| Project by TampaMark | posted 84 days ago | 1054 views | 13 times favorited | 15 comments |  |
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The sister asked for a secretary desk to match her bedroom furniture. Currently, she uses a card table to do all her banking and she wanted a work space that she could close up and hide the mess. She gave me some rough dimensions and left the design up to me. It is made from cherry and cherry plywood. Finish is just a couple of coats of danish oil.
I went back and forth on the desk hardware. I ended up just going with some solid antique brass hinges from Horton Brasses. I ordered some chrome stops from Rockler (item 30741) that would have worked great, but didn’t like the chrome finish with the cherry and brass, so I decided to go without. The bottom supports the desk about 4 inches and it seems pretty secure. If the desk needs support later, I can always add the stops.
The knobs and pulls came through mail-order Lowes and match her bedroom hardware very nicely. Lowe’s screwed up the order by sending 4 matching knobs and 1 different knob. I used the different knob for the desk pull-down and it looks great. My sister won’t even notice.
I still need practice on my dovetails. I use the Leigh D1600 dovetail jig, but don’t use it enough to get really good at them. Thanks for looking.
-- -- Mark (maker of high-grade kindling)
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15 comments so far
a1Jim
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87254 posts in 1748 days
#1 posted 84 days ago
Very nice work Mark,your sister had to love it.
-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/
KnotCurser
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1409 posts in 1239 days
#2 posted 84 days ago
Wow! Fantastic work.
I hope she realizes the time and effort all those dadoes and dovetails took!
As a matter of fact, why don’t you make sure she reads these comments so she really gets a good idea of what a wonderful brother you must be! ;-)
Great build!
-bob
-- Man is a tool-using Animal. Nowhere do you find him without tools; without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all. - Thomas Carlyle http://www.ffrf.org
BusterB
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669 posts in 179 days
#3 posted 84 days ago
Super nice build Mark….
-- Buster, Ocoee TN (Critics are men who watch a battle from a high place then come down and shoot the survivors - Hemingway)
gfadvm
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6644 posts in 860 days
#4 posted 83 days ago
That is a beautiful desk that will only become more beautiful with time. You did a great job but I have some concerns about the desk top not being supported when open. If someone leaned on it or put some heavy books on it…..... What do others think? This is not meant as criticism. I’m contemplating a similar desk and trying to learn here.
-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm
Routerisstillmyname
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595 posts in 1679 days
#5 posted 83 days ago
This is craftsmanship no akia here.
-- Router รจ ancora il mio nome.
johnstoneb
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266 posts in 343 days
#6 posted 83 days ago
Nice job. I like your dovetails. I need to learn to do them. I’ve used Horton’s for brass before they have a good selection and good service.
-- Bruce
Billp
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716 posts in 2370 days
#7 posted 83 days ago
That is one sweet desk your sister should be very happy. If your joint has a little gap a little glue a some 60 grit and good bye gap.
-- Billp
Stanley Coker
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195 posts in 1366 days
#8 posted 83 days ago
Great looking desk. Been wanting to build one for my wife. Would you care to send the dimensions?
I have to agree with gfadvm though, if someone leaned on the edge of the table top it might present a problem.
Great looking desk and I love the cherry.
-- Stanley, North Georgia
TampaMark
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24 posts in 122 days
#9 posted 83 days ago
Thanks for all the comments. Billp – I will try the gap fix for the dovetails. Thanks for the tip. Stanley – it is 39 inches wide by 53 inches tall. The bottom piece is 24 inches deep. The top tapers from 21 inches to about 13 inches at the top.
I hear you guys about the desk support (or lack thereof). I went back and forth. The desk will be in a bedroom and closed up most of the time. I’m delivering it today and am going to have my sister live with it for a couple of weeks and then weigh in with her opinion. I just really hated the look of the chrome stops that I had ordered. If they had matched the antiques bronze hardware, they would already be installed. I purchase the chrome stops before I had made the hardware decision. Bad move!
-- -- Mark (maker of high-grade kindling)
grizzman
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5393 posts in 1474 days
#10 posted 83 days ago
what a beautiful piece here, the cherry will age of coarse and get darker….i know your sister will love this,, and i to was going to mention that anytime you get a small gap somewhere, glue in the opening and sand it lightly to get the dust into the glue, it works all the time…but bill told you and now you know…..so what is next…
-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']
workerinwood
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2491 posts in 1238 days
#11 posted 83 days ago
Beautiful!! Great job.
-- Jack, Albuquerque
helluvawreck
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10466 posts in 1037 days
#12 posted 83 days ago
A wonderful piece. You did a fine job on this one and I’m sure that she loves it.
helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau
david38
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539 posts in 514 days
#13 posted 83 days ago
nice work
BigMig
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106 posts in 784 days
#14 posted 83 days ago
that’s definitely a piece to be proud of. Make sure you signed and dated it as it’s sure to become a family heirloom
-- Mike from Lansdowne, PA
Poisson
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37 posts in 1193 days
#15 posted 81 days ago
That is one of the items that I would like to build in the rest of my life. Good job.
-- Byung Soo Kim, Seoul, S.Korea
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