Soft Maple Computer Desk

[Jimmy Williams]

This is a desk I just completed for a client that is made of soft maple and maple plywood. The client liked a particular desk and hutch from Pottery Barn but needed it in a smaller size. The desk took me 132 hours, over a five month period, to complete. The finish is General Finishes Light Brown Dye Stain with three coats of Waterlox Satin on top. The desk is 52" long x 30" wide x 30" tall and the hutch is 48" long x 10" wide x 14" tall.

There were so many firsts in this project that I won't list them all here. I did learn a lot even if I didn't earn a lot from the commission (pricing was one thing I learned). A special thanks to all of you here on this board for answering the many questions I had during the construction and finishing phases.

Questions and critiques are welcomed as they are the only way I will get better.

[Craig D Peltier]

First of all good job. It came out real nice from the pics.Looks likt it was off the showroom floor.

Only thing I see in the picture, is maybe I would of done some less chunky legs, maybe 1/2 to 1 inch less in square.

[Jim Rimmer]

Great job. Nice finish. Did you design or build from a plan?

[Jimmy Williams]

Craig - I don't have a lathe so I had to order the legs this way. I had the hardest time finding legs that were only turned at the bottom like these. I kind of had to go with the size they had but I agree they probably could have been a bit smaller.

Jim - No plans. Just what I drew up in sketch-up to show the client before I got started. I got the rough dimensions from the Pottery Barn desk that I used as inspiration.

[Joe Shinall]

Looks great Jimmy. I kinda like the chunky legs. I like small details that are out of the norm. If they were skinny, it would maybe look store bought. Love the maple grain.

[Jim Becker]

Really nice work, Jimmy!

[Jimmy Williams]

Here are a few more pictures showing the top, front and back modesty panel. For some reason, the panels in the cabinet door appear to be different in color where I book matched them. I think it has to do with the chatoyance in them.

[Dave Gaul]

Very nice man! My favorite part is the desk top, the lap-joints w/end grain look awesome!

[Jeff Monson]

Really nice Jimmy, outstanding work, I also really like the shiplap joints on the top, nice touch and nice design.

[Roy Wall]

I think it's a winner all the way around -- nice design!

[Prashun Patel]

Great job. And great job with the coloring and finishing. Look fwd to seeing future stuff fm you!

[Joe Cunningham]

I like the look and think it turned out great. I also like the bigger feet, gives it a nice stance I think.

I've been experimenting with dyes on soft maple and haven't gotten the results on my test panels I want, but this is *very* close to what I need (matching existing furniture).

I'll try the general finishes dye.

[Van Huskey]

I really like it

[John Keeton]

Well done! Nice color, and it looks like the finish is very nice. While I tend to agree on the legs being a little heavy, I also understand the problem of finding manufactured legs to build a design around. Not much out there for specialty work. Next time, you should contact Paul Atkins on the Turner's forum to see if Paul would be willing to turn you a set. He does a lot of production type work, and does some beautiful stuff.