5 Drawer Desk

8/3/2019 5 Drawer Desk

1/14

Plans NOWwww . P l a n s NOW . c om

clean & elegant

5-DrawerDesk

Some desk projects can be a bit overwhelming too large to use and too challeng-

ing to build. But this desk is designed to be differ-ent. Its easily do-able, both in

terms of size and construction. First, as you can see, the feel of this desk is very inviting.

Its small size and elegant look allow it to fit in anywhere in your home. And from a

woodworkers stand-point, its also a winner. The neat thing is that it all goes together in

small pieces somewhat modu-lar. The case is actually three, small cases that are builtseparately and then fastened together. The legs then simply bolt to the case assembly in

knockdown fashion. Add the eye-catching frame and panel top and the five drawers,

and youre done. Youll find that its all very manage-able and easy to work on. But dont

get the idea that this project doesnt offer any challenging or interesting woodworking.

Youll find that the design details will give your skills a good test as well as a nice sense

of accomplishment when the job is complete.

Page 1 of 14 August Home Publishing Company


2/14

NOTE: Case partsare "plywood#/4

NOTE: Drawers slide on

side-mount runnersNOTE: Bolt-on legs

simplify construction

NOTE: Desk case is

assembled from threeindividual casesfor ease of construction

Threaded rod glued intotop of leg used tobolt leg to case

Cherry footdoweled to

bottom of leg

Groove in drawerside slides overrunner in case

Locking rabbetjoints used for

drawer construction

Case side and edgingare beveled to createan invisible joint

CherryShaker-style

knobs

End case

End case

Center case

Figured veneer top pancreate focal po

Pencil tray helpskeep center drawer

organized

Legs are taperedon two sides

Legs are solidlybolted to case

Locatingpin

Drawer

runner

Mitered and splinedhardwood framecaptures panels

Contrasting cherryband creates transitionbetween leg and case

OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 54"W x 24"D x 30"H

LEG/CASE

ASSEMBLYDETAIL

Locating pin in topof leg keeps it

in position

Legbanding

Threadedrod

Leg

Washer andlock nut

TOP AND CASE CORNERASSEMBLY DETAIL

Tongue andgroove joinery used toconstruct frameand panel top

Splined mitersat corners

of top

Bevelededging

Tongue anddado case

construction



3/14

Building the three plywood casesthat make up the case assembly is

the best place to start the project.There are two, mirror-image end

cases that lank a shallower cen-ter case. I started with the moreinvolved end cases, shown above.

Beveled edging. Theres one detailto these two cases that needs a little

advance explanation. The designincorporates a beveled edging that

mates with a beveled rabbet on theront and back o the case sides. Thiseature serves to hide the plywood

core while also hiding the act that

youve applied edging. The resultis the cases have a much cleaner,

seamless look. Detail b aboveshows you how the beveled rabbet

will look on the two end cases.

The Joinery. With this in mind, you

can get started by cutting the ourcase side pieces to size. Note herethat the grain runs vertically.

Next, youre going to give yourdado blade a workout. As you can

see in detail a, the case sides arejoined to the top and bottom witha tongue and dado. And the center

divider its into a ull-width dado.

Furthermore, the runners that thedrawers slide on also it into dadoes

cut in the case sides.

A Beveled rABBeT. Once all these da-

does are cut, youll need to brieyswitch back to a standard blade to

cut the beveled rabbets or the edg-ing. Youll fnd the technique I usedor this in the box below. Finally, the

back edges also need a secondaryrabbet that holds the 34" plywood

back panel (detail b above).

Tops, BoTToms, And dividers. At this

point, you can set the sides in a saespot and turn your attention to the

NOTE:All parts except drawerrunners are plywood#/4"

NOTE: Grain on case sides andback panels runs vertically

NOTE: Twoend casesare mirrorimages

NOTE: Installdrawer runners before

assembling case

END CASE

SIDE

END

CASE

BACK

PANEL

END CASE

DRAWER

RUNNER

END CASE

BOTTOM

END CASE

DIVIDER

END CASE

TOP

Outer face ofback panel israbbeted to acceptedging. See boxon page 2.

Bevel frontedges of

runners

Beveled rabbet cuton edges of sides.

See box below

E

D

D

D

D

C

C

B B

B

B

A

A

A

A

#/8

#/4

#/4

222!/16

921

21

9

13

13

&/8 %/16

#/8

"-dia. x "deep counterbore

with "- dia.through hole

building the Cases

CASE

SIDE

ATall auxilaryfence

Blade tiltedto 45

A Bevel Cut. First, I made a 45 bevel cut

with the case side standing on edge. A tall

fence helps guide the workpiece.

How-To: A Beveled Rabbet

Drawer runner

flush to rabbet

in case side

Bevel

D

C

A

!/81

c.

#/8#/4

#/4

!/4

!/4

D

C

B

A

FRONT

SECTION VIEW

1%/16

1%/16

a.

CASE SIDE

A

Stopblock

Bladeat 90

Aux. miterfence

A Square Cut. Next, I removed the waste with a

square cut. A stop block clamped to an auxiliary

fence will help you make the cut accurately.

A

Cut secondary rabbetat back edge of sidesAux.fence

Aux. fence

Secondary Rabbet. I used a dado

blade to cut the deeper, secondary

rabbets that hold the back panels.

END

VIEW

A

Tall

aux.

fence

!/4

!/4

a. END VIEW

A

Square cutremoveswaste

!/4

!/4

a.

A

END

VIEW

Aux.

fence

#/4

!/4

a.

E

A

B

TOP SECTION

VIEW

1

#/4

%/16

!/4

1#/8

1!/8

Beveledrabbetholdsedging

1!/4!/4

!/41%/8

!/4&/16

"-dia. x"-deep on

bottom sideof panel

b.

!/2



4/14

tops, bottoms, and center

dividers. All these parts aresized to it lush to the rontand back rabbets in the sides,

as shown in detail b a let.Then tongues are cut on

the tops and bottoms to itthe dadoes in the case sides

(detail a on page 3).

A few holes. With this joinerycomplete, the outside cornerso the case bottoms have apair o holes that need to be drilled

(detail b at let). The irst is a coun-terbored bolt hole used to attach the

leg. A second 14"-dia. hole is drilledon the underside to hold a locating

pin to help position the legs. Notethat the hole locations are dierentat the ront and back.

drAwer runners. Now, beoreassembling the pieces, I made and

installed the drawer runners on thecase sides. Its just easier to do thisbeorehand. Detail c on the oppo-

site page shows how the ront edgeso the runners are beveled to ease

the it o the drawers.

BAck pAnels. With all these parts

assembled, adding the back panelswill inish up the basic casework.

The backs are sized to it betweenthe rabbets in the case sides andlush with the case top and bottom.

And once the panels are it, youllneed cut rabbets on all our o the

outside edges. These rabbets com-plete the pockets that hold the edg-ing youll apply to the back o the

case (detail b on opposite page).

The box below gives you guid-ance on cutting these rabbets, but

let me point out a couple o things.First, the top and bottom rabbets are

a dierent width than those alongthe sides. And all the rabbets aresized to include a 116" shadowlinethat separates the edging rom theback panel. When ready, the backs

can be glued in place.The cenTer cAse. Now, building the

center case, shown above, is muchsimpler. I wont go through the

whole process, but there are a ewimportant dierences to mention.

First, note that the inished centercase is two inches shallower, ront to

back, than the end cases. And sincethe sides o this case wont show, I

didnt bother with beveled edgingit into a beveled rabbet (detail aabove). But the rabbeted back panel

is it into the case in the same way,as shown in detail b above.

One last thing. The three cases willbe astened together with screws

installed through the center casesides into the end cases. I drilled thecountersunk holes or these screws

beore assembling the case.

IECut rabbet

on outer face

Aux.

fence

Dado

blade

Narrow Rabbets. A rabbet cut along the sides

of the back panels will complete the pocket for

the edging and create a shadowline.

Back Panel Rabbets

IE%/16

!/4

%/16 rabbet cuton side edgesof back panel

"

Aux.fence

END VIEWa.

{ Rabbetsinthebackpanelscrea

pocketsfortheedgingpieces.

CENTER CASE TOP

CENTER CASE

BACK PANEL

CENTER CASE

BOTTOM

CENTER CASE

SIDE

Outer face of bpanel is rabbet

See box bel

I

H

H

G

G

F

F

CENTER CASE

DRAWER RUNNER

NOTE: Tongueand dado joineryidentical to thatof end cases

NOTE: Drill andcountersink holesbefore assembly

NOTE: Center case isshallower front toback than end cases

NOTE: Front and backedges of center casesides are cut square

23 19

19!/2

194&/8

4&/8

23

19

1&/16

1

1!/2

23

Drill and

countersink

for #8 Fh

woodscrew

Drawer

runners

fit dadoes incase sides

H

G

G

F1 16

a.

I

H

G

F

Top andbottom edgesof back panel

have same rabbet

!#/16

!/4!/2

Simplerabbet iback edg

of caseside

b.

NOTE: Rabbets along topand bottom edges of side

cases and center caseare equal dimension

NOTE: Rabbets alongside edges of back

panel are equaldimension

Side assem

Centercase

assembly

IE

Aux.fence

NOTE: Makecut in two

passes

Dadoblade

Cut wider rabbets

on top andbottom edges

Wider Rabbets. The top and bot-

tom of the panels get a rabbet the full

width of the edging and shadowline.

IE

END VIEW

Aux.

fence

!#/16

!/4

a.

%/

%/



5/14

At this point, most of the hardwork on the three cases is done.

But they still need the thin edgingthat completes their clean look.

And once this is added, the threecases can be combined into a moredesk-like case assembly.

End CasE Edging.

I tackled the slightlytrickier end cases first. A quick look

at the drawing above will show youhow this edging is applied.

Both the front and the back ofeach case need identically sized

edging. On the front, the 14"-thickedging pieces should fit flush with

the faces of the plywood (detaila). At the back, the edging creates

a narrow shadowline around theback panel, as seen in detail b.

First, BEvElEd Edging.The order of

installation is the trick. The beveled,vertical, side edging comes first.

Once its fit and glued in place, add-ing the horizontal pieces is easy.

There are two minor challengeshere. The first is making the small

beveled pieces accurately, and thesecond is gluing them in place on

the case. Both are important to giv-ing you the seamless look youre

after. The box below gives you sometips on accomplishing this.

To make this edging, I started with

over-sized pieces and then used apush block to carefully bevel them

to width. After cutting the pieces tolength, I glued them in place, oneat a time, applying clamps in both

directions to pull the joint tight(main drawing in box).

When both side pieces are inplace, the horizontal pieces are cut

to fit between them and glued on. Ifound that getting a good result was

just a matter of taking my time.

thE CEntEr CasE. Adding the edging

to the center case goes just the same.But without the beveled sides piecesor a center divider to deal with,

youll get through it a lot quicker.

OnE assEmBly. Thats it for the edg-

ing. The cases are now ready to bejoined into one assembly. But beforegluing and screwing the cases

together, take a quick look at detailsa and b above. The center case

should be recessed 1" from the sidecases at both the front and back.

END CASE

VERTICAL EDGING

END CASE

HORIZONTAL EDGING

CENTER CASE

VERTICAL EDGING

CENTER CASE

HORIZONTAL EDGING

M

M

M

L

L

L

L

K

K

K

K

K

J

J

J

J

J

JNOTE: Vertical

edging on centercase is notbeveled

NOTE: Three cases are screwedand glued together after

edging is applied

NOTE: Edging pieces areglued in place, see box below

All edging is sized to fitflush with faces of plywood

Front and backvertical edging is

beveled to match caseside edges. See box below

9

4&/8

12!/222!/2

L

K

M

J

TOP SECTION VIEW

#8 x 1

Fh

woodscrew

!/4"

Center

Case

End Case

#/4

!/4

#/41

a.

L

J

TOP

SECTIONVIEW

CenterCase

Gap between edgingand back creates

shadow line

EndCase

Caseback

Caseback

1

b.

completing the

Cases

TOP

SECTION

VIEWNarrowcaulprotectsbevelededge

Case side

Case back

a. TOPSECTION

VIEW

Waxedcaul

Avoidclampingcorner

b.

NOTE: Clampside edging intwo directionsfor a tight joint

Cauls

Caul

Notchedpushblock

Edgingblank

Bladetiltedto 45

Beveled Edges. A long, narrow

push block will help you cut the

bevel on the side edging pieces.

END VIEW

Narrowpush block

to clearblade

a.

How-To: Edging



6/14

LEG

BLANK

LEG

BANDIN

FOOT

BLANK

FOOT

BLANK

LEGBLANK

P

PP

P

P

O

O

N

N

2!/42!/4

1#/4

1!/2

1#/4

20finished

leg length

!/4"

!/8 roundoveron all four sides

of leg foot

"

Rabbetcut intop o

leg holdbanding

Dowel

Threadedrod gluedinto topof leg

%/16 #/4x 3threaded

rod

" "

Locatingpin

!/4 -dia.x 1

locatingpin

""NOTE: Taper legs

on inside faces.See page 13

NOTE:All four legs

are identical

NOTE: Leg blanks cutfrom 3 square turning

stock. See page 11for another option

"-

NOTE: Foot blankdoweled to leg blankbefore tapers are cu

18#/4

2#/4

!/2

#/8

!/2!/2dia.

1dowel

"-"

{ Thetwo,taperedfacesofeachlegcanbecut

quicklyandaccuratelyonthetablesawwiththe

helpofasimplesled.Seepage13fordetails.

Now you can start on making

the legs that support the caseassembly. The tapered legs, with

their contrasting feet and transi-tional banding, really complement

the clean lines of the desk.thE right OrdEr. A breakdown of

the legs is shown in the drawing

at right. And despite the amountof detail, making the four identical

legs isnt hard. Its just a matter ofdoing things in the right order.

The first thing you need to do iscut four leg blanks to size. I cut my

blanks from 3"-sq. turning stock,

but youll find another good optionin the article on page 11.

mOunting hOlEs. As you know, thelegs will be bolted to the corners

of the case assembly. To do this,I glued (with epoxy) a section ofthreaded rod into the end of each

leg. And a dowel locating pin helpsposition the leg (detail a). So drill-

ing two holes on the inside cornerof each blank is the next job.

The key is drilling these holesaccurately. If you own a doweling

jig, this is a good job for it. Or, youllfind another method on page 11.

raBBEts. With the holes completed,

I took the legs back to the table saw.Here, I used a dado blade to cut

shallow rabbets around the top ofeach blank that will hold the con-trasting banding (detail b).

thE FEEt. Now you can turn yourattention to the lower end of the

legs. Before cutting the two-sidedtapers, youll want to attach the

feet to the blanks. This

way you can taper theleg foot and all.

A look at detail cshows how the foot

blank is attached tothe leg blank. Since thelegs will be tapered to

118" sq. at the bottom,you dont need to use a

full-size piece. But notethat the foot blank is

positioned flush withthe outside faces ofthe leg blank. And the

dowel used to attachthe foot is centered on

the finished foot, notthe oversized blank, as

you can see in detail c.

thE tapErs. Once the feet are gluedonto the legs, you can cut tapers on

the two inside faces, as shown inthe photo at right. Youll find more

details on this on page 11.

add thE Banding. The last item is the

cherry banding. Fitting these piecesjust takes patience. I simply cut a

couple of extra-long pieces to size,and then mitered individual piecesto fit (drawing above). Glue and

clamps will complete the job.

assEmBly. Now the legs can be

installed. First, youll need to gluethe threaded rods and the position-ing pins in place. Then turn the case

upside down, position one leg, adda washer and tighten down the nut.

Add the other three legs, and thedesk can stand on its own.

adding theLegs

Insidecornerof leg

Legblank

#/8

%/16 dia. x3 deep holefor threaded

rod

"-"-

!/4#/4

-dia. xdeep hole

for dowel

""

#/8

#/4

#/4

a.

Rabbet on allfour sides

of leg blankbeforeaddingtapers

!/8

!/2

b.

Outside corner

Matchinghole onbottomof legblank

O

!/2#/4

dia. xdeep

hole

""-

%/8%/8

!/2!/2dia.

x 1dowel

"-"

c.



7/14

With the legs in place, the next stepis to make and install the rameand panel top. Its sure to be a ocal

point o the desk, so the advice Igave mysel beore starting was to

take it slow and easy.

A quick Look. Take a look at the

drawing above and youll see howthe desktop is assembled. The centeris made up o three veneered panels

separated by two hardwood divid-ers. This is all captured by a mitered

hardwood rame. And everythingis solidly constructed using tongueand groove and spline joinery.

Three pAneLs. The easiest way tobuild the top is to work rom the

inside out. So the irst task is tomake the three center panels.

I started making the panels by

cutting three slightly oversize pieceso 34" plywood. Next, I applied the

igured cherry veneer I had pickedout. And once the veneering is done,

the panels can be cut to inal size.Now the joinery starts. As men-

tioned and shown in details a andc, the rame parts are joined to thepanels with a tongue and groove.

This means the next step is to cut acentered tongue on all our sides o

each panel. The let drawing in thebox below gives you the idea.

The FrAme. Cutting the tongues com-pletes work on the panels. So youcan temporarily set them aside and

start on the rame that holds them.First, youll need to cut the ramepieces to inal width and rough

length rom stock that matches thethickness o the veneered panels.

mATching grooves. Next comesthe other hal o your tongue and

groove joints. All o the rame piecesneed centered grooves to match the

tongues you cut on the edges o thepanels. This job will keep you atthe table saw, as shown in the box

below. Beore getting started though,make a note that the outside border

pieces have a groove on only oneedge, while the dividers have twogrooves (details a and c).

DiviDer Tongues. Ater completingthe grooves, I set the outer rame

RQNOTE: Veneer

extends to edges ofpanel

Dadoblade

Waste

Aux.fence

Panel Tongues.A dado blade buried in an

auxiliary rip ence provides a quick, accurate

way to cut centered tongues on the panels.

Standardblade

Top frameblank

NOTE: Cutgroove in

two passes

Frame Grooves. The centered grooves

can be cut by ipping the workpiece

end-or-end between passes.

S

Dado

blade

Aux.

fence

Aux.

fence

Divider Tongues. The two dividers need

a tongue cut on each end sized to ft the

grooves in outer rame pieces.

END VIEW

Waste

!/4

!/4

#/8

Aux.

fence

a.

How-To: Tongue & Groove Joinery

NOTE:

Flip part endfor end

betweenpasses

!/4

!/4

#/8

a.END VIEW

#/8

!/4

!/4Aux.fence

a.

TOP FRAME BACK

TOP FRAME FRONT

TOP

FRAME

SIDE

Spline

Mitered cornersreinforced with

hardboardsplines

!/4"

U

U

T

S

S

R

NOTE:Apply veneerbefore cutting panelsto size

NOTE: Top panelsare plywood#/4"

54

9#/4

24#/4

18#/4

24

3

3

18#/4 18#/4

15

15Figured cherryveneer applied toplywood panels

Tongue cuton ends

of dividers

Cut out mirrorsrecess of center case

Spline

TOP SIDE

PANEL

TOP FRAME DIVIDER

TOP CENTER

PANEL

R

Q

T

U

FRONT SECTION VIEW

R

1 Side casetop

Soften edgesof top frame

after assemblyCaseside

c.TOP FRAME FRONT

FRONT SECTION VIEW

1 radius"1

Tb.

S

FRONT SECTION VIEW

#/8

#/4!/4!/4

R Q

3

a.

constructing theTop



8/14

pieces on the bench and set up to

cut the two dividers to inal length.The length o these pieces allowsor a tongue on each end. So once

the dividers were sized, I switchedback to a dado blade to complete

this detail (see the box on oppositepage). The key is to make sure that

the shoulder-to-shoulder length o

the dividers exactly matches that othe top panels theyll be glued to.

pArTiAL AssembLy. The joinery on thecenter section o the top is done and

these parts are ready to assemble. Sobeore itting the border, I glued the

three panels and two dividers intoone assembly, using the long borderpieces to keep everything aligned.

This makes it easier to accomplishthe next step accurately itting

the mitered rame pieces.

The miTereD FrAme. From here on out,

the box at right shows how thingsare going to proceed. I started ft-

ting the rame by mitering the longront and back pieces to length. Thegoal is to match the inside length

o these pieces to the shoulder-to-shoulder length o the panel

assembly. With this done, you candry clamp these two pieces in placeand then careully ft the short end

pieces between them (Figure 1).

spLines. With the miters ft to your

satisaction, you can take the ramepieces to the router table. Here I

used a slot cutter to cut stoppedspline grooves in the mitered aces,

as shown in Figure 2.

FronT cuTouT. Now, beore gluingthe rame in place, theres one more

thing to do. The ront piece has acutout that mirrors the setback o

the center case. Figures 3 and 4 giveyou guidance on adding this simpledetail to the border.

FinAL AssembLy. Ater smoothing the

completed cutout, you can startgluing the border pieces in placeone at a time, adding a hardboard

spline to each miter joint.

insTALLATion. When the glue was

dry and the clamps put away, Ispent a little time sanding bothsides o the top beore installing it

on the desk. The top is simply glueddown to the case assembly with an

even overhang (reerenced o othe end cases) on all our sides.

SECOND:

Miter longborder pieces tofit and dry clamp

FIRST:

Glue uppanels anddividers

THIRD: Miter endpieces to fit

T

T

U

Long Pieces First, Then Short. Its easier to frst miter the two long rame pieces to ft th

assembly, then complete the border by careully tweaking the ft o the shorter end piece

Stop line

Stopline

Spline Grooves. To make sure the stopped spline

grooves in the mitered aces align, cut them with

the top surace o all the border pieces acing up.

2-dia.Forstner

bit

Clampscrapto workpieceto keep bit fromwandering

Front frameblank

Waste

Cutout, Step One. I started the cutout in the ront

rame piece by using a Forstner bit in the drill press to

to create a 1" radius at either end.

How-To: Fit the Mitered Frame

The veneered frame and

panel top complements the

lines of the desk.

3

2

1

Fit inside corner ofborder miter to corner

of plywood rabbet

Trim untilmiter fits

tightT

U

a.

END VIEW

#/8!/4 -wide

slot cutter

"

a.

Remove waste

between radiused

ends on the

band saw

and sand smooth

Waste

Fron

fram

blan

Complete the Cutout. Next, u

the band saw to remove the was

between the radiused ends.

4

Shapehardboard

spline to fit

routedgrooves

Spline mustnot interferewith panel

tongue



9/14

After completing the top, youreprobably ready for something a lit-

tle less taxing. Building drawers forthe case will fit the bill. And finally,

to wrap up the construction on thedesk, you can build a pencil tray to

fit the center drawer.The Basics. There are five drawers

to build, but the four that fill the

two end cases are identical. And allof the drawers use the same joinery

at the front and back. This keepsthings moving quickly.

The drawing above shows all theconstruction details youll need.

Youll want to note that the frontsand backs are cut from 34"-thickstock, while the sides are only 12"thick. I sized the drawers to leave

a 116" gap around all four sides. Theside-mount runners will keep the

drawers centered.After cutting the parts to size, I

stayed at the table saw and started

work on the locking rabbet joinery,shown in detail a. As mentioned,

this joint is used at both the frontand back. And when youre satis-

fied with the fit of the joints, you cancomplete the basic work by cutting

a groove on the inside edge of eachpiece for the plywood bottoms.

The side grooves. Before gluing thethe drawers together, youll need to

cut the centered grooves in the sidesthat will mate with the runners in

the cases. The key here is to size andposition these grooves so that thedrawers will fit their openings prop-

erly and slide easily. I used a coupleof test pieces to get this right.

After the drawers are assembled,you can complete the grooves

through the backs of the drawers.The box at left gives you a few moredetails on doing these tasks.

Finally, I added some cherry,Shaker-style knobs to the drawers.

These add a nice contrast as well ascomplementing the cherry accentson the legs and top.

a Pencil TrayThe last task is to put together asmall pencil tray/organizer to fit

into the front of the center drawer.The drawing at the top of the oppo-

site page shows how the tray goestogether. And the box at the farright gives you some pointers on

the work involved.

a Trough. I started the tray by rout-

ing a smooth, rounded trough froma solid-wood blank at the router

making theDrawers

A A

SMALL DRAWERFRONT

LARGE

DRAWER

FRONT

LARGE DRAWER

BACK

SMALL

DRAWER

FRONT

LARGE

DRAWER

BOTTOM

LARGE

DRAWER

SIDE

SMALL DRAWER

BACK

SMALL DRAWER

SIDE

Cherry 1 Shaker-style knob

!/8"

Centered groovesized to fit drawer

runner in case

Z

ZY

Y

X

W

W

V

V

NOTE:All four corners of drawersuse locking rabbet joinery

NOTE: Drawer bottomsare plywood !/4"

NOTE: Drawers are sized toallow clearance all around!/16"

NOTE: Drawer fronts and backsare -thick hardwood sides

are -thick hardwood#/4

!/2"

"

NOTE: Drawers in encases are identic

20!/2

18!/2

20

11&/8

12#/8

22#/8

21&/8

12#/8

22#/8

3!/4

3!/4

3!/43!/4

18

3!/2

Drawersideblank

%/8 dadoblade"

NOTE: Cut groovein two passes

Use chisel tocompletegroove

through backof drawerDrawerbackDrawersidegroove

AA

Z

X

W

FRONTSECTION VIEW

!/4#/4

#/16

1!/4

1!/4

!/4

!/4ply.

Drawerrunners

b.

How-To: Dado

AA

Z

Y

XW

V

TOP SECTION VIEW

!/2

!/2

!/4!/8

#/8

!/16" clearance

Center

case

side

End

case

side

a.

Complete the Grooves.Ater assem-

bling the drawers, remove the waste on

the back to complete the job.

Centered Grooves. I cut the grooves in the

sides with two passes over a dado blade,

fipping the piece end-or-end in between.

END VIEW

1!/4 1!/4#/4

a.

Bevel ends ofgroove foreasier fit

Drawerbacka.

#/16



10/14

B B

DD

CC

CC

CC

Center drawer

TRAY BLANK

TRAY END

TRAY SIDE

TRAY

DIVIDER

NOTE: Pencil tray setsat front of center drawer

21#/8

3!/2

!/4

!/41%/8

1!/2

1

2!/2

1

DD

CC

Divider Slots. Next, I cut four, narrow slots acro

the tray blank to hold the dividers and end caps.

B BTRAY

BLANK

1 core

box bit

"

Routing A Trough. I used a core box bit in th

router table to rout a smooth, rounded trough.

B B

!/4 dadoblade"

Aux.fence

Stopblock

table. (I saved time by roughing itout with a dado blade first.)

Next, I let in the two ends and

two dividers by cutting slots acrossthe trough with a narrow dado

blade on the table saw. The dividersand ends can then be cut to size and

glued in place. The final step is tocut to size and glue on a pair of thin

side pieces that hide the exposedends of the slots.

Finish uP. Now this project is ready

for finish. I started with a coat ofwiping varnish to give the wood a

richer color. And this was followedwith two coats of quick-drying,

water-based finish. Then its mov-ing time for your new desk. W

B B

DD

TRAY BLANK !/2

2!/2

!/4!/4

!/4

1

!/8"roundover

!/2"radius

Drawer

front

a.

B B

!/4

1

Base of cutfor dividershould beflush with

bottomof trough

a.

END VIEW

1



11/14

Materials, Supplies & Cutting DiagramA EndCaseSides(4) 34 ply.-22x9

B EndCaseTops/Btms.(4)34ply.-21x13

C EndCaseDividers(2) 34ply.-21x13

D EndCaseDwr.Runners(8) 34x12-21

E EndCaseBackPnls.(2) 34ply.-13x9

F Ctr.CaseSides(2) 34ply.-1912x478

G Ctr.CaseTop/Btm.(2) 34ply.-19x23H Ctr.CaseDwr.Runners(2) 34x12-19

I Ctr.CaseBackPnl.(1) 34ply.-23x478J EndCaseVert.Edg.(8) 14x34-9

K EndCaseHoriz.Edg.(10) 14x34-1212L Ctr.CaseVert.Edg.(4) 14x34-478M Ctr.CaseHoriz.Edg.(4) 14x34-2212N LegBlanks(4) 214x214-1834O FeetBlanks(4) 134x134-112P LegBanding(16) 38x12-234Q TopCtr.Panel(1) 34ply.-1834x2434R TopSidePanels(2) 34ply.-1834x934S TopFrameDividers(2) 34x3-1834

T TopFrameFronts/Backs(2)3

4x3-54U TopFrameSides(2) 34x3-24

V Sm.Dwr.Front/Back(8) 34x314-1238W Sm.Dwr.Sides(8) 12x314-2012X Sm.Dwr.Btm.(4) 14ply.-20x1178Y Lg.Dwr.Fronts/Backs(2)34x314-2238Z Lg.Dwr.Sides(2) 12x314-1812AALg.Dwr.Btm.(1) 14ply.-18x2178BB TrayBlank(1) 112x212-2138CC TrayDividers/Ends(4) 14x1-212DDTraySides(2) 14x158-2138

(6)118"-dia.Shaker-StyleKnobs

(1)FiguredCherryVeneer(8Sq.Ft.)

(1)516"x16"ThreadedRod

(4)516"FlatWashers

(4)516"LockNuts

(14)#8x114"FhWoodscrews

W W

W

W

W

W

W

W

NOTE: Parts W andZ planed to " thick!/2

#/4" " "x 7 - 96 Hard Maple (4.7 Bd. Ft.)

#/4" " "x 7 - 72 Hard Maple (3.5 Bd. Ft.)

#/4" " "x7 - 96 Hard Maple (4.7 Bd. Ft.)

#/4" " "x 7 - 96 Hard Maple (4.7 Bd. Ft.)

1 x 3 - 12 Cherry (.5 Bd. Ft.)#/4" " "

3 x 3 - 30 Hard Maple Turning Blanks (Four Needed)" " "

#/4"- " "48 x 96 Maple Plywood

#/4"- "24" x 48 Birch Plywood

!/4"- "48 x 48 Maple Plywood

1 " " "#/4 x 4 - 24 Hard Maple (1.3 Bd. Ft.)

A

N

B

BA

A B

BBCCO

P

S U

T Y

J, K, L, M

T

HD

Z Z

D

Y

V V V V

V V V VS U

DD

C GE

X X AA

Q R R

E

I

F F

GB CA

X X



12/14

The irst thing I notice on a well-

made table or desk (like the oneon page 1) is the legs. Pleasinglegs with straight, even grain

really make a project stand out.But theres a little more to getting

great-looking legs than just rip-ping a blank to size. It starts withgrain and lumber selection.

Wild Grain. The problem you run

into when cutting a leg rom solidstock is drastic grain dierences.Usually, what youll get are two

sides with straight, even grain.But oten, the other two sides will

have mismatched grain patterns.This doesnt mean you have

to settle or less than satisactory

legs. Thankully, you have someoptions. Ill share two methods

with you that give me reliableresults every time.

TurninG Blank

One leg-making technique is tosimply cut the leg rom a turn-ing blank. You can ind these

solid wood blanks in many wood-working catalogs and rom local

hardwood lumber dealers.These blanks are usually rough-

sawn (upper photo at let). But all

that matters is that you can see the

growth rings on the end.layouT. Beore you do any cut-

ting, the frst thing you need to

do is lay out the leg on the endo the blank. And or this, I make

a simple hardboard template,as shown in the margin. (I liketo make the template about 18"

larger than the fnal size o the legto allow or cleanup.)

Laying out the shape o the legis a simple matter o orienting the

template to ind the best grain pat-

tern. What youre looking or hereis to lay out the leg so the grainruns o the edge at 45 to 60 on

each ace, as in Step One on the

next page. In this orientation,

the grain on the leg aces will bestraight and clear.

MakinG The CuTs. Since the blankis rough, I make the frst two cuts

over at the band saw. The mainphoto above and Step Two on the

next page shows the setup or

making the frst cut. Ater clean-ing up the cut ace on the jointer,

you can repeat the process to cutan adjacent side.

Once you have two aces cut,

cleaned up and square to eachother, you can complete the pro-

cess at the table saw (Step Three).This way, you wont need to do

going with the grain

Techniquesfor Making Legs

Take your table or desk to the next level. Here are two fool-

proof techniques to get outstanding legs without a lot of fuss.Turning Blank

Glued-Up Blank

Make hardboard templateslightly larger than inal

leg size

3"-square blanks arelarge enough or

most legs

Glue up over-size blank to

lay out legalong glue

joint

details of craftsmanship



13/14

any urther cleanup. Thats really allthere is to this technique.

Now i using a turning blank isntpossible or practical or you, theresanother technique I use thats a little

more economical. And all the cut-ting takes place on the table saw.

Glued-up Blank

Instead o working with a solidrough blank, this method uses a

glued-up blank (lower margin photoon the acing page). And just like theprevious technique, the blank starts

out oversize. This way, you can cutthe leg to conceal the glue lines.

prepare The Blank. Now you cant just take any two pieces o wood

and glue them together. You wantto select stock to get straight grainon the leg. For more on wood selec-

tion, take a look at the box below.In Step One below, you can see

how the two pieces are arranged.By gluing the boards together in this

orientation, the grain will be straighton all our sides o the leg.

Now, youre ready to lay out the

shape o the leg. Here again, I liketo use a template. Ater lining it

up and tracing the proile, you canhead over to the table saw.

CuTTinG The Blank. At this point,youre ready to cut the leg out o

the blank. But since the leg isntsquare to the blank, the frst twocuts will be bevel rips like you see

in Step Two below.Once two aces o the leg are

exposed, you can reposition theence and set the blade square to the

table or the remaining cuts (StepThree). And what you are let withis a clean, straight-grained blank, as

the margin photo at right shows.No matter which technique you

use, you can be sure the legs willstand out or the right reasons. W

It can be tricky to select the right

pieces o wood or table and desklegs. To get a pleasing, straightgrain on all our sides, the best

approach is to look at the endgrain o the workpiece.

For thinner legs, the perectboard will be ritsawn (top).The grain runs at 45 to 60 to all the suraces and results in

even, straight grain. From the ace, a quartersawn board(middle) seems like a good choice, but the edges will have

wild, cathedral grain. For the glue-up technique shownabove, latsawn lumber (bottom) works best.

STEP ONE STEP TWO

STEP THREESTEP ONE STEP TWO

STEP THREE

Riftsawn

Cut edges o widefatsawn boards to get

smaller ritsawn stock

Ater cutting,straight grainvisible onall sides

Glue liruns corn

to corn

Quartersawn

Flatsawn

CompletedTurning Blank

Leg

CompletedGlued-Up Leg

Growth ringscreate wild grain

on aces

Growthrings run60 to 90

Growth rings

are 45 to 60to ace

Straight, evengrain on all sides

Flat,cathedralgrain along

edges

How-To: Choose the Right Grain



14/14

tips from our shop

Simple Tapering JigWhen it came to cutting the tapers

on the legs of the desk , I put togetherthe simple tapering jig shown in the

photo. The jig holds the leg blankat the correct angle as you run itthrough the saw blade.

As the drawing in the mar-gin shows, the jig consists of a

hardboard base and a two-piece, L-shaped stop. The base rides against

your saws rip fence, while the stop

positions the workpiece and holds it

in place while cutting the taper.To attach the stop at the correct

angle, I first laid out the taper on

one of the leg blanks. Next, I set

the blank on the base of the jig, sothe layout marks lined up with the

edges of the base. Then, I fastenedthe stop in place.

Once the jig is built, cutting the

tapers is just a matter of using it toguide the blanks through the saw

(see photo above). But becauseonly the inside faces of the leg aretapered, youll need to pay close

attention to the sequence and orien-tation of the leg blank when you cut

the tapers (two drawings at left).Safety Note: Use double-sided

tape to hold the blanks to the jig.

Drilling Guide

a.

which sides of the legs you want

to show. Since the holes are to bedrilled on the inside corners (seemain drawing on page 6), their

location determines which facesare seen on the outside of the desk.

Once you determine the orientationof the legs, you can drill the holes.

I placed the guide on the endof the leg and clamped it in place,making sure the hardboard guides

were tight to the workpiece. Thenyou can drill the holes with your

hand drill (drawing at left).If your drill bit for the larger hole

isnt quite long enough to reach the

full depth you need, use the guideto drill as deep as you can. Then just

remove the guide and finish drillingthe hole to the required depth.

Drilling accurate holes in the endof a long workpiece can be a real

challenge. So, when making thelegs for the desk , I used the guide

block you see here to drill theholes for the threaded rodsand locating pins that will be

used to attach the legs.

The first thing to do is to cuta 1"-thick block to match the topof the legs. Then, take the block

to the drill press and drill theguide holes (detail a).

Next, you can glue two

hardboard pieces on adjacentsides of the block (drawing at right).

They will register the block on theinside faces of the legs.

Before drilling the holes, you

should take a minute to determine

Documents

5 Drawer Desk