Walnut Writing Desk

[Charles Wade]

This desk derived from a gift of black walnut from my uncle. He's close to 90, lives near the small town in which I grew up in rural western Illinois, and offered me two walnut planks he'd had in his garage for 25 years. I got them to California and began work. The top of the desk is from wood of his donation, and I bought additional wood from other sources to complete it. The desk was built with modifications to a plan given by the late Danny Proulx in his book "Build Your Own home office furniture". I strengthened the base using cross pieces similar to those in another desk in his book. Solid walnut was used throughout, with edges of the flat top surfaces built up to about 1 5/8" thick. The red vinyl portion in the middle forms the writing surface--it lifts from the front (Soss hinges in the rear) for access to a shallow pencil drawer. Blind dadoes were used to hold the vertical and horizontal divideers. The tapered legs are held with mortise and tenon joints and supported by the lower cross braces. Drawers have box joints all around and a bottom installed in a dado. Finish is shellac (blonde, 1lb cut), then two coats of Watco Danish Oil Dark Walnut, then two light coats of Varathane Professional 1000 semigloss polyurethane. All these were hand applied, then lightly sanded with white (0000) synthetic pads. For part of the construction during the winter I rented space at the Sawdust Shop, a DIY workshop with terrific resources (no affiliation or other relationships with me). It's a terrific desk to use, and it has the bonus of the connection with my uncle.

[Brian Buckley]

Charles,
Beautiful work, I would like to see some more detailed pictures.

Brian

[Russ Massery]

Outstanding, Charles. Nice design,love the finish on the walnut.

[Roy Wall]

Charles -

Beautifully made and a great story.....I know your uncle is proud!!

Nice Work!

[Dan Oliphant]

Beautiful piece of fine furniture, well done.

[Lars Thomas]

Charles, that's a great looking desk and even better story. Lars

[Seth Poorman]

Looks vary good Charles, the legs look like there Japanese inspired..:cool:

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow,that is a cool story and a great looking desk!

Corey

[Alan DuBoff]

Very nicely done! I like the meat and asian influence in the legs (arts & crafts influence, some might say), and I think the through dovetails are well executed, and look very nice with walnut. I know many folks don't care for through dovetails on the drawer fronts, but I happen to not only like it, but prefer it in some cases such as these which you've done in walnut.

So many things I like about walnut, it's wonderful wood to work with. It works well, it feels great to the touch, and looks excellent with great grain in many cases. The fact that you got some of it from your family makes it that much more meaningful to you.

Nice project.

[Dave Shively]

Very nice work and also it is nice to have a story to go along with it. Keep it in the family.

Dvae

[Larry Fox]

Wow - that is superb, very nice work indeed.

[Charles Wade]

Thanks for your comments.

Brian, if you'll send me a PM, I'll send you a stack of pictures.

Seth, I don't know the source of the Proulx' design of the legs, but they attracted me to this plan.

Alan, indeed the style was what prompted me to use this plan. Most other desk plans were too bulky. The "inverted" taper of the leg was striking to me. It was my first walnut project. One other rewarding factor of this project was that it got me into walnut, something I'd wanted since childhood.

Thanks again for your responses--chuck

[Jim Becker]

Charles, please post more pictures here so we can all enjoy them! This is beautiful work and I know I want to see more of it!

[Charles Wade]

Jim, I'll post more photos in a few days. Thanks for your comments. chuck

[David Duke]

Really nice looking desk Charles, first time I've seen the inverted taper......something to keep in the back of my mind for a future project.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Very nice desk, Charles. You did the gift PROUD!

Bruce

[Charles Wade]

thanks. Yes, it's unusual--makes a very different presentation.

[Mike Hill]

Charles: I have been working with Walnut quite a bit lately and absolutely love it. You desk is a fine example of it's use. Book Matched walnut can bring out some beautiful grain.
Mike

[Mike Null]

Add me to the list of admirers. Really nice work. Tell us a little more about the writing area. What did you do there?

[John Piwaron]

Awesome!!

I particularly love the clever pencil drawer. And using soss hinges for that is a particularly nice touch.

Great job.

[Charles Wade]

Mike, the writing area is vinyl. Proulx' book has a detailed description. The layout of the writing lid is such that the vinyl is stretched into place--held additionally by contact cement. I was a bit skeptical about how it would be as a writing surface, but it is fine (as you can see a bit by the clutter in the pix below!).

Brian and Jim, the additional pictures are attached. Sorry for the quality--it's a difficult piece to photograph, especially given my limited skills as a photographer.

[Charles Wade]

Here are two more pix of the desk.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. They've been very gratifying. chuck

[Jim Becker]

Lovely, Charles! I really like that "almost secret drawer" under the writing surface, too.

[Mark Singer]

Charles....very nice work and design....great stuff!

[Ralph Okonieski]

Absolutely beautiful ! Great design, wonderful craftsmanship, family history. It does not get much better than that.

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

I concur that the desk looks great and I love the wood. Wlanut is my favorite.

[Paul Canaris]

Hierloom quality, great job.:p