Library Desk Complete

[John Hunter]

Very nice.

[drumpriest]

VERY nice. Great job.

[mdutch]

Beautiful job.

[gary]

I wanted to thank everyone for the nice comments they made about this project. It was fun to do and I learned some new techniques that I can use on future projects.

Someone made a comment on the chamfer around the top. It was done with freehand a hand plane. In test cuts, the router burned the wood too much so I used the plane instead.

[Pappy]

Beautiful work, Gary! The finish looks great and I love the grain in the top.

[lrogers]

That's an instant classic!

[enorwood]

Beautiful work, Gary. I'm sure your son is proud of it and you. Especially nice job on the drawers and apron. A family heirloom for sure!

[tomscanio]

It looks great! Can you give some details on how you did the grain matching?

Thanks,
Tom Scanio

[gary]

It looks great! Can you give some details on how you did the grain matching?

I assume you mean the front apron & drawers. The grain on it matches because it comes from one continous board.

With a thin kerf blade, I ripped the front apron into 3 pieces to get a top, middle, and bottom piece. The middle piece is then crosscut a number of times to produce the two ends, two 3/4" dividers and three drawer fronts. I then glued the top, select middle pieces, and bottom to make the front apron. The tenons for the legs are cut after the glue up.

I used the drawer fronts as spacers during the apron glue up. When I cut the half blinds on the Leigh jig, I know that the drawer fronts will be around 1/64" proud on each end to allow for cleanup (you can control this). After clean up on both sides, you're left with around 1/32"+ space to fit your drawer.

The rip cuts become almost invisible if you the grain is working with you.

I will say that I took my time and spent around 3 hours doing setup and test cuts on the dovetail jig to get it just right. You only get one shot to get it right or you have to start over.

Hope this answers your question.

[os1kne]

That is very nice!! An instant family heirloom - you will be praised for generations!

[Wood_workur]

The matched grain is awesome. First thing I noticed. A very nice touch.

[charliex]

With the exposed innards it looks like a FFW spread. Great job.

[radhak]

I assume you mean the front apron & drawers. The grain on it matches because it comes from one continous board.

With a thin kerf blade, I ripped the front apron into 3 pieces to get a top, middle, and bottom piece. The middle piece is then crosscut a number of times to produce the two ends, two 3/4" dividers and three drawer fronts. I then glued the top, select middle pieces, and bottom to make the front apron. The tenons for the legs are cut after the glue up.

I used the drawer fronts as spacers during the apron glue up. When I cut the half blinds on the Leigh jig, I know that the drawer fronts will be around 1/64" proud on each end to allow for cleanup (you can control this). After clean up on both sides, you're left with around 1/32"+ space to fit your drawer.

The rip cuts become almost invisible if you the grain is working with you.

I will say that I took my time and spent around 3 hours doing setup and test cuts on the dovetail jig to get it just right. You only get one shot to get it right or you have to start over.

Hope this answers your question.

your description is just as good as your output! i am hoping to learn from this for doing similar grain-matching, so shall print this out and stick it on my workbench for inspiration and instruction.

thanks a ton.

[GPA61]

WOW. Very nice work.