andrew-in-austin Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 This project is for a desk for my wife. I want to make a desk for her computer, sewing, and other crafts she has. It is going to span the entire width of her office, up against a wall, with a length somewhere just under 134". A couple things I am excited about: (1) my wife want's black walnut (2) I am going to do a trestle based design. As for the walnut, it only took a trip to the lumber yard to show her walnut, and she was convinced. The trestle design should allow for an easier installation, allowing me to assemble the table inside the office, instead of trying to navigate a giant heavy desk down hallways and turns. I went to my local lumber yard yesterday, Austin Fine Lumber and Plywood. I don't think we have quite the selection of walnut that places in north east do, but I was pleased to be able to pick through their stack. For the top, I was hoping for 2, 12 foot long, 16" wide 8/4 boards, but that didn't happen. I found 3 boards that were just under 10" each, and there were only 4 in this size. The 3 I picked are 12 feet long however. I did not shop for the legs, but I'll probably go back in next day or two to get that material (also walnut). Hopefully I can find material with same grain/color as the 3 I picked up. I don't think it will be a problem, as they all looked very similar in the stack. So the only design elements that have been set so far is that the top will be boards running left to right, approximately 11-1/2 feet long and about 26" deep. I think the style influence will be from Nakashima. Although it is a desk, it will be designed more like a table, but kind of like "2/3" a table. Take, for example, this table, but chop off the back 1/3: http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/directus/media/thumbnails/de9229d7d8356bd628e50970393e79c2-jpg-750-410-true.jpg There will be no drawers, at least initially. I'll wait until the table, err, desk is complete, then see if I can tuck a single row of drawers under the top, but somewhat indiscreet. I don't want the drawers to mess with the simplicity of the desk. However, practical needs may dictate something. So on to the wood! Here are the 3 boards as they sit in the lumbar yard. Did I mention they are upstairs? And you have the lower them over a rail down to the first level? My back... The two boards on the right I think are sequential cuts and appear to be book-matched. At home, trying to decide how to layout the boards. Hit these with some water. Is that some figuring I see??? This is getting better and better... So first task is to decide which order the boards go in, and try to joint/plane these with losing as little thickness as possible. I have a jointer wide enough, but running a 12 foot long board is probably not easy. There's also a slight twist in one of the boards, and I am not so confident I can take it out on the jointer. So, I may start with a jack plane and work these by hand. I am also a bit worried about tear out if the there is indeed figure in the grain. I do only have straight blades in the jointer and planer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Due to the length, attempting this means you've got bigger ones than I do and hopefully more clamps as well! Good luck to you and keep the journal updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I'm really curious how you are going to manage this length. I was planning on 96" and just came the conclusion it would be too much work to move around (so breaking it into 3', 5', 3' sections.) Of course mine is not trestle, that has to help some. Either way, looking forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger. Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I built a 13' walnut counter top a while back (8/4), and there was no way my machinery could handle it. I flattened each board by hand on one side, then ran though my planer. Next I edge jointed each by hand before a MASSIVE glue up. If you search for "monster walnut counter top" you'll find the posts I made (lots of pics). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted December 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 honestly not sure how I will move around a 2" x 27" x 12' foot top, but I think I can manage the glue-up. I have a couple pieces of 12 foot long, 2.5" square 10-gauge square tubes, and I'll use those to mock up a gluing station. I did have some recent practice with southern yellow pine 2 x 12 x 10 footers, running them over the jointer and through the planer, but it was not an "elegant" operation over the jointer. I think I'll start with the jack plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Sweet.. and yeah, I wouldn't even attempt the jointer. Check for twist, eliminate, then skip plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I made a 12' sled and shimmed the plank equal on the high corners and planed one surface flat. Used the tracksaw to get a straight and square edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Andrew...please embed your pics. You're not breaking any rules or anything, it's just annoying clicking links and waiting for them to load. Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 21 minutes ago, Eric. said: it's just annoying clicking links and waiting for them to load. Thanks. Your Internet may be faster if all the cell towers weren't under water as of late. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted December 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I'll add the pics shortly. I took the easy route when I hit the MB limit. Would be nice if the forum software could just auto resize as they are uploaded. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 I'll add the pics shortly. I took the easy route when I hit the MB limit. Would be nice if the forum software could just auto resize as they are uploaded. I use Tapatalk from my phone and it resizes them automatically. Its quick and easy when the photos are taken with your cell phone. Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 1, 2016 Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 Unfortunately, that's about the only thing Tapatalk does well! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted January 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2016 The first pass at face jointing went well. I first chopped off about 18" of material at the ends. I need just over 10 feet for the desk, and these are 12 feet long. They did have a "kink" at one end, so that's where the chop went. After that I started out with a low angle jack plane with a toothed blade, but after several minutes, I decided to try the jointer. I just could not resist after just buying the aircraft carrier a few weeks ago. I did have a couple nicks in the jointer knives (and the planer knives), but I thought I could work with it anyway. Taking the twist out was not too bad. I knew which corners to "lean" on, and feeding a 10 foot board on to a 4 foot in-feed table actually was not too bad. First method: I could stand all the way at the end of the board, 6 feet before the jointer (with first 4 feet of the board on the infeed table), and just feed it in, letting the board weight itself down over the cutter head as it started to move over the cutter head. As I feed it in, I walk towards the jointer, and when I get the board balanced on both tables, I can stay at the cutter head, moving the board. Second method: I could be right before the jointer head, with the beginning of the board right before the cutter head, and about 6 feet cantilevered before the infeed tabled. This required applying a bit of pressure downward on the front of the board, while moving the board forward. I preferred this method. I took off very very small amount per pass, like 64ths or less. I just had to be very careful as I fed the board, applying pressure to the corner which was twisted high (or low depending on how you think about it). I made many many passes on one side of the 3 boards. and was left with 1-13/16" minimum thickness. I started at 1-15/16", so I was quite pleased with that. I then took a plane blade and removed any lines left by the nicked knives, and move on the the planer. The planer was no trouble at all. However, for both the planer and jointer, I kept the cuts very shallow, because the grain runs in both directions on these boards. I know there are different schools of thought how to overcome this (some recommend larger cuts), but I thought really really small cuts would be the safest. I did not get a lot of tear out except at the place where a branch must have been, where the grain was basically end grain. I will have to do some filling there. Here's a shot of the boards after planing: There is a slight bow over the 10 feet, but honestly how could there not be. I don't think I'll have any problem with it once the table base adds some support to the top. Here are two close ups of the grain. the first one is on the right side of the boards That side has most of the figure. The left side seems to have less So I am not sure how I will arrange these. I can rotate a couple boards to spread the figure out. I'll probably cover these in mineral spirits and take a picture so I have a better idea of what they will look like with finish on them. I still have to edge joint and rip, but I'll save that for another day. I have a nasty cold, and this is about all I could handle today. NyQuil and nap for me... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post andrew-in-austin Posted January 10, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 I got some epoxy and dye to fill some of the cracks and knots in the boards for the top. Boy, those fumes from the epoxy were much harsher than I expected. Anyway, after the epoxy fill, I ran the boards through the planer to clean up the surface, then I ripped one edge with a track saw, then ripped to width with the table saw. Actually I ripped to width the first board and had a damn hard time keeping it against the fence because I had no infeed/outfeed support yet for my table saw, combined with the fact that these are over 10 feet long. So, I went back to the track saw to rip to width. That left me with a edge which was clearly not "glue-ready", despite what a certain maker of track saws claim. So, I ran all the boards over the jointer in an attempt to clean up the edges. That worked well, except when I got tear out on half the board. The grain is such that half the board(s) is in one direction, and the opposite direction on the other half of the edge. There's not much I could do other than take really small cuts. I also tried wetting the wood, which might have helped, but I am not sure. I dominoed the boards for alignment, then glued them up: I think I'll skip the dominoes next time and just make some cauls. I had a couple places where the dominoes were mis-aligned just slightly (like 1/32), which defeats the whole purpose of using them. After a few hours I removed the clamps and decided to see if I could clean up the boards with a #3 plane I bought used from Ebay for $25. I had sharped the blade a couple days earlier. That plane is awesome! Best $25 I have spent in a long time. I cleaned up most of the misalignment at the glue joints, and cleaned up some tear out on the faces from the milling I did last week. I did not camber the plane blade, so I do have some tracks, but I will camber it soon and go over the whole top. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 I get the same prob using biscuits. Seems like my panels are just plain off a little. Makes me want a drum sander very badly. Too bad that is probably 3 years away for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Not a whole lot to report here other than getting the base made. Here is a very rough mock-up if the legs: The horizontal piece on the bottom will also be on the top. I am not sure how I will shape them. There will also be a stretcher connecting the middle post from each side. I am probably going to use dominos for all of the joinery. One problem I have been experiencing is lots of tear-out on my jointer and to some degree on my planer. Both are straight knives. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheperd80 Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Lookin good andrew! I love seeing huge, beastly furniture like this. Manly woodworking! Maybe its because ive been making spice racks and cutting boards lately. . I like reading about your strategies for handling this monstrosity. Keep up the good work! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 25, 2016 Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 I have found that using my Domiplate ( aftermarket accessory) increases my accuracy with using dominos .The machine is upside down and the balance feels better. But when joining thick boards like this project I use my dial calipers to make sure the fence is exactly the same on both sides of the machine. With only one locking lever it is possible to be slightly off or for it to slip during use. Another source of flaws is lack of focus or speed. Slow down and focus on holding the machines fence dead flat on the board at each location. I clamp my boards down firmly before I cut the mortices. Any rock or wiggle will hurt the accuracy eventually. Your table is coming along beautifully ! Some of those grain patterns that are causing you grief are going to finish up amazingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted January 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2016 Thanks for the feedback, Sheperd80 & Steve. Steve, I have the equivalent plate for the XL700, and I generally leave it on for the reasons you stated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post andrew-in-austin Posted February 12, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted February 12, 2016 Getting closer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted March 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 A little more progress on the table. I have finished sanding and am applying finish. I am not totally happy with the finish on the table top, but my wife, who is getting this, likes it, so I guess I should not complain. I am using a threaded stud, but with coarse threads on one end for wood and fine threads for nuts on the other end. This is how the stretcher will attach to the legs at either side. The stretcher also has 2 dominos to keep alignment. Here is one of the leg assemblies which has the 2 mortices for the dominos and a hole for the stud. The other side if that middle leg has a recessed 1.25" hole to hold a washer and bolt. I'll come up with some kind of cover for that. The second leg assembly The stretcher with dominoes and the stud The table top You can't really see it from this picture, but there are a couple areas where two of the boards did not mate nicely, and have some crevices that I filled with epoxy, which IMO do not look that good. There's also a bit of tear out here and there that I could not really fix. Oh well, it's a desk, and it will get a lot of wear and tear from use over time, so I suppose I should not be that worried. Next are the drawers. I am going to make boxes out of baltic birch and I have a ~8.5 foot board to make the drawer fronts. I am going to use ball bearing slides. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted March 20, 2016 Report Share Posted March 20, 2016 It looks fantastic. You've given me a few ideas for my desk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew-in-austin Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 It's been a while since I have updated this. To mount the leg assembly to the top, I used large dominos, one towards the front, and one towards the back. The back one has a mortise extra wide so the top can expand/contract. I am not sure if I will even permanently fasten the top to the leg assemblies, as the weight of the top should be good enough. I did have some trouble getting a couple of the mortises in the right spot on the leg assembly. I had to fill in one wrong mortise with epoxy and re-do it. the location in the leg assembly was such that you could not use the Domino XL fence to "hang" on the wood surface perpendicular to the surface getting the mortise. I can see how a much larger and more capable fence could come in vary handy for the Domino. Extra points for holding tight against the wood with vacuum Next were the drawers. I want three same-size drawers. So, I placed all of the parts that will divide the drawers and their drawer slides to one side, then measured the remaining distance. I checked front and back, and they were within 0.5mm. I don't think you can ask for anything better. Then it was time to make the drawers. They are designed to be no deeper than the leg assemblies, and should extend all the way beyond the top. This required an over-extension drawer slides. I made the drawer sides, fronts, and backs out of 3/4" BB and the bottoms out of 1/2" BB. I do not have a dado blade yet, but I was able to make dados with multiple passes of my combination blade on the table saw. I now know that I do not enjoy making drawer boxes. BTW, I am not impressed with the soft close mechanism on these slides. The gears are plastic, and they can jam and skip too easily. I am no "drawer engineer" but cost cutting clearly won out over reliability here. Nevertheless, I used them anyway, because I need to get this done. I'll spare you the details, but I had to take one of the mechanisms apart multiple times to get it to work. I actually made and fitted the drawers one at a time. For the first two (the left and right drawers), this allowed me to fit the supports/slides exactly to the drawers, instead of the drawers to the supports/slides. In the final (middle) drawer, I just needed to make sure it was sized perfectly to the supports that were already installed (as they are shared from the left/right drawers). As a result, all of the drawers are probably just slightly different width, so I need to mark them for installation. Kind of difficult to see here, but the supports are fastened to the top with a single screw at the front, and on the back of the supports are those table apron attachment thingies, holding the supports to the top, but allowing movement. There will be Walnut fronts on the these drawers, and I may not fit them until the desk is installed. My attention will now turn to applying more finish and installing the mammoth thing. I need a smaller project next time... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 Its looking great, Andrew! Did you ever test the drawers to see if/how much they differ in size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 You gotta love a man that has a domino before a dado stack! I only mean that half jokingly. Just yesterday I was sitting around going "how am I going to do this without a domino?!" and I thought back to where I made the decision to master traditional joinery before getting one. Now I think that was stupid of me. Desk is looking great. I really love watching this because I have my own monstrosity that I want to build. Though I think I'm going to break the 9 foot length I want into 2-3 pieces. Not sure how I'd get it in otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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