Kids Lap Desk - Pic

[Dennis Peacock]

Greetings,

Since my back is getting better, this has enabled me to finish the two lap desks, one for my neice and one for my nephew. They are made from old growth pine that was used to build a horse barn in 1961 on what is now my FIL's property. My FIL had the old building torn down and I asked him to save me all the siding from the building. This pine has very tight growth rings and still smells like fresh pine...even after 44 years. The wood is so dry that it works with some degree of being brittle. So care had to be used during all machining process to try and prevent splintering.

The finish is BLO, allowed to dry by my woodstove for 1 week, then 5 coats of Dark Garnet Shellac, padded. Rare Earth magnets was used to hold the lid closed and the little pencil box will give them a place to store their school pencils. The handle is made from metal and is the shape and texture of a tree limb. I thought this was appropriate to suite the age and of the wood and style of the lap desk. Joinery is finger joints. Neither lap desk is what I would call "perfect" in craftsmanship, but the neice and nephew will enjoy using them.....I hope. :rolleyes: ;)

[Dick Parr]

Great job Dennis, I bet the will love them. The finger joints look nice with the pine.

Glad to hear your back is getting better.;)

[Vaughn McMillan]

Glad to hear your back it doing better Dennis (I can seriously relate), and the lap desks look great. Real nice looking old pine, and the alleged imperfections are well hidden in the pics. ;)

- Vaughn

[Byron Trantham]

Dennis, glad your back is feeling better.

I like the look and feel of the desks. I'll bet that wood was nice to work with. Your Niece and Nephew will love them I am sure.

[Michael Stafford]

Hard to tell from the pictures, Dennis, are the tops slanted? I think they will be treasured by the family. I love the tree limb handles. Excellent work and a nice gift!:D

[Chris Barton]

Very nice Dennis! I have had a Jeffersonian style lap desk on my to do list for a while. Yours came out very well and look great. I am sure the kids will love them!

[Bart Leetch]

Hi Dennis

The lap desks looks great. I hope your back continues to get better.

So how did you like the plan from last Novembers Wood magazine? I have the magazine on my bench right now & have run the pine through the planer to make one of these lap desks. It is for me to use while sitting in my recliner to draw. I though of making it 18" wide instead of 15" as it shows in the plan & maybe a bit bigger front to back, I thought that maybe it may fit an adult better if it were larger. Any suggestions? Did you use screws to assemble it or another method? I was considering #0 biscuits a gravy I mean glue:).

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice Dennis, they look great!

Corey

[Karl Laustrup]

Very nice lap desks, Dennis.

I made a pair of those, out of maple, last year for our grandkids. For the lid I used the stuff [CRS prevents my remembering what it's called] that you can mark on and then erase. It was actually a sandwich of maple with the above stuff on top.

My joinery was no where near the quality of yours though. I may try another of those and do the finger joints or maybe even practice some dovetails. I know the recipients will like them. Our grandkids use them all the time, especially when traveling.

Karl

[Dennis Peacock]

Hi Dennis

The lap desks looks great. I hope your back continues to get better.

So how did you like the plan from last Novembers Wood magazine? I have the magazine on my bench right now & have run the pine through the planer to make one of these lap desks. It is for me to use while sitting in my recliner to draw. I though of making it 18" wide instead of 15" as it shows in the plan & maybe a bit bigger front to back, I thought that maybe it may fit an adult better if it were larger. Any suggestions? Did you use screws to assemble it or another method? I was considering #0 biscuits a gravy I mean glue:).
Bart,

No screws in these babies.....!!!! I prefer joinery and glue. Much better overall. It was a fun project. :D

[Dennis Peacock]

Hard to tell from the pictures, Dennis, are the tops slanted? I think they will be treasured by the family. I love the tree limb handles. Excellent work and a nice gift!:D

Thanks Big Mike.....yes, the tops are slanted. I don't recall how much, but they are slanted. I done a semi-French Polish trick on the writing surface so they would have a smoother surface to write on. Nice and slick!!;)

[Keith Burns]

Very nice Dennis:) The thought and caring shows in them for sure:)

[tod evans]

nice job man! those younguns`ll grow up knowin` how to write bettern` this ol` hillbilly:)

[Zahid Naqvi]

Looking good Dennis, glad to see you on the recovery trail.

[Bob Noles]

Dennis,

Great job! I am a huge fan of pine and I can say you did it justice in these projects.

Merry Christmas to ya!

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Looks great Dennis!~ Sure hope your back gets better faster, I know how that can hurt. I like the handle and the color of the finish!

[Glenn Clabo]

Nice Dennis...
Nothing better than using wood with a family history... especially when it's passed on to family.
Now...take care of that back so we can enjoy more of your stuff!

[John Miliunas]

Well done, Dennis! They both look great and the Pine is certainly something we won't come by easily nowadays!:) I'm sure the kids will enjoy them and put them to good use. BTW, good hearing that the old back is starting to shape back up!:) :cool:

[Jason Tuinstra]

Dennis, glad to hear your back at it. The lap desks look great. I'm sure your niece and nephew will love them.

[Jim Becker]

Very nice, Dennis. Who says "laptops" are a relatively recent invention?? :)