Sawdust Chronicles Desk Organizer

Here is my submission for the desk organizer build challenge from the Sawdust Chronicles. I designed it to be used in a specific place on my desk at work.

I built this organizer mostly out of lowly pine boards (1x’s and 2x’s) that I had lying around the shop. I did buy an 8’ 1×10 and some small dowels, but other than that, all the pieces came out of my “will use later, this isn’t scrap” bin. I also used some stain that was left over from another project and a knob for the drawer that I found in my workbench. Forgive me, but I bent the rules a little bit for the vertical slots. Originally, I had them all 9” tall per the rules. When I went to dry assemble the pieces, I just didn’t like the way they looked. It seemed imposing and blocky, so, I cut the first piece down to 5” and then each piece behind it is progressively taller until the last piece is 9” tall. I think that looks a whole lot better. The piece seems to flow from front to back now. In addition to a place to store pens, I needed a place for my 3×5 note cards, so that’s incorporated into the top. I also wanted to have a drawer where I could store a few thumbdrives and miscellaneous desk accessories.

As for joinery, I used simple glued butt joints for the main carcass of the piece. I really struggled with how to affix the vertical pieces to the main carcass. I considered using my router to cut a slot and then inserting the pieces into it. I considered just screwing them from underneath. In the end, I decided to use dowels. Not that it’s overly complicated, but I’ve never joined anything together using dowels before.

For the drawer, I used dovetails to attach the drawer face to the sides and a rabbet for the back. The bottom is in a slot cut through all four pieces. I have never tried dovetails before, either, and thoroughly enjoyed learning how to do that. It’s something I’ll use again very soon. The only mechanical fasteners used throughout the piece are the brad nails that I used to affix the trim along the front edge.

I’m a little disappointed with the way the finish looks. Since I made a commitment to spend as little as possible on this project, and I didn’t have any sanding sealer or shellac in the shop, the stain is a little blotchy in places. That’s my only real regret: that I didn’t just go buy something to make the finish more uniform.

I know it’s not the height of complex joinery or finished to professional quality, but I’m pretty proud of this guy.

Thanks for looking.

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