OT: Wood desk top

[Doug Fattic]

I like maple because it is a closed grain wood. Oak is open grained so the pores have to be filled so the top can be smooth. Maple butcher block is usually the wood of choice for work benches in case you desk becomes a multi-purpose top.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Tz779

if you are looking for maple or walnut, or any northern hardwoods, try northland forest products, town just north of atkinson, kingston i think. they do not mill anything for you tho. best prices. new hampshire!

Thanks for the tip...I'm south of Boston, so NH would be a bit of a trip...but for the right wood....

I felt like a kid in a candy store the last time I went to Anderson Mcquaid...

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Doug Fattic

I like maple because it is a closed grain wood. Oak is open grained so the pores have to be filled so the top can be smooth. Maple butcher block is usually the wood of choice for work benches in case you desk becomes a multi-purpose top.

That's the nice thing about having a 3x6 table top...who knows where it will get used next...

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Coda1

It will be a much stronger joint if you biscuit them. Since you already have the biscuit jointer there isn't a good reason not to put them in.

You're probably right...and it is easy enough to use, particularly when it's a simple edge to edge join...

[benb]

Originally Posted by redir

If I were you I would stick to New England timbers just because I like that. Save the mahogany for the guitar makers

Since you build guitars... our "Mahogany" decks are probably from smaller trees that wouldn't be good for guitars right?

I have a Taylor with a Mahogany neck.. some of the boards in my deck are almost that nice. But they're not thick enough for a neck and not wide enough for a body.. maybe they'd be wide enough to bend into sides of an acoustic.

It wasn't mentioned but I think Ash was a great choice for a tabletop/desktop. I really love Ash.

I have an Ash coffee table I bought about 20 years ago that is gorgeous and has worn like iron. My kid finally managed to put a scratch in it but he had to work really hard and I bet I could get it to clean up.

Too bad Ash is in trouble. I bought an electric guitar with a 1-piece Ash body last winter and I'm really glad I have it now that it's going to be harder to get due to the damn beetles.

Heh.. both Ash and Cherry for furniture.. round corners are preferable IMO. We have a Cherry bed too (Made in VT!) and if you bang your leg against the bed it punishes you.

They are gorgeous but Mahogany decks are stupid too IMO. You get to become a woodworker whether you want to or not. The whole clean/sand/refinish every few years is a ton of work or a ton of money. I've been taking care of mine for 10 years now. Major major work. We would never build one ourselves at this point, ours was on the house when we bought it and we had no idea what we were getting into.

[.RJ]

Late to the party here, but Ikea has really reasonably priced butcher block tops - under $100. I use Ikea cabinets & their butcher block tops for my garage workbenches.

[redir]

Originally Posted by benb

Since you build guitars... our "Mahogany" decks are probably from smaller trees that wouldn't be good for guitars right?

I have a Taylor with a Mahogany neck.. some of the boards in my deck are almost that nice. But they're not thick enough for a neck and not wide enough for a body.. maybe they'd be wide enough to bend into sides of an acoustic.

It wasn't mentioned but I think Ash was a great choice for a tabletop/desktop. I really love Ash.

I have an Ash coffee table I bought about 20 years ago that is gorgeous and has worn like iron. My kid finally managed to put a scratch in it but he had to work really hard and I bet I could get it to clean up.

Too bad Ash is in trouble. I bought an electric guitar with a 1-piece Ash body last winter and I'm really glad I have it now that it's going to be harder to get due to the damn beetles.

Heh.. both Ash and Cherry for furniture.. round corners are preferable IMO. We have a Cherry bed too (Made in VT!) and if you bang your leg against the bed it punishes you.

They are gorgeous but Mahogany decks are stupid too IMO. You get to become a woodworker whether you want to or not. The whole clean/sand/refinish every few years is a ton of work or a ton of money. I've been taking care of mine for 10 years now. Major major work. We would never build one ourselves at this point, ours was on the house when we bought it and we had no idea what we were getting into.

Side blanks are usually 5x34in or so. That would be for a Dreadnought. There is nothing wrong with making 4 piece backs though. I have done that many times. I rented a house in Indiana in the 90's, actually a log cabin, the floors were made of Imbuia which is a tree that grows in Brazil. I told the guy how impressed I was with it and he said he had a bunch left over in the barn and I could take as much as I wanted. So I took a huge stash, ever quartersawn board I could find. The boards were 4in wide and about an inch thick so I could resaw them for sides and backs of smaller guitars.

Necks are often times laminated too so you could take those boards dress them up and make 3 or 4 piece lam necks too.

I bet the mahogany is beautiful for a deck but yeah that's a lot of work. If I were to build a deck today I'd probably go with that composite stuff.

[redir]

Another thought is it's pretty cool to use reclaimed wood and you can often times find it on Craig's List at reasonable prices. You would need a planner though. I built this table from a collapsed barn on the farm I was living on in Virgina. It's white Oak I left the nail holes in it.

Oh and plus one on the biscuit. I use dowels but some sort of jointing method is always a good idea. And a method to allow for wood expansion is good too.

[Clancy]

Some good and some puzzling advice here. My suggestions

If you’re looking for a butcher block type top, unless you have a planer, joining wood together to make a table top is going to leave you with the uneven surface. Ideally you’d want to glue up as wide of sections first, flatten those, and then carefully align and glue the sections together. If you hope to use either a hand sander or a belt sander to flatten the top after gluing everything up you’ll have a good chance of having a wavy surface. If you are limited to a few portable power tools and handtools, Your best bet is to get a premade top. A simple Google search should find these typically made out of hard maple, oak, other species.

If you’re looking to glue up 4-5 wide boards edge to edge you have a good chance, using simple portable power tools and hand tools, of getting a nice flat top. Here using biscuits really helps to align the boards. Absolutely do a dry run aligning and clamping before applying glue. Regular yellow wood glue is all you need, with a longer set time. Some of the modern adhesives can be problematic.

When gluing wood together long grain there is no need for any additional joinery methods. A properly glued joint is stronger than the wood itself. Biscuits are extremely good idea for helping to keep everything lined up as you glue it and clamp.

Hard maple is pretty hard to work with and you’ll have a lot of tear-out unless you have access to a jointer and planer with carbide tipped spiral Head cutters. Soft maple works far easier but of course is too soft for table tops. White oak is a good choice, hard to work. Red oak is too open grain and gives a lousy appearance. Walnut is lovely. Most all the furniture I make is out of native Texas pecan, a beautiful wood but a pain to work with.

Think about a reclaimed top as mentioned. I’ve seen desk tops made out of reclaimed bowling alleys, basketball courts, even old antique mesquite doors, and they all were beautiful as well as unique.

Good luck, it sounds like a fun project. Wish you were local, I’d turn you loose in my shop.

[William]

One of my next DIY projects will likely be a barn door table. Not hard to do and could work if it interests you as a possibility. Glass top optional depending on door design...








W.

[redir]

^ That's what I'm talkin' about. I love that rustic reclaimed look.

[buddybikes]

Originally Posted by .RJ

Late to the party here, but Ikea has really reasonably priced butcher block tops - under $100. I use Ikea cabinets & their butcher block tops for my garage workbenches.

Our kitchen (small) is 80% butcher block, with just end cabinet soapstone. Just sand and like new...

Also give a warm look

We also eat off of a butcher block table that was made 40 years ago, my first furniture purchase

[Hardlyrob]

Clancy is spot on - I've been building furniture as a hobby and sometime business for 30 years. Without a table saw, joiner and surface planer forget about maple. Cherry is a lovely wood to work with, as is walnut - the problem with walnut is it comes random width, random length and often has lots of white sap wood you need to work around.

You can create a pretty flat top using hand planes, a belt sander and a straight edge - and a lot of time - that's how I've done tables and kitchen counters - people like the little irregularities left from sanding / plane tracks. You can also assemble a top and send it to a shop to be stroke sanded - which gives you a professional flat and smooth surface.

Anderson McQuaid does some beautiful things, but can be quite spendy. If you want a road trip check out Yankee Pine / Righteous Woods in Rowley MA - crazy Steeve-O has some stunningly beautiful lumber in any species you can imagine.

A company I have used for years is Steve Wall Lumber in NC - walllumber.com. They ship wood all over the place, specialize in custom cabinet doors for kitchens, and do lots of special projects. I suspect they would be happy to send you a "kit" for the top you want to make that is surfaced and edge jointed. I would recommend 6/4 for this project in whatever species you settle on.

Biscuits and yellow wood glue are all you need. Then it's on to finishing. I would advise against doing a breadboard end for a large top - the main boards expand and contract in width with the seasons / humidity - the end does not, so the top and end are almost never lined up. I've done several, and won't do them again.

You will also need a number of pipe clamps (Pony model 50) that go on threaded sections of 3/4" pipe - figure on one for every 6-8" inches of length for the top - you can get all of that at Home Depot or Lowe's or Woodcraft.

Where are you in MA? If you want to come to Topsfield, you are most welcome to my shop!

Good luck, and post pics when you are done.

Rob

[guyintense]

Originally Posted by Coda1

It will be a much stronger joint if you biscuit them. Since you already have the biscuit jointer there isn't a good reason not to put them in.

Long grain to long grain is the best joint you'll ever have, the biscuit is there just to help with alignment.

[Tz779]

“ I bet the mahogany is beautiful for a deck but yeah that's a lot of work. If I were to build a deck today I'd probably go with that composite stuff.“

the 1x4 and 5/4x6 mahogany for decking is indonesian or phillippine mahogany. much denser and hard to work. african or honduras mahogany is what you wld want for furniture. and much more $$$!

sometimes high schools or tech schools have “adult woodworking” classes, that gives you access to jointers, thickness planers, maybe even a timesaver sander.