Queen Anne Desk

[creasman]

Dust boards and Drawers

Been a busy month, but I'm finally getting back to the desk. Nothing too fancy this time, just dust boards to cover the bottom of each side section and the drawers (minus the fronts). I thought I'd use this opportunity to highlight a couple of special fixtures I've made for my bench during past projects. These come in handy from time to time.

The dust boards are nothing more than a frame with a panel insert. This is how they look once installed, first from the bottom and then looking in through the drawer opening. They are held in place with screws only.

I used a bridle joint for each corner. That gives it sufficient strength and the panel is never seen. I mostly cut these on the table saw, but then tuned the fit using a special insert that fits into the hole for a bench dog in my bench. It effectively turns the workbench into a router plane, only you move the wood instead of the plane. Raise the blade to shave a little off the middle spline and dial in a snug fit.

The panels were made slightly oversized so I could plane them to fit. To hold the panel while planing I pulled out the bench puppies. I'm not sure where I first saw these, but they're great for this sort of holding. If your bench has dog holes, then these replace two of the bench dogs as shown. It's impressive how tightly they grip the piece. The faces of mine are covered in leather. Here they are holding the panel (left) and a drawer (right).

There are three drawers. I cut through dovetails for these and used a Stanley 45 to cut the bottom grooves. You can find plans for my Moxon vise in the resources section if you're interested in making one of these. It is a very useful vise when cutting dovetails.

That's all for now. I'm currently deciding how the desk top and drawer fronts will look, making some samples to run by the client.

 

[creasman]

Decisions...

With the drawer boxes finished I've been concerned with how the drawer fronts should look. My initial thought was to use cock beading around the front of each drawer. While I like this look, it does not fit as well with the Queen Anne style, which typically uses a simple ovolo edge profile.

Either way I wanted the drawers to stand out. The top will use quarter-sawn lacewood veneer on the two side sections. Using this same veneer on the drawer fronts seems like the right choice. I decided to make some samples and let the client decide rather than commit at this stage. It cost a bit extra in time and materials, but is worth the effort to get what everyone wants. Plus, I get some practice before jumping into the real parts.

First choice -- Ovolo edge
This uses lacewood veneer over a plywood core that is trimmed first in cherry. The cherry is mitered at the corners so no end grain shows. After all the glue is dry I routed the profile. This front has a rabbet around the inside perimeter so it stands about 3/8" proud of the case front.

Second choice -- Cock beading
As before I began with a plywood core. This was overlaid with lacewood veneer, then trimmed with quarter-sawn sycamore banding separated with ebony stringing. Last step is to add the cherry cock beading. This drawer front is flush with the case, except the banding is slightly proud. I have to admit this drawer really pops. I like the way the pattern in the sycamore mimics the lacewood, only on a smaller scale.

Below are some side by side comparisons, first by themselves and then in the desk.

And the winner is ...

The client liked both, but went with the traditional look of the simple ovolo as her final choice (top drawer in the photos, above). She really likes the lacewood. I agreed her choice fits better with the style of desk.

 

[drw]

Jim, I am so impressed with your approach to building...thoroughly researched, thoughtful design decisions, and superb craftsmanship. With regard to the drawers, two outstanding designs and looks - it would be impossible to make a wrong decision. That said, I think a follow-up project would be in order using the lacewood/sycamore...it is an exquisite look!

 

[J_Graham]

Is one of the bench puppies in your carraige vice?

 

[bobby g]

Exquisite! The furniture piece and the shop made tools.
bobby g

 

[creasman]

That said, I think a follow-up project would be in order using the lacewood/sycamore...it is an exquisite look!

I agree. I will have extra. Not sure what I will make, but definitely going to use it on something.

 

[creasman]

Is one of the bench puppies in your carraige vice?

Yes, one is fixed and the other replaces the bench dog that is normally in the wagon vise.

 

[JohnnyR]

Both beautiful! Did you saw your own veneer or buy it? I've always had trouble figuring out on what plane to saw lacewood to get the "pop". Wasted a lot of wood with trial and error.

 

[creasman]

Thanks. I've taken to sawing my own veneer. I prefer to work with sawn vs sliced veneer, and I like veneer on the thicker side (about 1/16"). I have an 18" Laguna with a 1-1/4" blade that is able to slice veneer up to almost 12" wide. Between each slice I smooth and flatten the face before running the next slice. I find this helps to avoid issues like run out. I also use this feather board with the extension that takes it up to about 9". Works great.

For the lacewood I purchased four feet of a 11" wide board from Capital City Lumber. All they had was quarter sawn, which is necessary to get the pattern you see. TBH, I'm not even sure what lacewood looks like when it's flat sawn. Might be interesting as well.

 

[JohnnyR]

Thanks. I've taken to sawing my own veneer. I prefer to work with sawn vs sliced veneer, and I like veneer on the thicker side (about 1/16"). I have an 18" Laguna with a 1-1/4" blade that is able to slice veneer up to almost 12" wide. Between each slice I smooth and flatten the face before running the next slice. I find this helps to avoid issues like run out. I also use this feather board with the extension that takes it up to about 9". Works great.

For the lacewood I purchased four feet of a 11" wide board from Capital City Lumber. All they had was quarter sawn, which is necessary to get the pattern you see. TBH, I'm not even sure what lacewood looks like when it's flat sawn. Might be interesting as well.

Here's a table made out of lacewood, not quite the pop you had.

 

[creasman]

That's a nice table. Beautiful color. Looking at the edge of the top I can see the wood is rift sawn. Even so, you can see some of the flecks produced by cutting across the medullary rays. The board I sliced was fully quarter sawn. In doing some research I also found there are quite a number of species which are sold as "lacewood". I posted about that here. Could be you and are are using two different species.

 

[Mark Johnson]

Would you post a picture of your 9 inch feather board? The bench puppies are a great idea as well. Very dramatic piece of furniture, and I like the drawers.

 

[creasman]

Would you post a picture of your 9 inch feather board?

Sure, check out this thread. It has a picture of the feather board and fence I use.

 

[danmart77]

Jim do you have any plan details for a panel raising plane? I used to contact George Wilson from Colonial Williamsburg but he's not findable these days.

Dan

 

[creasman]

I don't, but a quick search on Google turned up these: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wp-content/uploads/1311_PWM_PanelRaiser.pdf. I had hoped to take a class on making a panel raising plane at the Woodwright's School before it closed. Stephen Slocum taught it. Hopefully, he finds another venue.

Part of the challenge is finding a large beech billet. Red Rose Reproductions has some in stock at the moment. They also sell this plane, but not sure any are in stock at the moment.

 

[JNCarr]

Jim, I am so impressed with your approach to building...thoroughly researched, thoughtful design decisions, and superb craftsmanship. With regard to the drawers, two outstanding designs and looks - it would be impossible to make a wrong decision. That said, I think a follow-up project would be in order using the lacewood/sycamore...it is an exquisite look!

I agree - the lacewood/sycamore combination would be outstanding for a contemporary piece. Wow!

 

[creasman]

Drawers

The desk drawers are finally complete and installed. I posted about making the drawer boxes earlier. Over the past week I installed the slides, then made and mounted the drawer fronts.

The drawer fronts have a 1/2" BB plywood core that is trimmed in cherry. Lacewood is then veneered over this substrate. I want the miters at these corners to be a tight fit so I pulled out the Stanley 100 miter vise. This cuts very precise 45 degree angles. The ability to clamp the wood in place virtually eliminates a miscut.

Once the substrate was banded I first smoothed both sides with a bench plane, and then roughed up the veneered side using a toothing plane.

A moulded edge was added using the router table. Deviating slightly from my previous post, I changed the design to be an ovolo with a single fillet instead of the double. There is a small rabbet around the inside of each drawer front so that it stands about 5/16" proud of the desk frame when closed.

The drawer on the left side is a single drawer made to appear as two for symmetry. For this drawer front I added a fake divider in the middle, and only cut the inside rabbet around three sides of each front.

Finally, installed. The left drawer will have a rack for hanging file folders. These can be adjusted to use either standard or legal size folders. Though it may not be obvious with this grain pattern the veneer is cut from the same sheet to make sure there is not a sudden change in grain or color as your eye moves from the top drawer to the bottom.

The drawers on the right side are individual compartments. The hardware is full-extension, side-mount slides, rated for up to 100 lbs. I opted for the ones with the soft close feature. When the drawer gets to within about 2" of being closed a spring takes over and gently closes the drawer.

I had to move the desk off my assembly table so I could begin making the top. That's the next step before applying the finish.

 

[Graywolf]

Jim, what finish technique or process are you going to use for this piece.

 

[creasman]

Jim, what finish technique or process are you going to use for this piece.

I've been mulling that over since I started the project. I may start with Danish oil if it doesn't darken the wood too much. I like the depth it gives. Shellac rubbed into the wood would really make it shine, but I remind myself this is a desk that will get lots of use. Wipe on polyurethane is more durable.

I'm going to be experimenting over the next few weeks to see what I like. I've never worked with lacewood before, so part of my goal is to see what best brings out the figure in that wood. Spraying on lacquer is another possibility. That would give me an excuse to buy one of those Fuji sprayers I've been eyeing.

I'm very open to suggestions from others with finishing experience. Thoughts?

 

[creasman]

Desk Top

The desk has an interesting top in that it is made in sections. Normally, I think of the top as being glued up from narrower boards or a single-piece substrate with veneer and edging applied. The top has two different veneers, lacewood for the end sections and cherry for the middle. Each section is banded with cherry. I began with a clear plan of what I needed to make.

First step was to make the edging. This has the same profile as used in the moulding around the base, only it's thicker (7/8" instead of 5/8"). I described the two planes in a previous post, here. The top edging required about 21' of custom moulding using the larger plane. Here's how my shop looked after I'd finished. Note the path through the shavings from all the back and forth.

I used 3/4" baltic birch plywood for the substrate of the top, covered with the appropriate veneer. Each section of plywood was cut so that the top grain direction is opposite to the grain of the veneer. Not sure this was necessary, but it seemed like a good decision to continue the cross-grain layers.

The veneer is applied using hot hide glue and a veneer hammer. It's the same process I used for the side panels, here. A fair amount of time is spent matching and mating the edges. I mark across the seams so I know how to pair the edges when gluing. To fine tune the fit I clamp my Stanley #7 upside down in the face vise, then folding the two veneer boards together (face to face) I joint both edges at the same time. A few light passes is usually all it takes.

This is how each section fits into the overall top.

The next challenge was to apply the edging to each section and glue all of these into a single panel. The steps went like this:

1. Glue front edge onto middle section.
2. Glue edging that runs between sections to the middle section.
3. Glue end panels to middle section.
4. Glue edging to front of end panels.
5. Glue back edging across all three assembled panels.
6. Glue end edging to two side panels.

The biggest challenge was fitting the edging around the middle section. These have some interesting miter work.

Once these were cut and the fit verified I used a combination of dowels and biscuits to strengthen the glue joint. Getting the dowels positioned correctly helped force everything to align correctly.

I left each panel oversized, knowing I would trim these all at once. This ensures the back is perfectly straight. Since the end sections stand out by 2" in front I had to mount the assembly to a wider board, used as a sled when running it through the table saw.

From there is was a matter of applying the back edging and the two ends. This completed the glue-up of the sections. The remaining work was to round the corners as I did with the base moulding. This followed the same process described here.

The finished top is ready to be fastened to the base, but I won't do this until after the finish is applied. Must easier to do that before it's attached.

I'm really liking the look of the lacewood. Currently I'm experimenting with different finishes to see what looks best.