Computer Desk - Oak and Curly Maple (4 pics)

[gad5264]

Very eye appealing and the best thing is it is functional also.

[Mark]

Very nice craftsmanship/ nice contrast with the oak and maple.

[tribalwind]

LOOKS GREAT !
i have to build one for a friend in aromatic cedar soon.

if the wires are long enough id suggest some of that plastic wire channel to run along the wall and paint it the wall color, it helps tame the rats nest!
i was always trippin over 1 wire before i finally tucked it away properly:P

[Hoyden]

Very nice. you'll enjoy working on your project.

[JimD]

Looks great! I tried curly maple for the first time in some jewelry boxes at Christmas time and liked the final product. It is a bit hard to work with, at least for me, because of the chipping during planning. Your drawer fronts look great however. Do you have a thickness sander?

Jim

[kyle.w]

looks nice

[drumpriest]

Thanks all for the kind words. Let me address a few of the questions.

lcm1947 - By "wrapped in oak" I mean to say that it is a plywood panel framed by solid oak. The solid oak is 2" wide, wrapped around all 4 sides of the ply. I did this by first planing down the oak to just over 23/32, then I attached one side at a time using biscuits and pocket screws. I pulled the faces into alignment with a pocket screw face clamp. After the glue dried, I used a cabinet scraper to flush up the oak and clean up glue.

JR - The oak is stained with an oil based red oak stain, nothing was done to the maple. The top coats are arm-r-seal. each piece with many coats, with progressively finer knock-downs. The solid stuff was sanded to 320, they ply to 220 first. Between coats I did 320-400-600-0000 steel wool. The average surface has 5 coats, some 6, some 4. The drawer interiors were finished with wipe on poly.

TribalWind - A cable snake is planned, but not everthing is even hooked up yet. My main gigs being game programming and video editing, there are many components to the computer system. Thanks for the advise though.

JimD - I don't have a thickness sander yet. But I do have access to a time saver wide belt sander that I can rent time to use, and I used it for the drawer fronts. The rest of the curly maple I sent through my ryobi ap1300 planer. I wet the surfaces first, to raise the grain a bit, that helps prevent tear-out. Light cuts, and sharp knives did the trick. I plan on getting a performax soon.

I think that addresses all of the questions thus-far.
Joinery involved on this project included...

-biscuits
-pocket screws
-dados
-rabbets
-mortise and loose tenon
-figure 8 fasteners

Doing this one was like a woodworking final, or so it feels to me.
Thanks again for all of the kind words, they mean a lot coming from a collection of woodworkers as talented as those on this board.

[monte]

Very nice!

[lrogers]

That is one super looking desk! Very well done.

[retired wrench]

**** That IS one beautiful job.....You did your self proud. Looks so much more intricate, than the one I made for myself couple years ago.........
>>>>larry, deep in the heart of WV..<<<

[crokett]

That is a beautiful desk. Great work but it is like Rod's shop - way too clean and organized for me to believe you actually do any work on it.

[Ken Massingale]

Excellent workmanship, Keith.
The finish is outstanding.
ken

[pmf2000]

Very inspiring stuff! You have to be patting yourself on the shoulders.

[Tundra_Man]

Great looking desk! I love the curly maple.