig would be a hassle. It's more important that a desk be truly flat than say a dining table, because it will support a keyboard and a rocking keyboard would be very irritating. That's perfectly achievable with a bench plane, some winding sticks, and a straight edge. I suspect that a bench plane will yield a more accurate result than a router jig, unless the jig was exceptionally heavily built which would make storage even more of a problem.
Because the front legs of this desk will be angled the first job is to draw up a full sized plan or "rod". For rectilinear furniture, with straight lines and ninety degree angles, I often don't bother with a rod even on fairly complex builds. I'll often work entirely from a scale drawing with just a few joinery details drawn out full size. But as soon as angles or curves enter the equation, even simple ones, I find it's worth the time to construct a rod.
Lots of makers draw out their rods on sheets of 6mm or 9mm MDF. However, I use a slightly different method. I tape a sheet of draughtsman's heavyweight tracing paper to a sheet of MDF that has accurate straight edges and corners, then I draw on that using a T square.
The big advantage is that I don't have to store loads of MDF plans. After the job's done the plan can be rolled up and stuck into cardboard tubes stored in the joists.
The disadvantage is that if I want to use the plan again, but with some amendments, then it's impossible to tape it back down to a sheet of MDF so it's perfectly aligned, I can get close but "close" isn't good enough. Consequently I can't use a T Square for any future plan changes and have to work from the surface of the plan itself using perspex drawing squares. However, taken in the round this is a system that works reasonably well without spending a fortune.
It's a quick and easy build so I thought I'd do a WIP, especially as it will use Domino joinery which I know quite a few people on the forum either use or would like to use. I'm not saying my methods are the best or only way of going about it, but it works for me so there may be some useful information for someone.
It's a waney edged, slab top desk. The top is Leadwood, I believe this is one of the world's heaviest timbers, not quite the absolute heaviest but probably the only one from the super heavy weight division that's available in quite large boards. The few timbers that are even heavier, such as Snakewood, are from trees that are pretty small, not much bigger than large bushes really, so they don't yield sizeable sections.
This is about 5' x 2' x 2", I don't know what it weighs but it's absolutely at the very limit of what I can manage on my own, in fact it's a bit more than I can manage so I tend to "walk" it around the workshop rather than lift it. It's a beautiful timber, similar to a Rosewood (look at the very pale but hard sap wood for example) but with a finer grain. This particular board has a lot of figure which unfortunately doesn't really show in these phone photos. I planed it flat by hand as it's too big for my machinery. I've covered hand planing big slabs in previous posts so I won't go through it again. I've thought about building a router jig for slab flattening but to be honest I can get the job done with a few hours of bench plane work, and storing yet another big jig would be a hassle. It's more important that a desk be truly flat than say a dining table, because it will support a keyboard and a rocking keyboard would be very irritating. That's perfectly achievable with a bench plane, some winding sticks, and a straight edge. I suspect that a bench plane will yield a more accurate result than a router jig, unless the jig was exceptionally heavily built which would make storage even more of a problem.
Because the front legs of this desk will be angled the first job is to draw up a full sized plan or "rod". For rectilinear furniture, with straight lines and ninety degree angles, I often don't bother with a rod even on fairly complex builds. I'll often work entirely from a scale drawing with just a few joinery details drawn out full size. But as soon as angles or curves enter the equation, even simple ones, I find it's worth the time to construct a rod.
Lots of makers draw out their rods on sheets of 6mm or 9mm MDF. However, I use a slightly different method. I tape a sheet of draughtsman's heavyweight tracing paper to a sheet of MDF that has accurate straight edges and corners, then I draw on that using a T square.
The big advantage is that I don't have to store loads of MDF plans. After the job's done the plan can be rolled up and stuck into cardboard tubes stored in the joists.
The disadvantage is that if I want to use the plan again, but with some amendments, then it's impossible to tape it back down to a sheet of MDF so it's perfectly aligned, I can get close but "close" isn't good enough. Consequently I can't use a T Square for any future plan changes and have to work from the surface of the plan itself using perspex drawing squares. However, taken in the round this is a system that works reasonably well without spending a fortune.
That's a mighty fine piece of tree you're dealing with there. The sapwood looks almost like Ivory....gorgeous.
