Desk inspired by Doucette & Wolfe

[wnaziri]

More progress.  During the week, I managed to steal a few hours and moved the desk project along.  The one part of the desk that scared the bejesus out of me was how create the dados for the middle two dividers.  They need to be spot on both in location and orientation.  In the end, I decided to used my router with an edge guide.  My greatest fear was making an irrevocable error and making me waste a precious and beautiful piece of mahogany.  Well, the process could not have worked out better.  Once these dados were worked out, the rest of the body of the desk would just a matter of getting measurements and fitting the internal components.  Here is how it turned out:

Next will be some poplar for the internal components and finally, shaping of the legs. 

[pkinneb]

Wow that's turning out really nice!

[wnaziri]

I finally have a better handle on the case for the the drawers.  It was tedious but not too difficult.  Here is the current state of affairs:

Next will be to complete the runners for the middle drawer and kickers of the top 3 drawers.

The QS anigre is milled for the top and drawer fronts.  There is a little more edge work (hand planing) to be done before gluing.  I have oriented all 5 pieces for grain direction but can't make up my mind about sequence of these boards.  Complicating matters is the fact that two of the five boards (top and bottom) are partially curly.  I am still trying to figure out the best layout of the boards. 

[wnaziri]

I am far enough along on this project now that I am starting to make plans for finishing the desk.  My initial thoughts were to try the Darrell Peart stain.  

Today, I did my first sample board without stain to see how I liked it.  After seeing this board, I almost think I have made up my mind already.  However, I will do a sample board with the stain tomorrow just to complete the thought.  This board right off the planer.

I would like to know how you all feel about stain vs no stain.

 I am starting to believe that applying stain might be sacrilegious.

 

[Tpt life]

Depends on many factors. If treated wrong it can muddy clear view of the grain. 

[Chet]

17 minutes ago, wnaziri said:

 I am starting to believe that applying stain might be sacrilegious.

I don't care to use stain, I avoid it at all cost.  I just like to let the wood be it's color like what you have above.  Having said that, I am working on a current project that I am shooting for a particular look so I am using a finishing process that involves stain, but I am coping a recipe that someone else came up with.

[wtnhighlander]

That board looks awesome. If you are ok with the light color and contrast, don't stain. But it would still be awesome with a bit of dye to reduce the contrast between light and dark. To me, it seems a little busy with so much contrast.

[Eric.]

Dye on African mahogany is one thing.  Honduran needs no help in the color department.  Full stop.  It's gonna be dark and rich and beautiful within a year.  You'll only take away from its beauty by adding color.

Darrell Peart is dyeing African, FYI...to make it look like Honduran.

[Coop]

I agree with @wtnhighlander. That's  going to be one busy top unless the pic provides more contrast than the real deal?

[wnaziri]

15 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Darrell Peart is dyeing African, FYI...to make it look like Honduran.

I had no idea.  Thanks for this tidbit of information.  

My favorite stain for African mahogany is Latex paint 

[Eric.]

20 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

That's  going to be one busy awesome top

FTFY

[Coop]

Damn, i already have a wife to tell me how I've screwed up. I don't need two to tell me how to drive! 

[Eric.]

9 hours ago, wnaziri said:

I had no idea.  Thanks for this tidbit of information.  

My favorite stain for African mahogany is Latex paint 

African mahogany has some redeeming qualities, it just doesn't have the rich burgundy color of Honduran.  I wish they had never started labeling it as "mahogany" because now we have unrealistic expectations of it.  It has its problems but if it's judged in a vacuum and not compared to real mahogany there are things to like about it.  It has a nice, neutral, nutty brown color, an interesting texture when that is desired, and some nice ribbon figure when RS or QS.  It does have some fairly nasty grain to work with but it's not absolutely horrible like working with wenge or zebrawood.  Sharp planer blades and a drum sander make the grain issue fairly moot.

But yeah...side by side with Honduran it seems like complete dogshit.  But it's kind of unfair to compare the two because they really have nothing to do with each other.  It's like putting cherry next to rosewood and pooping on the cherry.  They're just...different.

[gee-dub]

Appearance preference is a personal taste thing.  Spalted maple is cool but, too much of it can be like looking at a 1960's pop-art poster for me,

others love it and can't get enough.  The degree of contrast that suits your piece is up to you.

I am in the non-colorant camp but, I have some things that get a bit of help.  African Mahogany, Sipo, Sepele and even Cherry can be in that category.  When I do this it is for material that has a bit more contrast than I am after or has a characteristic I really want to keep but, is just a bit off in color match. 

This is not my usual finishing protocol.  I generally prefer greater care during material selection than to force things.  That being said, I will use a bit of dye on walnut that matches the un-colored oil finished material to lessen the lightening effect walnut goes through over time.  For cherry I may be trying to ease the differences between the rosy-red cherry colors and the salmon-pink cherry shades that run through certain material.

In the end, figure choices and coloration are as much a part of your design as the physical structure of a piece.  Go with your gut and enjoy the process. The desk is looking great.

[Eric.]

32 minutes ago, gee-dub said:

In the end, figure choices and coloration are as much a part of your design as the physical structure of a piece

Well said.  A particular board or even a species may work great in one piece and terrible in another.  It's always situational.

[wnaziri]

I appreciated all the thoughtful comments.  The reason I find myself in a dilemma is the fact that I have never worked with boards as nice as these.  

I remember going through pics of figured mahogany sold by Irion Lumber as private stock and I would drool over the figure and the luster.  Now, i am actually using that kind of material!  I think you all know that I am fairly new to woodworking and I don't want to make an error that I might regret for years.

With the comments made thus far, at the moment, I am of the opinion that I should just let the natural color and figure of the mahogany speak for itself.  I did plane another board of the mahogany today but I did not have enough time to stain and apply finish.  I will do the stained sample board this weekend and hopefully make my final decision soon.

[Mick S]

On 9/7/2017 at 8:51 PM, wnaziri said:

I will do the stained sample board this weekend and hopefully make my final decision soon.

I think that's really the only way you'll be able to decide. Like Eric said though, keep in mind what it will mature into a year from now.

[wnaziri]

I finally did a board with one of coat of stain and one coat of ARS.

Here is a board with just ARS and no stain:

My conclusion: no stain for the desk.  

The stain really alters the luster of the mahogany.  I think the mahogany will darken and have better color and hue than what I can do with the stain.

[wnaziri]

I have been less than diligent in updating my thread but I have made progress.  Main task lately has been shaping the legs and creating a smooth exterior with flush surfaces.

I started the process of shaping the legs by rough cutting with the band saw.  I was perhaps a bit too cautious and stayed far away from my lines, expecting to get to final dimension using the Big Daddy router bit.  

Here are the roughed out legs.  I then made what I thought was a perfect jig with clamps to hold the leg in place.  

When I tried to use it on my sample dummy leg, I quickly realized the plywood was twisting when the leg was clamped in place.  Back to plan B: do the final shaping by hand.  The process was time consuming but more efficient than I thought.  I used spoke shaves and my Lie-Nielsen No. 164 Low Angle smoother.  Final finishing touches with No. 4 smoother.

The end product of the all the handwork turned out perfectly with very uniform surfaces.

Quick assembly of the case looked pretty good.  

I am pretty happy with the shape of the legs.  They look pretty graceful and not exaggerated.  

I started the glue up today.  I am doing it in stages with assembly of sub-components.  I am very concerned and nervous about gluing of  the framework in the front of the desk because it is like a puzzle with about 12 pieces going in all different directions.  I hope and pray I don't screw up.

[Chet]

I keep watching this journal and I have one question for you Wade... when are you going to hang that storm door you made. 

[Coop]

Have you planed a progression on the glue up? 

 

[wnaziri]

41 minutes ago, Chet said:

when are you going to hang that storm door you made.

I will install the dang door when I get the thing to my house.  I do not have a truck so I really don't have a means of moving these big items.  I find myself renting a moving van every so often to get things to our kids that are in college.  So, I will likely rent a van to get the desk and a few other things to my son and that will be my first opportunity to get the door to my house.

I wanted to buy a truck as my daily vehicle but my wife insisted that I should not be driving a truck to work.  So I bought a sedan, which is nice but it sucks as a work vehicle.  I am actually looking to buy a either a truck or a van, much to my wife's dismay.

[wnaziri]

29 minutes ago, K Cooper said:

Have you planed a progression on the glue up? 

I don't know if I would call it a progression plan but I have a planned sequence in mind.   I am currently in the process of creating sub-assemblies by gluing pieces that can be glued, thus reducing the number of pieces in the puzzle.  Regardless of how much I have thought it through, I will likely get really  nervous about this big glue up because of my fear of screwing it all up.

[lewisc]

This looks like it's going too be to pretty to use. I'm waiting to see the final finish.

[Eric.]

8 hours ago, wnaziri said:

I will likely get really  nervous about this big glue up because of my fear of screwing it all up.

Every time I pop open that glue bottle, a little part of me dies.