Walnut Shaker Lap Desk

GREAT job. I really like this!!

Nice work Frank. The size makes it nice and big enough to do just about anything on.

-- Respect your shop tools and they will respect you - Ric

you used 280 sandpaper wet with tung oil for a finish? what ould tat look like with a paste wax finish? I have two walnut shaker tables that I am building and am looking for the perfect finish?

-- Humble Wood Servant

The tung oil dries with the saw dust suspended in it This fills joints & grain. I slipped when I didn’t say that there is a light sanding between applications of tung oil. I don’t think that paste wax would dry to a hard enough finish. I believe that boiled linseed oil can be used the same way though. I used this method with tung oil to finish some rifle stocks. I used many more applications because of the use of rifles outside & in bad weather. The multiple applications gave the grain a very “deep” look, almost 3-D.

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"

the original “laptop” i like it

-- mwm! Before you criticise walk a mile in their shoes, and when you do criticise you will be a mile away and have their shoes!

A very good piece of work. Is a drawer to the side a normal feature for a shaker lap desk because of convenience or you have done the change?
Sharad

-- patanjali

Sharad; the same feature appears on Thos Jefferson’s lap desk.

Nice work Frank!

-- Derek, Bremerton WA --

Wow, that is really beautiful! Walnut is my favorite wood to work with, and you have done it justice! Thank you for showing me this!

-- Adventure? Heh! Excitement? Heh! A Woodworker craves not these things!

Beautiful, just gorgeous! I love the shaker stuff and I’ve wanted to build this one for some time now. Great work, esp. with making the hinges more authentic. There are a number of similar patterns floating around, did you use one of those? Thank you for posting and explaining your build.

-- Greg, CT

Very nicely done, Frank.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Very nice. All us old “Civil War veterans” used to carry desks like this through the campaigns.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I’m a big fan of Shaker piece and this one is why….simple and very slick…Blkcherry

Great job on that. Love the walnut too. Thought of making one of those also. Fun project.

-- mtnwild (Jack), It's not what you see, it's how you see it.

This would make any Shaker jealous!!

This is a great piece. I lug around a scattered assortment of pens, pencils, paper, and plans throughout the house and it drives my fiance crazy. This would be perfect for storing everything together.

-- Don't tell her I'm in the shop!

Looks great! I hope you enjoy your shop!

I didn’t know the Shakers were in the Civil War.

Great job on the construction. It looks great.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

I looked over a lot of lap desks at re-enactments & antique shops. I also checked out a bunch of plans. This plan was off of the internet. The lap desks that have NO drawer & the writing board that hinges up or lifts out is always cumbersome. You always have to move the paper you are writing on, dig to the bottom of the piece to get the note pad or document that you’re looking for & move everything back. I have found that the lap desks with the drawer on one side or the other are the easiest to use. The drawer in the front has a problem with my pot belly getting in the way! The “Lap Desks” with lots of pockets are actually little supply cabinets. With those you always seem to end up using some other piece of furniture to actually write on.

I purchased a lap desk at Mackinac Island Historic Site last year & it was literally a sixth the size of the one I just made… but it weighs probably three times this Shaker lap desk. It must have been made just south of St.Louis in the “Lead Belt”. The price was right for a souvenir & the size is efficient. So I’ll use it for a plan & use lighter wood. This one is really a small supply cabinet too. There’s no practicle writing surface.

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"

Coincidently, I just found at a used book store “Shaker Furniture” by Edward Deming and Faith Andrews, Dover Publications.

A photograph of a lap desk very much like yours is shown on plate 38. At the end of the very interesting commentary on page 92 is the comment; “The rule for making writing boxes: 22 inches long, 15 inches wide and six deep. One drawer for paper and one for an inkstand. If any desire, they may be made slanting. The frames of Shaker lap desks are pine, planed to three-eights of an inch; the members forming the till, the interior partitions and the fronts of the ink drawers usually measure in thickness only one-quarter of an inch; and the sides of these drawers are a fragile eighth of an inch. All joinings are dovetailed, and tiny wooden pulls equip all drawers. The color is a uniform red or yellow.”

For those who wish to further pursue the Shaker history and their style of furniture, many other furniture items are photographed and described in this publication.

-- "Heaven is North of the Bridge"

I have several books on shaker furniture & have searched the WEB for info but I don’t have this book. Thanks for telling me about this book… I’ll be searching the local book & wood shops for it now. It sounds interesting. Thanks again!

-- Frank, Florissant, Missouri "The New Show-Me Woodshop"

This is cool I always meant to build one this one is great.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon