First large-scale project: walnut desk


MisterDrow

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Thats a great way to learn ! When I started I did the same thing. I built a bunch of stuff and didn't charge anything except materials. It's nice to be able to make things and not have to pay for materials. It's also less stress when you don't charge because there is less expectations. Atleast thats how I felt.

Looks like it's coming along nicely! Keep the updates coming !

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

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1 hour ago, wtnhighlander said:

I think your friend's wife will be quite pleased. How are you planning to attach the top?

Probably buttons or z-clips... Accounting for wood movement and all :)

1 hour ago, K Cooper said:

My first 75 or so projects were with syp and I screwed up all but 3. Aren't you really, really nervous about using walnut on your 1st? Just jacking with Ya!  You're off to a great start!

Oh, I've already botched part of it! LOL

Biscuit joiner was set wrong and there's a biscuit sized gouge along the bottom of one of the boards... Ended up not using biscuits after all and its on the bottom do sight unseen. Another woodworker told me once that mistakes are a part of any woodworking. What takes skill is making sure no one can tell that there are mistakes!

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  • 1 month later...

Haven't updated this in a while so I figured I'd show how things are progressing:

Got the plank cut to length and started sanding. I have cleaned huge portions of my garage since this pic was taken and I forgot how awful it looked.
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Got some dye for my epoxy and started filling the knots with it. I started on the underside because I had never used this technique before and figured screwing up on the bottom was better than the top.

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After the epoxy dried I got it all sanded down smooth, 100, 150, then 220 grit. Applied a couple coats of seal-a-cell and learned afterwards that I don't need it and could just use Arm-R-Seal on it's own. That's fun.

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Rough-sanded a scrap piece of walnut to test Arm-R-Seal out... love this stuff!

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Epoxy on the top surface knots

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First coat of ARS

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Lightly sanded and applied a second coat of ARS

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Still love the way this grain looks... wish I had picked out the wood and I could have tried to match things up better on the joints but the end-user is happy so that's what matters.

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I've got two more coats of ARS to put down and this top is done. This weekend my friend is bringing over a bunch of poplar and we'll get the apron and legs done so we can get it all put together. The legs will be painted so poplar seemed the best option there.

 

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