Desk Finished 06/01/2009
 Ever since the first time I read Roy Underhill's book "The Woodwright's Apprentice" I've wanted to build a version of his standing desk. I always thought it would be a great piece to have in the shop for making drawings, laying an open book or magazine or setting my coffee. It would also give me a logical place to keep pencils, scissors and other small odds and ends that typically get lost at the bottom of boxes and cabinets.  So over the last couple of weeks I finally got around to building one. I modified Roy's design slightly by adding a drawer to my desk. To do so I had to make the sides slightly higher and obviously add a bottom rail to the front under the drawer as well as a frame for the drawer to sit on. I also shortened the height about 3" from the drawing in the book as I'm pretty short and the original 48" height seemed just a little high for me to work at comfortably.  The piece is made of Eastern white pine, as with most of the pieces I make for the shop, because it's cheap, readily available where I live, cheap, easy to work, and oh yeah, cheap. I also like the look of it as long as it's not full of huge knots (a few pin knots are ok). The inside is currently just a big open space. I'll add a simple gallery in the future, but for now it will serve as extra storage. I'll also divide up the drawer in the future but that's a project for another day. I'm glad that I finally got around to making this piece. It is certainly a welcome addition to the shop and much better looking than the piece that used to occupy this space (ugly plywood junk cabinet). It's unfinished right now as I have not decided whether to just oil and wax it or give it a couple coats of milk paint and oil. I think I'll just leave it alone for now and let it get used to it's new home for awhile. The finish can wait. CommentsWed, 03 Jun 2009 03:22:08 That is a really nice little desk... very nicely done! Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:46:57 Nice work. I made one several years ago of poplar and painted it Spanish Brown (red iron oxide) OIL Based Paint. I would avoid milk paint as it is not traditional. Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:25:17 Thanks Guys! Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:50:41 Milk paint might not be traditional for the period, but it's dead traditional for pine in general, and it looks great, so why not? You're not making a museum reproduction (you've already modified the design, and for excellent reasons) so I say follow your heart. If you want milk paint then go for it. You might need to change the hardware if you use black milk paint, though... I mean, black on black might be a bit too austere... shades of Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy. :) Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:55:32 Mmmm...mustard yellow. Now you have me thinking. I hadn't thought of the mustard. Leave a Reply | CategoriesAll
November 2009
       
       
        
|
RSS Feed