Project by Lenny | posted 12-05-2020 04:07 PM | 828 views | 0 times favorited | 23 comments | ![]() |
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This cherry desk was designed by Charles Durfee for Fine Woodworking magazine and appeared in issue #164 July/August 2003. The desk features a cabinet behind which resides three drawers of varying size. A fourth (pencil) drawer sits above the cabinet and a pull-out writing surface sits above the pencil drawer. The hideaway keyboard tray makes for a sleek look when it’s not in use. I’m very pleased with the desktop. To assure consistent color I made it from one ten-foot board of 8/4 stock. The desktop is 5 feet long, 26 inches wide and 13/16” thick. The cabinet is 24 inches square. This was a complex project that was a lot of work. Joinery runs the gamut and includes mortise and tenon, frame and panel and dovetails. While Durfee used solid maple for the drawers I opted for Baltic birch. Finish is three coats of Waterlox satin. Sorry for the photos. I took them as an afterthought so I had to pull out the desk from its location.
-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI
23 comments so far
BlueRidgeDog
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787 posts in 755 days
#1 posted 12-05-2020 04:12 PM
Well made. I love frame and panel work. Are the stiles extended to become feet/legs or are they separate?
Lenny
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#2 posted 12-05-2020 04:23 PM
BlueRidgeDog, thank you. They are extended. Two foot blocks are added to the front to mimic the side and back panels.
-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI
Oldtool
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#3 posted 12-05-2020 04:39 PM
Really very nice desk Lenny, beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
The top is excellent, and I assume that you re-sawed the 8/4 board, was this difficult?, how did you do it – by hand or machine?
I was tinkering with re-sawing yesterday, on soft pine, and the blade drift on my bandsaw was driving me nuts. I tried skewing the fence to match the drift angle, didn’t help. So if you have a good method, please inform.
Tom
-- "I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The point is to bring them the real facts." - Abraham Lincoln
Lenny
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#4 posted 12-05-2020 04:47 PM
Thanks Tom. Yes, I cut the board in half along its width giving two five foot board. I resawed those boards giving me four roughly one inch thick boards. As for technique, I follow Alex Snodgrass’ methods. He claims if you have a properly tuned/set up band saw and a good blade there is no such thing as drift. I use “woodslicer” blades from Highland Woodworking. If you don’t know, Alex is a regular at the Woodworking Shows. You can do a YouTube search on “Alex Snodgrass bandsaw”.
-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI
Brodan
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#5 posted 12-05-2020 04:57 PM
Wow. Beautiful piece of furniture.
-- Dan, TN
swirt
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#6 posted 12-05-2020 07:10 PM
Great work on the desk. Well done. Seems like a really nice design too.
-- Galootish log blog, http://www.timberframe-tools.com
Woodenwizard
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1368 posts in 4019 days
#7 posted 12-05-2020 07:42 PM
Nicely done! You are a great craftsman. Glad to see you are still at it. I think Cherry is one of my favorite woods. Hope you are doing well and are having a Blessed holiday season. We haven’t been back east for some time now for obvious reasons. We are doing GREAT and looking forward to our next trip your way and maybe a cup of coffee or lunch with a fellow woodworker and lumberjock buddy.
-- John, Colorado's (Wooden Wizard)
GR8HUNTER
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8261 posts in 1688 days
#8 posted 12-05-2020 10:35 PM
indeed …. this is 1 very nice desk ..... and will only get nicer as time goes by .... I love all the classic joinery …... GREAT JOB :<))
-- Tony---- Reinholds,Pa.------ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN :<))
BurlyBob
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8300 posts in 3241 days
#9 posted 12-06-2020 12:18 AM
Really nice job. I would love to see it in a few years when it’s aged to a deep red. I bet it will look spectacular.
Eric
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864 posts in 849 days
#10 posted 12-06-2020 01:24 AM
Looks beautiful, fine craftsmanship. Tony said it will look even better with age
-- Eric, building the dream
Lee A. Jesberger
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#11 posted 12-06-2020 04:52 AM
Great job!
-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com
TopamaxSurvivor
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#12 posted 12-06-2020 04:55 AM
Nice desk Lenny.
-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence
Lenny
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#13 posted 12-06-2020 09:09 AM
Thank you for the kind feedback everyone.
-- On the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop! Lenny, East Providence, RI
Peteybadboy
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#14 posted 12-06-2020 11:48 AM
nice desk Lenny.
-- Petey
LarryB
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#15 posted 12-06-2020 01:18 PM
Wow, Lenny. That’s a great piece of work. It reeks of lots of hours. Nicely done. I second the comment about Woodmizer blades. My resawing efforts have greatly improved. It also takes a substantial bandsaw also.
Keep up the good work!
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