A White Oak Desk

Dodgy Loner · February 24, 2014, 08:38:23 PM

SD- the band saw was out of commission with a busted belt. It's all better now. But it would have been a difficult task on the bandsaw anyway. I just used Tightbond III on the veneer. It's 1/8" thick, so not particularly fragile. I haven't done much veneer work either, but it was the logical choice for this piece. I think I got a good bond.

MM- no worries, the desk will disassemble for transport so you won't be asked to abandon your policy

SwampDonkey · February 25, 2014, 02:42:27 AM

Poston, I thought you southern boys were more warm hearted than that, eh? Need more grits for the constitution. ;D ;)

Yes, the bandsaw probably is out of the question anyway because of depth along that wide edge. Anything beyond 6" is probably not going to happen.

I broke my band blade yesterday as well, and made a trip to town. Luckily a local store had one. Most close by will not stock band blades. Just happened to be a 1/4" blade out of pure luck. :D It was a King blade, but I like Viking the best from Lee Valley. Needed the blade to finish cutting curves on a chair leg. ;D

Dodgy Loner · February 25, 2014, 04:18:05 AM

My bandsaw will supposedly resaw up to 13", but in reality, 6" is pushing it in white oak. Maybe I could do 13" in basswood? Plus, the mechanics of guiding a 9"-wide, 6' long, 40-lb stick of wood through the blade smoothly enough to avoid bowing the blade in the cut are...tricky. Been down that road before. The handsaw is a safer bet and a better workout.

I hear ya on getting bandsaw blades locally. My saw takes an odd size (111") that no one stocks. So I always have spares on hand. Not belts, though!

customsawyer · February 25, 2014, 04:28:09 AM

That is a nice design and I like what you have done so far.

SwampDonkey · February 25, 2014, 06:25:36 AM

Your band saw is a bit bigger than mine. Mine's 14" throat, but you can only cut something that is no thicker than 6". But yes, for the same reasons you make about handling the wood, they would drive me in another direction also. And yes it's a workout I'm sure. I don't know if my shoulder could take it these days. Get'n old ain't fun. ;D

I'll be following along as usual.

mesquite buckeye · February 25, 2014, 09:47:52 AM

I don't see much in the way of knots, check or warp. Do you ever get junky lumber? ;D

SwampDonkey · February 25, 2014, 11:26:51 AM

He's fussy like me. Clear wood, less unsightly surprises. ;D

mesquite buckeye · February 25, 2014, 01:35:06 PM

We call it character. That's worth more. ;D

Ask Poston. ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

Dodgy Loner · February 25, 2014, 02:40:41 PM

When you work with hand tools as much as I do, you call it defect. I likes my clear wood, and so do my hand planes ;)

I love figure- ray fleck, curly, quilted, even crotch figure. But knots and checks aren't welcome in my shop. Well, they are welcome, but they eventually make it to the scrap bin :D

SwampDonkey · February 25, 2014, 03:10:53 PM

Or the stove, for mis-behaving. And a few words about the devil, under my breath. :D

Dodgy Loner · February 25, 2014, 04:11:59 PM

I don't have a stove, but I do have a big box for cut-offs to use for grilling. All of my oak, hickory, ash, maple, cherry, pear, beech, sassafras, etc. odds and ends get cut into briquet-sized pieces and send to the grilling bin. The grill is my favorite place to use knotty, cracked wood ;D

SwampDonkey · February 25, 2014, 04:17:17 PM

Cook'n or heat'n, either way never wasted. ;D I had to have the door open in the shop today, 110 F is too hot for this northern boy. I mean when the sweat starts to poor off the peak of your ball cap, time for air conditioning. :D

Magicman · February 25, 2014, 09:38:02 PM

Quote from: Dodgy Loner on February 25, 2014, 02:40:41 PMBut knots.........

If the Knothole Sawmill could saw knotty lumber how many knots could the Knothole Sawmill saw ???

JohnM · February 25, 2014, 10:53:05 PM

Quote from: Magicman on February 25, 2014, 09:38:02 PM
Quote from: Dodgy Loner on February 25, 2014, 02:40:41 PMBut knots.........
If the Knothole Sawmill could saw knotty lumber how many knots could the Knothole Sawmill saw ???

I no (k)not.

Dodgy Loner · February 27, 2014, 10:07:31 AM

I worked for a few hours on Tuesday night. Mostly lumber selection and processing. I always take a disproportionate amount of time selecting which stock will become which pieces. I have two goals: to minimize waste, and to maximize the aesthetic effect of each piece. This is made more difficult in this piece, because I will end up using lumber from 3 different trees, and I want use the subtle differences in color and growth rate to its best advantage.

I now have the stock selected and processed for the top, the legs, and all of the frame members. All that remains is the selection for the panels and the drawer fronts. I will saved those until the joinery is completed.

I did finally get down to business and lay out the joinery for one of the legs, to see how difficult the through-mortises would be to accomplish. I have no mortiser, so I wasted most of the joints with the drill press and it was all handwork from there - chisels and a wide rasp. It took more time than I would like. I will have to refine my process to get more efficient, because I have 8 of these to do! It will be a challenge to keep the parts straight, because no two are the same.

SawyerBrown · February 27, 2014, 10:21:15 AM

How about a router with a home-made jig to keep things straight and true?

SwampDonkey · February 27, 2014, 10:58:24 AM

Also, with complicated assemblies I like to get some cardboard and draw things to scale. Also, pieces get a number on an area that won't get sanded, like on the tenon and the cheek of the mortise once you have the fit. And before glue up, sometimes you have to think ahead of the steps involved. Often times it only fits together in a certain order.

Even with a mortise attachment or machine you still have to chisel and scrape some, at the base of the mortise. So just because one has the machines, it does not eliminate the 'fine tuning'. And make the mortise first and clean it up, and then make the tenon fit, don't go back and forth. Easier to sand and rasp the tenon for a good fit. Tenon shoulders are always a challenge even when machined and there is always a little potential to be off a hair in that 360 degree turn somewhere.

Ljohnsaw · February 27, 2014, 12:04:51 PM

Looks like a nice project. You didn't mention, is this desk for personal use or will it be at the camp?

Dodgy Loner · February 27, 2014, 12:36:57 PM

Thanks Sawyer, but I plan to keep a router as far away from this desk as possible, except for a few small procedures that I feel confident with. I have made more firewood and repair work for myself with the screaming devil tools than I care to think about :D

SD- you are right about the tenon shoulders. That is an important area that is easy to mess up. I usually do that by hand, since it is so critical, but with so many joints I will likely find a machine method. I dislike cutting shoulders on the table saw, because I can't watch the cut as I am making it. But it's probably what I will do.

I didn't make a full-scale mock-up, but I did make some detailed scaled drawings on graphing paper last night that I think will keep me on track. I plan to get all the joint marked out and thoroughly inspected on all the legs before I proceed with any joinery. The one that I started on was a spare, hopefully it won't be needed.

ljohnsaw- in the first post, I mentioned that the desk is for my dad. He will use it in his home office.

Ljohnsaw · February 27, 2014, 03:56:45 PM

Quote from: Dodgy Loner on February 27, 2014, 12:36:57 PM
<<snip>>
ljohnsaw- in the first post, I mentioned that the desk is for my dad. He will use it in his home office.

I read more into it - I was thinking (actually assuming and you know what that does... :

) that your dad was still working there and it would be an office desk at the camp.

Dodgy Loner · February 27, 2014, 04:15:45 PM

Quote from: ljohnsaw on February 27, 2014, 03:56:45 PM
Quote from: Dodgy Loner on February 27, 2014, 12:36:57 PM
<<snip>>
ljohnsaw- in the first post, I mentioned that the desk is for my dad. He will use it in his home office.
I read more into it - I was thinking (actually assuming and you know what that does... :) that your dad was still working there and it would be an office desk at the camp.

Gotcha- Dad never actually had an office at the camp, but he worked for the same organization and spent a lot of time there. He is partially retired now. Sorry for the confusion.

Red Clay Hound · February 27, 2014, 08:24:49 PM

I've been delinquent about keeping up with the forum lately. I just noticed this thread about my future desk. It's exciting to see construction getting under way! Looks like it's going to be a little more complicated than we first anticipated. I'm paying Dodgy to build the desk for me so at least he will be somewhat compensated for his efforts. Better yet, I expect this to become a family heirloom that he will inherit one day!

I'm looking forward to watching progress.

WDH · February 28, 2014, 11:46:43 PM

Pay him to build me one :D :D :D.

SwampDonkey · March 01, 2014, 06:10:54 AM

:D You need a bigger house.

I'm working on downsizing the operation here, so I don't have to ever worry about being gifted a beautiful hand crafted oak desk. ;) I got a bunch of antique furniture and dishes to get rid of now.

isawlogs · March 01, 2014, 08:31:09 PM

Bill, I have a big trailer and a pick-up to pul it, I can alleviate your issue of antique furniture and dishes real quick its only a short drive out there..... ;D :D just saying!!