Inspired by a design in Woodsmith magazine, this drop front desk will fit nicely into Linda’s office, which does double duty as our guest room. With the desk closed, the Murphy bed will have plenty of room to open without having to rearrange the furniture, as we have to do now. This desk will have three drawers and two pullouts behind doors. We’re still thinking about the cubbies that will be separate inserts behind the drop front door.
Every cabinetry job starts with a trip to Chelsea Lumber for birch plywood
The plywood rolls into the shop in the same orientation from the truck
Each sheet slides onto saw horses to be broken down in the long direction with my track saw
Sheet goods ready for final width sizing on the table saw
The Marietta Wood Works version of the desk design done in SketchUp and LayOut
Laying out cable access in the upper and lower carcass backs
One inch radii cut with a two inch Forstner bit
Plunge cutting the straight portion of the openings by raising the table saw blade
Cutting rabbets and grooves in carcass members with a stacked dado blade and sacrificial fence
Lower carcass first dry fit
Shop view
Sanding interior surfaces to 150 grit before assembly
Using my track saw to pad cut the sixty-nine degree angle on the upper carcass sides
Pad sawing makes both sides identical
Using a dial indicator to make 0.010″ adjustments to the rip fence for cutting a twenty-one degree bevel on the upper carcass top panel to match the sides
Upper carcass first dry fit
Upper and lower carcasses assembled and stacked in eventual final configuration
Linda and Murphy getting a first look at the new desk
Maple sides cut for base assembly
Base first (upside down) dry fit
Laying out cutouts in base sides and front
Ready for the bandsaw
Bandsawing 2 1/2″ radii, leaving the line for the drum sander
Base second (upside down) dry fit
Oscillating drum sander makes quick work of cleaning up band sawn edges
Oscillating drum sander overview
Cutting coves with a 1/2″ radius on the router table
Router table overview
Base third (upside down) dry fit and clamping trial
Base detail showing corner blocks
Using my DIY self-centering drill press vise to drill holes in base cleats
Using the painter’s-tape mitered corner folding method for base glue up
The painter’s tape acts as a hinge, maintaining joint alignment and preventing glue squeeze out
The old angle drive adapter comes in handy every so often
Base bottom (never to be seen again) with blocking details
Base, right side up
Linda’s custom design was adapted from this design in Woodsmith Magazine
Lower case temporarily set on base
Front view
Base, lower and upper cases, to get a feel for the volume of the finished desk
Adding mitered strips to upper and lower panels, to be bullnosed in place on the router table
Quarter inch thick edging strips cut and ready to attach
Edging strips for lower case
Edging strips attached to upper case with Titebond III glue and 3/4 inch, 22 gauge pin nails
Simulating panel construction with thin sawn maple from Hardwood Solutions, Inc.
Completed simulated panels on lower case
Lower case with bullnosed lower panel
Hardware for drop front and doors, including magnetic catches
Completed simulated panel on upper case
Test stack of major subassemblies
End view of test stack
Machining stock for drop front and doors
Stock is machined to ~80% finished dimensions and allowed to sit over night to allow internal stresses to relieve before machining to final finished dimensions
Blum Tandem Blumotion undermount drawer slides
Milling grooves in door frame components
Tenon shoulder cuts on the table saw
Tenon cheek cuts with the tenoning jig
Before cheek cuts
After cheek cuts
Drop front assembly, using 1/2″ plywood for the panel so the writing surface is even with the frame
Assembling one of the lower doors
Drop front and doors set in place
Making a jig for the sewing machine hinge mortises
Refining the jig cutout with the oscillating spindle sander
A good fit on the hinge outline
Layout tools and the 5/8″ diameter top bearing router bit
Hinge instructions directed a 1/32″ gap between components, but a 1/16″ gap would have been better
Removable inserts allow for using the same jig to cut clearance for the hinge knuckles
A technique from the CNC router, painter’s tape on jig and components with a few drops of CA glue hold the jig firmly in place for routing the hinge mortises
Ready to rout the first of three sewing machine hinge mortises
Drop front with all three sewing machine hinges installed
Setting up to install the no-mortise door hinges
A quick jig with holes drilled to enable locating the mounting holes on the case side of the hinges
Lower doors successfully mounted with no-mortise hinges
A belt-and-suspenders approach dictated the addition of drop front door stays for additional support
Scrap plywood and a piece of piano hinge simulated the drop front motion, to allow test positioning of the drop front supports
Once the final mounting locations were established with the test setup, those locations were transferred to the drop front and upper case
The drop front supports bridge the drop front joints that would have taken all of the stress when the drop front was in use
Drop front supports and sewing machine hinges, all from Rockler, installed, will be removed prior to finishing
Marking a crescent finger pull on three drawer fronts
Kreg pocket screws for 1/2″ material reinforce the drawer assemblies
These new slip-on assembly clamps for 1/2″ material made drawer glue up and assembly very efficient
New slip-on assembly clamps from Rockler
A finished drawer ready for final sanding
Three drawers ready for finishing and installation
Assembling the pull-out trays
Desk components ready for finishing with spar urethane and bright white urethane trim paint
Upper cabinet with semi-gloss urethane on the interior and bright white urethane trim paint on the exterior
Lower cabinet in the finishing process
Lots of individual components finished and ready for final assembly
Finishing materials used on this desk
Desk base positioned in its new home location in Linda’s office
Base, upper and lower cabinets assembled and ready for more components
Using pre-cut spacers to locate drawer slides for installation
Drawers and pullouts fully installed in the lower cabinet
Five sets of Blum TandemMotion soft close drawer slides provide smooth openings and closings
Finished desk, closed
Finished desk, lower cabinet doors open
Finished desk, slant front open
Another happy customer of Marietta Wood Works!
Celebrating a successful joint project to be enjoyed for years to come