Thread: My first furniture: a couple of rosewood desks

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd share my first pieces of furniture I've just completed. I'm very much a noob on a very steep learning curve, so the quality will not be approaching anywhere near the impressive examples of what most people post on here, but I thought I'd share my results anyway to encourage others like me that are just starting on their woodworking journey.

I used reclaimed New Guinea Rosewood throughout except for the drawer sides (re-sawed leftover Ash Utility laminated panels from my SCMS bench build) and 6mm marine ply for the drawer bases. This was the first time I've used Rosewood and I wish I could use it for everything. It's so easy to work with and it's so much easier to manhandle than Aussie hardwoods. And it smells great as well. I guess that's how it got its name.

There were a few first for me on this build, e.g hand cut half-blind dovetails; cutting a cove with a table saw; sliding dovetails; tapered legs; and hand carving. It was definitely a learning experience and hopefully my skills steadily improve.

Anyhoo, here are a few pics....


Desk 1.jpg

Desk 2.jpg

Desk 3.jpg

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Things I was really pleased with: 1) the lamination of the tops and how tight the joins were; 2) cove cutting and carving the handles and how the drawer fronts came out; 3) the tapering of the legs and how uniform I was able to get them; 4) the chamfering of the table top with the table saw; 5) overall proportions/aesthetic and how I was able to keep it from looking too chunky (I tend to over-engineer things usually to the detriment of aesthetics).

Things that I need to improve on: 1) hand cut dovetailing; 2) project planning and design; 3) workflow; 4) general tightness of the joints; 5) preventing tear out/break out, especially when using the router.

Overall I'm happy how they turned out. Both sides of the drawer units are attached to the top using sliding dovetails. I glued them in as their grain were in the same direction as the top so they should expand and contract as the same rate as the top. Hopefully the 4 sliding dovetails per desk will be sufficient to prevent the top from cupping. The back piece is "Dominoed" to the sides and bases of the drawer units which acts as one big stretcher strengthening and stiffening the whole structure. Hopefully it will be enough to prevent the top from sagging in the middle. The legs are notched and "Dominoed" to the top and the base of the drawer units. I had planned to install bottom side stretchers and one long stretcher to strengthen and tie the legs together but it looks like they're not needed. I had also planned to tie the side units together with a shelf for a shallower middle drawer but I didn't have enough material. I may end up adding them in the future along with the leg stretchers if I find that they're required.

As usual, comments/criticism are welcome especially of the construction method. Do you think I need to add leg stretchers or the middle shelf? Was I right to glue the sliding dovetails or should I have left them to slide to allow for wood movement?



Cheers,
Mike