New home office

[Lee Schierer]

I just finished installing the last piece of our home office. I started this project back in February. I designed all the pieces. All the pieces are made from hickory that I had stored in my barn/garage for over 20 years. I finally found a mill that would surface the hickory for me. This wood is very hard and heavy.

The desk has four drawers, the upper one is for pencils & stuff. The second drawer is for LOML's day to day house/financial records. The third drawer is for our flat bed scanner. The bottom drawer has daily use files and paper supplies. All the drawers use soft closing full extension drawer slides. I decided to keep the CPU up off the floor so it got a small shelf to the right side of the desk. The shelf also supports the surge protector, modem and router. The desk top is 72" long and 25" deep. I incorporated a wire way under the desk to tame all the wires for the computer related stuff. The desk appears to be built in, but it could easily be removed and used as a free standing desk.

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The bookcase above the desk was the final piece that I attached to the wall today. It is 72" wide, 9" deep and 25" tall. The two shelves are adjustable. I decided to rabbet the ends of the bottom shelf and insert the rabbet into dadoes in the sides. The top rests on the vertical pieces and is screwed in place. All the screws hidden by hickory plugs.

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The lateral file cabinet has two drawers for house and personal files, plus computer supplies. The cabinet is 39" wide, 20" deep and 30" tall. I attached the filing cabinet to the wall to prevent possible tipping should both drawers get opened at the same time. The drawers are 37" wide and 17" deep mounted on special wide drawer slides with a 100 pound capacity.

The floating shelves are 39" wide and 9-1/2" deep made from 3/4" hickory. They are each supported by two 3/8" x 8" steel roods drilled into the studs in the wall and into the back edge of the shelf.


All the pieces were stained with a 50/50 mix of MinWax Espresso and Classic Gray stains. Then I brushed on 3-4 coats of Deft clear semi-gloss clear wood finish to all surfaces including the drawers.

Thank you for viewing.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely done Lee!

[Bruce Page]

Nice work.
I’ve only worked with hickory a few times, we don’t see much of it out here. Tough wood.

[Jim Becker]

Nice work, Lee.

[John K Jordan]

That looks great! It must be brand new - mine was cluttered an hour after I set it up.
Getting the computer off the floor was a great idea. That should keep the fan filters clean longer.

I really like the hickory. Is the Deft finish a lacquer?

For years I've wanted something made from hickory besides axe and shovel handles.

When we moved to the farm I found a local cabinet shop with a good source so we stripped the kitchen to the floor (all I did was design and install.) This about a third of it, just before the counters.
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I like the look but after they had to build the range cabinet three times to get it right and the pantry door shelves twice I visited the shop to find out why they were not following my plans. Turns out the guy making everything never brought his glasses to work and couldn't read the dimensions on the drawings. Ack.

I strongly suspect your pieces are made to higher standards!!

JKJ

[Phil Mueller]

Very nice, Lee. Just out of curiosity, how did you attach the CPU holder to the underside of the desk?

[Lee Schierer]

I really like the hickory. Is the Deft finish a lacquer? JKJ

Yes Deft is a brushing lacquer.

Very nice, Lee. Just out of curiosity, how did you attach the CPU holder to the underside of the desk?

The shelf and vertical pieces are attached with pocket hole screws. It also rests on the horizontal piece across the back.

[John TenEyck]

Well done, indeed. Hickory is a bear to work; I commend you for your ambition. I milled a few shag bark hickory logs several years ago. Worst experience ever. Drying it was no better, the stuff wants to twist and bend just looking at it. And when I went to work some of it it just about bounced across my jointer. I ended up giving it away.

John