A proper desk to go with my FP's

**Yanks27** · 05-20-2012, 06:23 PM

With the help of my enabling friends, I've developed an affinity for fountain pens and need to upgrade my desk to properly house theses pens. An IKEA special won't do anymore. Instead I've been studying how to make a desk from a tree slab. This would make a cool project to do with my father and will make an heirloom piece to pass on, in the distant future.

I bought a 2" slab of Maple and now have months worth of work, expoying the cracks, sanding and oiling the finished product. I will chronicle the progress, as I go through the stages.

Anybody else have experience with a project like this?

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**Dave258** · 05-20-2012, 08:02 PM

Nice piece of wood! Good luck with the project, keep us informed!

**mdunn** · 05-20-2012, 08:05 PM

man, thats gonna look great.

**the_edski** · 05-20-2012, 08:35 PM

I'm quite jealous...keep us updated!

**N2theBreech** · 05-20-2012, 09:04 PM

A friend of mine has made several benches like it. The legs, and leveling the desk, can be tricky. I think he has used 2 techniques for the legs:

1-he drilled holes for the legs and used dried saplings for the legs themselves.

2- He cuts the skirtboards to make a cradle for the slab. He makes a traditional frame for the table top to rest on, except the skirt boards are from a wider piece than he would have used normally. He then lays the slab in place, where it will eventually rest, and stabilizes it so it doesn't rock. He then uses a pencil compass as a scribe to trace the profile of the slab onto the two "end skirt boards". When feels he has an accurate profile traced onto the skirt board, he cuts out the profile and then lays the slab in the cradle.

I don't know if this is clear, it's not as complex as it sounds.

**maxman** · 05-21-2012, 03:34 AM

That's gonna be great.
I look forward to the final product.

**whavens** · 05-21-2012, 07:10 AM

That will make an absolutely gorgeous desk. Please keep us posted on the progress.

**oc_in_fw** · 05-21-2012, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by Yanks27

Anybody else have experience with a project like this?

No, but I wish I did. Hmmm, fountain pen desk acquisition disorder

**72plymsatellite** · 05-21-2012, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by oc_in_fw

No, but I wish I did. Hmmm, fountain pen desk acquisition disorder

$$$$$$$$$$$$$ thats an expensive AD. not that the others arent also expensive

**Slivovitz** · 05-21-2012, 01:08 PM

Oddly, my fairly recent interest in pens has also had me thinking of a new desk again. I've been saying for years that I need one, but now I have an additional reason.

Not being handy, though, I'll have to buy one. I look forward to seeing how your's will turn out.

**oc_in_fw** · 05-21-2012, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by Slivovitz

Oddly, my fairly recent interest in pens has also had me thinking of a new desk again. I've been saying for years that I need one, but now I have an additional reason.

Not being handy, though, I'll have to buy one. I look forward to seeing how your's will turn out.

I need to check with my uncle about my grandfather's roll top. It was at least 100 years old in 1986, and he refinished it himself. I would love to get my hands on it.

**Jimmy James** · 05-21-2012, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by oc_in_fw

I need to check with my uncle about my grandfather's roll top. It was at least 100 years old in 1986, and he refinished it himself. I would love to get my hands on it.

I one day want to acquire a desk my great grandparents had in their walk-up apartment in Welch, WV since the early 1900s. It's not a roll top, but it's a nice solid desk with a lot of personal attachment. My parents have it in the spare bedroom I use when I visit. I need to tell them of my interest lest they make other plans for it, now that we're talking.

ETA: The project this thread is actually about sounds amazing, but it is way above any sort of skill level I have. You know those screw things? I have on occasion used an electric screwdriver to put them into put it together yourself furniture. That's my skill level.

**strop** · 05-21-2012, 05:07 PM

That's a beautiful slab of wood. What are the dimensions? How do you plan to level/smooth the top? I think some rosewood keys to stabilize the cracks would look great and be a nice contrast to the maple.

**Yanks27** · 05-21-2012, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by strop

That's a beautiful slab of wood. What are the dimensions? How do you plan to level/smooth the top? I think some rosewood keys to stabilize the cracks would look great and be a nice contrast to the maple.

It's 43" long and 26" wide in the thinner area. It goes up to 32" wide in the widest area. Thickness is 1 1/2".

After epoxing with a slow drying epoxy, I'm going to go with a belt sander, to a finer orbital sander, followed by hand sanding with fine grit. I'm going to use natural oils on it. No stains.

Im not sure about using a butterfly on the larger cracks or staying with the epoxy. I'm also not sure on the legs, whether to use metal legs or wood slabs.

I've seen these retail for over $3,000. So far, I'm in this for $200 for the slab and $50 for the epoxy (a mid level Pelikan so far).

**Yanks27** · 05-21-2012, 08:39 PM

The top is fairly level already. It was cut and dried by the lumber yard already. Now to make it furniture quality.

**duokun** · 05-21-2012, 08:48 PM

Can't wait to see the finished product! That will be amazing.

**strop** · 05-22-2012, 07:06 AM

How long has it been drying? If air drying, the general rule of thumb is a year for every inch of thickness. If it's been less than that, I would worry about further splitting. Even if not, taking it inside to a less humid environment could cause further splitting and cracking. And be carefull with that belt sander. It's very easy to gouge the top if you don't have a light touch and some experience.

Forgive me if you know all this already. I do some woodworking and would hate to see that beautiful slab crack into two pieces.

**Yanks27** · 05-23-2012, 04:40 AM

I will be careful with the belt sander Mark. I'm waiting for the epoxy to arrive and will probably revise my plan of action several more times, as I learn more about what needs to be done to the slab.

**jwhite** · 05-23-2012, 10:26 AM

I don't want to go into to much detail without knowing what tools you have and level of experience. Personally I would plane the top, epoxy, sand the epoxy, and finish with a hand scraper. You can go epoxy, belt sander but its more work and tricky to control, but certainly doable. Have you considered tinting the epoxy, the voids and checking will show with the epoxy but tinting it will look more professional and add interest. Mixol tints are a good choice as are oil soluble dyes. The Mixol can also be added to turpentine or most oil finishes without clouding the grain to give a uniform finish or you can contrast with the epoxy color for a decorative effect. If you are a novice you can also get nice maple legs from Rockler as well as skirts and hardware, personally I'd go with a simple two or three sided taper for a live edge writing table.

Best woodworking tip I have - If something goes wrong, even badly wrong, you haven't ruined anything. You simply are not finished and now have redefined objectives. Try not to get too hung up on what you think the table should be, but work until you have the attractive table that the materials allow you to have.

**miatapaul** · 05-30-2012, 07:55 AM

Originally Posted by jwhite

Best woodworking tip I have - If something goes wrong, even badly wrong, you haven't ruined anything. You simply are not finished and now have redefined objectives. Try not to get too hung up on what you think the table should be, but work until you have the attractive table that the materials allow you to have.

That tip makes me want to expand my wood working experience! I am currently shopping sailboats, so there will likely be a few projects in front of me, likely using teak.