Desk Design ?

[Scoony]

Ok. Got most of the wood milled up. The top boards were 8/4 and currently milled to 1-3/4 to 1-7/8. I milled them one at a time so that's why the various thicknesses.

Big question is how thick to make the top. Proportionally, I think that 1-1/4” would look best. I can resaw that planks which would same me some time and leave some thin wood for other projects.

I would like to hear from you-all on top thickness.

[Philip1231]

Ok. Got most of the wood milled up. The top boards were 8/4 and currently milled to 1-3/4 to 1-7/8.  I milled them one at a time so that's why the various thicknesses.

Big question is how thick to make the top. Proportionally, I think that 1-1/4” would look best. I can resaw that planks which would same me some time and leave some thin wood for other projects.

I would like to hear from you-all on top thickness.

I would mill a scrap to your thickness and chamfer the underside to get a feel for how it will look.

[Scoony]

I would mill a scrap to your thickness and chamfer the underside to get a feel for how it will look.

Great idea. I do have some cut-offs from those planks.  That will also help in figuring out what sort of edge treatment to use.

[Scoony]

I picked up the lumber back at the end of April and got started on it last week. 

   

I am calling these bubble legs. This leg design creates a challenge in that the bubbles are larger in diameter than the squared top section.  

   

I have a bench top mortiser, but that does not have a capacity required. Pulled out the Drill press mortiser kit and used some shims so that first bubble would not interfere.  

   

I was able to get all the mortises cut without drama. 

Fast forward to today, and I do have the basic base assembled. I will post more on that tomorrow and how I plan on the drawer supports.

The part I am not looking forward to is resawing those planks down to a reasonable thickness. I am shooting for a top that it 1-1/4" thick. I milled a piece down to 1-1/2 and it was just to chunky. The 8/4 lumber I got milled down to 1-7/8". The off-cuts will become drawer box and bottom parts.

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Instead of milling it down, how about a heavy chamfer on the underside?

[Scoony]

I had though about that, but I ended up resawing the planks on the bandsaw. That did cause the planks to bend slightly as expected, but I alternated them and clamped them up for over a week. Finally got the top glued up. I need to process some pics so I can post them.

I am almost done on the base. It only needs a few more coats of finish. Did some testing on scraps. I am wiping on one coat of Seal Coat to the pine then applying a gel stain. For the ash, I am simply applying the get stain. The Seal Coat on the pine prevent blotching and it ends up mating the ash perfectly.  The only thing that is hard to hide is how the legs are glued up to achieve the size. 

I am using the glued up top as a work surface to finish the base. Once I get the base finished, I can get that out of the shop and focus on the top.  Friend wants those power outlet groments installed, so I am going to figure out how to make those holes. Will probably make a jig/template and use a router with a bearing bit. Holes need to be 3-14" dia.

[iclark]

I am using the glued up top as a work surface to finish the base. Once I get the base finished, I can get that out of the shop and focus on the top.  Friend wants those power outlet groments installed, so I am going to figure out how to make those holes. Will probably make a jig/template and use a router with a bearing bit. Holes need to be 3-14" dia.

If that is 3-1/4", then the router with template should work. Or, you could buy a Forstner bit that size. That is a handy size for roughing in a bowl on a lathe.