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page 1 of 14 ©2005 August Home Publishing CompanyAll rights reserved

Plans N O Ww w w . p l a n s n o w . c o m

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ROLL-TOP DESK PLAN

Keeping with this desk’s traditional con-struction, we used mortise and tenon jointsto secure the rails between the legs. You

can easily cut this joint using a drill press andtable saw. And when it comes to the tambourdoor, it’s easier to make than you might think.Step-by-step instructions start on page 12.

ORGANIZER. We included an optional deskorganizer with pigeonholes and drawers hiddenbehind the door. Normally, an organizer is builtas an integral part of the desk. But this one is

designed as a separate, removable assembly. (SeeDesigner’s Notebook on page 9.)

WOOD. I built this project from solid cherry.It looks great, and has a fairly tight grain. This pro-vides a nice writing surface, although using adesk blotter will help protect the wood from beingdamaged by pen and pencil points.

FINISH. When finishing a project that has a lotof crevices like the tambour on the Roll-Top Desk,I like to use an oil finish. On this project I used atung oil and urethane combination.



WOODA Legs (4) 13/4 x 13/4 - 271/4B Front Rail (1) 3/4 x 4 - 40C Back Rail (1) 3/4 x 4 - 40D Side Rails (2) 3/4 x 4 - 21E Ft./Bk. Cleats (2) 3/4 x 3/4 - 381/2F Side Cleats (2) 3/4 x 3/4 - 191/2G Desk Top (1) 3/4 x 24 - 43H Case Sides (2) 3/4 x 12 - 23I Case Back (1) 3/4 x 12 - 401/2J Cleat (1) 3/4 x 3/4 - 40K Case Top (1) 3/4 x 91/2 - 43L Lift Rail (1) 1/2 x 13/4 - 403/8M Tambour Slats (26) 5/16 x 3/4 - 403/8N Rail Support Strip (1) 1/4 x 1/2 - 397/8

HARDWARE SUPPLIES(18) No. 8 x 11/4" Fh woodscrews(11) No. 8 x 11/2" Fh woodscrews(1 piece) 36" x 381/2" artist’s canvas

MATERIALS LIST CUTTING DIAGRAM1 x 4 - 60 (3.4 Bd. Ft.)#/4

#/4 x 5 - 96 (3.4 Bd. Ft.)

#/4 x 5 - 96 (Three Boards @ 3.4 Bd. Ft. ea.)

#/4 x 5 - 96 (Three Boards @ 3.4 Bd. Ft. ea.)

#/4 x 6 - 96 (4 Bd. Ft.)

#/4 !/2x 7 - 96 (5 Bd. Ft.)

#/4 !/2x 6 - 96 (4.3 Bd. Ft.)

AA A

A

B C

DD

F

E

E

G G

H HI

J

K K

L

M M

M

N

A

M

G

H

H

F

B

C

D

L

K

E

E

I

J

CASETOP

CLEATCANVASBACKING

TAMBOURSLATS

FRONTCLEAT

BACKCLEAT

BACKRAIL

FRONTRAIL

LEG

DESKTOP

CASESIDE

SIDECLEAT

SIDERAIL

CASEBACK

CASESIDE

LIFTRAIL

EXPLODED VIEWOVERALL DIMENSIONS:43W x 24D x 403/4H



1 SQUAREAT TOP

#/4"1 SQUAREAT TOP

#/4"

AA

BB

CC

DD

BACKRAILBACKRAIL

FRONTRAIL

FRONTRAIL

SIDERAILSIDERAIL

LEGLEG

2121

44

44

4040

27!/427!/4

55

TAPERSTARTSHERE

TAPERSTARTSHERE

1 " SQUAREAT BOTTOM

!/4

NOTE: CUT "TAPERS ON ALL

FOUR SIDESOF LEG

!/4

1

A B

D

#/4

!/4

#/4

1#/4

1#/4

LEG AND RAILS(CROSS SECTION)a.

ALEG

NOTE:USE A

FORSTNER BITTO REMOVE WASTE

!/4"

3

!/2

2

NOTE: CUT TAPERSON ALL FOURSIDES OFLEG

!/4"

TAPER JIG(SEE PAGE 11)

LEGA

3

AUXILIARYFENCE

USE DADOBLADE TO CUT

- LONGTENONSON RAILS

#/4"

NOTE: THICKNESSOF TENON SHOULDMATCH WIDTH OFMORTISE

4

#/4

!/2

!/2

34

RAILTENONDETAIL

a.

BASE

The base for the Roll-Top Desk is builtlike a simple table. There are four legsand a top joined by rails. I started workon the base by making the legs.

LEGS. These legs (A) start out as 13/4"-square pieces of 8/4 stock cut to a fin-ished length of 271/4" (Fig. 1). Near oneend, I marked the location for a pair of1/4"-wide mortises to hold the tenons cutlater on the rails. These mortises aredrilled on adjacent faces (Fig. 1a). Butthey aren’t centered on the leg. Instead,they’re positioned 1/2" from the outsideedges (Fig. 2a).

To cut the mortises, I used a 1/4"Forstner bit and drilled overlapping holes13/16" deep to remove most of the waste(Fig. 2). This depth provides a little extraclearance for the 3/4"-long tenons on theends of the rails. Since the bit cuts aclean, flat-bottomed hole, it only takes afew minutes to square up the ends andclean up the sides of each mortise witha chisel.

TAPERS. Now to make the legs lookmore graceful, I cut tapers on all foursides (Fig. 3). (See page 11 for more onmaking and using the taper jig.)

RAILS. After tapering the legs, setthem aside until the rails are completed.The rails that hold the legs together areidentical in width (4"). But their lengthsare different. The front rail (B) and backrail (C) are 40" long, while the side rails(D) are only 21" long (Fig. 1).

Next, I cut a 3/4"-long tenon on eachend of each rail (Fig. 4a). This tenon iscentered on the thickness, but there’sreally no trick to cutting a centered tenonon the table saw. Just flip the rail overbetween passes to remove stock fromboth sides. But to make sure the tenonfits snug in the mortise, you’ll want to

sneak up on the final thickness.To complete each tenon on the rails,

all that’s left is to create shoulders onthe top and bottom so the tenon matchesthe length of the mortise in the leg. Todo that, stand the workpiece up on edge,and remove 1/2" of the tenon from eachedge (Fig. 4a).

!#/16"MORTISEDEPTH

MORTISESCUT ON

ADJACENTFACES

END VIEW

!/2!/4

!/4

!/2

!#/16

a.



B

DECORATIVE CUTOUT DETAIL

FRONT RAIL

1 RADIUS!/2 "1 RADIUS!/2 "

2

4!/4!/2

1

5

B

NOTE: ROUT A BULLNOSEPROFILE ON BOTTOMEDGE OF EACH RAIL

MOVE WORKPIECEFROM RIGHTTO LEFT

FRONT RAIL

6

LEG ASSEMBLY

FIRST: GLUETOGETHER BOTHPAIRS OF LEGS ANDSIDE RAILS TO FORMLEG ASSEMBLIES

SECOND: GLUE AND CLAMPLEG ASSEMBLIES TOGETHERWITH FRONT ANDBACK RAILS

7

B

!/2"ROUNDOVER

BIT

RAIL

CROSS SECTION

%/16

a.

E

E

FSIDE CLEAT

NOTE:GLUE AND CLAMPCLEATS TO RAILS

BACKCLEAT

FRONTCLEAT

8

CLEAT

#/16"-DIA.COUNTER-

SUNKSHANKHOLE

INSTALL CLEATSBELOW EDGE OF RAIL

!/32"

CROSS SECTIONa.

G

DESK TOP

CENTER TOPON BASE

NOTE:TEMPORARILYINSTALL DESKTOP WITH#8 x 1Fh WOOD-SCREWS

!/4"

( x 24"- 43")#/4"9

DESKTOP

#8 x 1Fh WOODSCREW

!/4"CLEAT

CROSS SECTIONa.

DECORATIVE CUTOUT. Up to this pointthe front and back rails are identical. Butto provide extra clearance for sitting atthe desk, I cut a decorative shape in thefront rail (Fig. 5). To do this, simply layout the curves at each end of the rail andconnect them with a straight line. Thenremove most of the waste with a bandsaw, and complete the profile by sandingto the line.

BULLNOSE PROFILE. The legs and railscould now be assembled, but I wanted tobreak the sharp corners on the rails andcreate a smooth edge. So I routed a bull-nose profile on the bottom edges of allthe rails (Fig. 6). To do this, I used a 1/2"roundover bit raised 5/16" above therouter table (Fig. 6a).

With the bullnose complete, the basecan now be glued together. To make thiseasier, I glued the legs and side rails first(Fig. 7). Then I clamped the front andback rails between the side assemblies.

CLEATS. Next, I worked on makingthe cleats that hold the desk top in posi-tion. These are 3/4"-square pieces of stockwith oversized shank holes drilled inthem (Fig. 8a). (This allows the top toexpand and contract with changes inhumidity.) The front and back cleats (E)are the same length (381/2"), while theside cleats (F) are shorter (191/2").

These cleats are simply glued to thedesk rails. But to make sure the desktop is pulled down tight against the topsof the rails, the cleats aren’t flush with the

top edges (Fig. 8a). Instead, they’reglued on just a little bit below the edgesto create a small clearance gap.

DESK TOP

Next, I edge-glued six 3/4"-thick boardsto create a solid wood blank for the desktop (G) (Fig. 9). After the glue dried, Iplaned and sanded the top until it wasflat and smooth.

Then after cutting the top to finishedsize (24" x 43"), rout bullnose profileson all four edges. Here again thisrequired a 1/2" roundover bit, but sincethe top is too big to rout easily on myrouter table, this time I used a handheldrouter. Rout the ends first, so that anychipout will be cleaned up when you routthe sides.

Finally, it’s a good idea to attach thetable top to the base for the time being(Fig. 9). It will help strengthen the baseas you move it around in the shop. Youcan go ahead and drill the holes, butdon’t put in all the screws just yet. Later,you’ll have to remove the desk top beforethe roll-top case and tambour door can beinstalled.



H

H

ICASE BACK

CASE SIDE

CASE SIDE

12

3

4

5

23

10

USE COMPASS TO DRAW LAYOUT LINESFOR SMALLER GROOVE

TEMPLATE

SIDETEMPLATE

GROOVETEMPLATEOUTLINE

11

LAYOUT LINE FORGROOVE TEMPLATE

1RADIUS

!/2"

1#/4

3!/42#/8

&/8SIDE

TEMPLATE

a.

HCASE SIDE

GROOVETEMPLATE

NOTE: DOUBLE-SIDEDCARPET TAPE

HOLDS TEMPLATEIN PLACE

POSITION TEMPLATEFROM FRONT EDGE&/8"

12

A guide bushing installed inthe router base rides againstthe groove template to giveyou a slightly larger copy ofthe profile. Keep the bushingtight against the template.

ROLL-TOP CASE

After completing the base, I turned myattention to building the roll-top case. Itconsists of two case sides (H) heldtogether by a back panel (I) (Fig. 10).

BLANKS. I started by working on thesides. They’re glued-up blanks that arecut oversize (mine were 121/2" x 24").

SIDE TEMPLATE. Once the glue dries,the “S-shape” for the sides can be drawnon the blanks. An easy way to do this isby making a template (Fig. 10a). Drawthe shape on a piece of 1/4" hardboard,cut it out, and sand the edges smooth.

Now the template can be used totransfer the profile to each blank. Justtrace around it and cut out the case sides(H). To make sure these pieces were

identical, I stuck them together withdouble-sided carpet tape and sandedthem smooth.

GROOVE TEMPLATE. Once the sidepieces are sanded, the next step is torout identical grooves on the inside faceof each piece. This 1/4"-deep groove fol-lows the shape of the case side and pro-vides a channel for the tambour door toslide in. To allow the door to slidesmoothly, the grooves have to be posi-tioned exactly the same on both pieces.

So I used a template again, this timeto guide my router. But I didn’t make anew template. I just downsized the oldone. This smaller template is used witha 5/8"-dia. guide bushing in the router(see the Shop Tip below).

How much smaller is the template?

To determine this, add up the distancefrom the edge of the workpiece to thegroove (3/8"), the groove width (3/8"), andthe distance from the edge of the routerbit to the outer edge of the guide bushing(1/8"). This adds up to 7/8".

Now use a compass set at 7/8" andtrace the template along the front edgeand across the top (Figs. 11 and 11a).But the back edge is a little unusual.

Here you need a 11/2" radius so thedoor can slide around the corner. Andfor clearance between the door and caseback, the distance changes to 13/4" (Fig.11a). Once the lines are drawn, cut thetemplate to its new size and sand theedges smooth.

Now, using double-sided carpet tape,stick the template to a case side with the

SIDE TEMPLATE DETAIL

232!/16

9" RADIUS

5 RADIUS!/4"14!/2

12

6#/4

614

6" RADIUS

a.

Guide Bushing



IJ

K

GLUE ONFRONT ONLY(SEE DETAIL a)

CASE TOP

CASE BACK

CLEAT( x - 40")(SEE DETAIL b)

#/4" #/4"

#8 x 1Fh WOODSCREW

!/4"

NOTE:CLEAT IS GLUEDAND CLAMPED TOCASE BACK

GLUE

( x 9 - 43")#/4" !/2"

( x 12"- 40 )#/4" !/2"

BULLNOSE PROFILES ON ALL FOUR EDGES

bottom edges flush and the front edge ofthe template set back 7/8" (Fig. 12).

ROUTING GROOVE. Before routing thegroove, I clamped a backing board tothe workpiece where the bit exits thegroove (Fig. 13). This keeps the edgeof the board from chipping out.

Now you canrout the groove. Imade two passesto reach the full(1/4") depth. Youcould do it in onepass, but it’seasier to keep thebushing tightagainst the tem-plate by makinglighter cuts.

Note: Be sureto position thegroove on theinside face ofeach case side.

PROFILE. NextI moved to therouter table torout the bullnose

profiles on all the edges except the top(Fig. 14). I didn’t want a radius here sothe case top would sit nice and flat. To dothat, just measure out about 9" from theback edge and make a mark where youwant to stop the profile.

BACK DADO. To complete each side

NOTE: KEEP GUIDEBUSHING TIGHT

AGAINST TEMPLATE

#/8"

%/8"

STRAIGHTBIT

WITH

GUIDEBUSHING

ROUT GROOVEWITH SEVERAL LIGHT

PASSESSEE SHOP

TIP ONOPPOSITE

PAGEUSE BACKING BOARDTO REDUCE CHIPOUT

WHEN EXITING GROOVE

13

H

NOTE: USEROUNDOVERBIT TO CREATEBULLNOSEPROFILE (REFERTO FIG. 6 ONPAGE 4)

!/2"

DON’T ROUT BULLNOSEON LAST 9" OF THE

TOP EDGE

ROUT BULLNOSEPROFILE ONBACK EDGE

CASE SIDE

14

HCASE SIDE

CUT DADO TOHOLD CASE BACK

BOTTOM EDGEOF CASE SIDE

15

#/8#/4

!/4

#/8 TAMBOURGROOVE

BACK DADO DETAILa.

16

K

CROSS SECTION

CASE TOP

APPLY GLUE TOFIRST 3" ONLY

a.CROSS SECTION

CLEAT

#/16" OVERSIZEDSHANK HOLE

CASEBACK

!/32!/2

#/8J

I

b.

piece, a dado is cut along the back edgeto hold the case back (I) (Fig. 15). This1/4"-deep dado is cut to match the thick-ness of the back panel.

CASE BACK. With the dado cut, thecase back (I) is added next to join thesides. This glued-up panel matches theheight of the sides (12") and is glued inthe dadoes (Fig. 16).

But before the glue dries, it’s impor-tant to check that the sides are perpen-dicular to the back. If not, the tambourdoor may “rack” in the opening.

CLEAT. One more thing to add to thecase is a cleat (J) for securing the top(Fig. 16). It fits between the sides and isglued and clamped to the back, justbelow the top edge (Fig. 16b).

CASE TOP. All that’s left to completethe case is building the case top (K).Like the side pieces, it’s also a solid woodpanel with bullnose profiles routed onthe edges.

The case top is then screwed to thecleat (Fig. 16b). But the front edge isglued in place in just a couple spots (Fig.16a). If you glued the whole edge, the topcouldn’t expand or contract.



LIFT RAIL

After putting the case together, the nextstep is building the tambour door thatfits inside. Tambour doors are basicallyall the same. There’s a lift rail to graspwhen you open and close the door, slatsthat make up the body, and a fabric“hinge” on the backside that holds every-thing together (Fig. 17). (For moredetails on making tambours, see theTechnique article on pages 12-14.)

CUT BLANK. Begin work on the doorby making the lift rail (L). I started withan extra-wide (3") blank of 1/2"-thickstock. (You’ll see the reason for the extrawidth in a minute.) Though it’s extrawide, cut the blank to finished length.To determine the length, measure thedistance between the bottoms of thegrooves in the case sides and subtract1/8" for clearance. (My rail ended up403/8" long.)

CUTOUTS. Next, a pair of cutouts arerouted in the front face of the lift rail thatwill become hand grips (Fig. 17).

To do this, first draw a couple of stoplines across the front face to mark thelocation for each cutout (Fig. 18). Thenuse a handheld router and a 1/2" cove bitto create each recess (Fig. 18a). (Here’swhy you need an extra-wide workpiece.The extra width helps to keep the routersteady during the cut.)

Note: This is a fairly deep cut, so Ididn’t make it in one pass. I set the routerfor the finished depth, but didn’t pushthe router bearing all the way to theworkpiece on the first pass.

BEVEL. Next, I ripped a 7° bevel alongthe bottom edge of the lift rail so it wouldsit flush on the desk top when the doorwas closed (Fig. 17a). (The lift rail leans

backwards slightly when the door ismounted in the case.) Once the bevel iscut, rip the opposite edge of the lift railto bring it to final width (13/4").

RABBET AND ROUNDOVER. Now tocomplete the lift rail there are two moresteps. First, the ends need to be thinnerso they’ll slide in the grooves in the case

sides (Fig. 17b). I did this by setting upa dado blade in the table saw to cut arabbet on each end of the rail to createa 1/4" x 1/4" tongue (Figs. 19 and 19a).

And finally, I used a 3/8" roundover bitto rout the top outside edge of the liftrail so that it would match the finishedprofile of the slats (Fig. 17a).

M

N

L

RECESSED CUTOUTS USEDFOR HAND GRIPS

TAMBOUR SLAT

CANVAS

RAIL SUPPORT STRIPLIFT RAIL NOTE: RAIL SUPPORT STRIPGLUED TO BACK OF LIFT RAIL

17

CROSS SECTION

#/8"ROUNDOVER

LIFT RAIL

N

L

RAILSUPPORT

STRIP( x - 39 )!/4" !/2" &/8" 7° BEVEL

!/2

1#/4

a.M

N

L

CROSS SECTION

#/8"-WIDE GROOVETAMBOUR SLAT

THICK%/16"

LIFT RAIL

RAIL SUPPORT STRIP

NOTE: CUT CANVAS AWAYSO RAIL SUPPORT STRIP CANBE GLUED TO LIFT RAIL

7° BEVEL

b.

L

FIRST: ROUTRECESSED CUTOUTSFOR HANDLES SECOND: RIP 7° BEVEL

ON BOTTOM EDGE

LIFT RAILNOTE: START WITHWIDE WORKPIECETO SUPPORT ROUTER

STOP LINES

THIRD: RIP TO FINALWIDTH OF 1#/4"

EXTEND WORKPIECE PAST EDGEOF WORKBENCH FOR ROUTER BITCLEARANCE

4

4!/4

18

L

AUXILIARYFENCE

DADOBLADE

LIFT RAIL

AUXILIARYFENCE

NOTE: CUTTONGUE

ON EACH ENDOF LIFT RAIL

!/4"

19

L

#/8

!/2

WORKBENCH

LIFT RAIL

!/2" COVEBITa.

RABBET DETAIL

L

!/4

!/4

BACK FACE

LIFT RAIL

a.



SLATS

With the lift rail complete, I concentratedon the tambour slats (M). For the roll-topdesk, 26 slats the same length as the liftrail are needed. But I made a few extraso I wouldn’t come up short if any twistedout of shape.

Making the slats is a two-step process.First, I used a roundover bit to create arounded profile on the edge of the work-piece (Fig. 20a). Then using a carrierboard, it’s quick and easy to rip a thinslat off the edge (Fig. 21 and refer toFig. 5 on page 13).

The important thing is that all theslats end up 5/16" thick. Then the doorwill slide freely in the 3/8" groove.

GLUE-UP. Once you have your slatscut, both the lift rail and slats can beglued to a canvas backing (see page 14).

DRY ASSEMBLY. After the slats areglued to the canvas, it’s a good time tocheck the fit of the door. If it doesn’t slidefreely in the grooves, refer to the trou-bleshooting tips on page 14.

Also, since I planned on adding thedesk organizer later (refer to theDesigner’s Notebook on page 9), Ichecked the height of the opening (minewas 10").

RAIL SUPPORT STRIP. To complete thedoor, a rail support strip (N) is glued tothe back of the lift rail flush with thebottom edge (refer to Fig. 17a). This

strip gives you something to grip to closethe tambour door. Like the lift rail, there’sa 7° angle ripped on one edge and thesupport strip is sized to fit easily betweenthe case sides (397/8").

Note: Cut away a strip of canvas toget a wood-to-wood joint between the liftrail and the strip.

FINAL ASSEMBLY

Once the tambour door is complete, thedesk can be assembled. The first step isto install the case on the desk top. Thismeans locating and drilling mounting

holes through the desk top and into thecase sides and back.

SCREW HOLE LOCATION. To locate theholes, I centered the case on the desktop. Then to mark its position, place tapearound the outside edges of the case(Fig. 22). When the case is removed,just measure in from the edge of the tape3/8" and drill the oversized shank holes.

Now, to complete the desk, install thedoor in the case, then screw the case tothe desk top (Fig. 22a). Finally, set thedesk top on the base and screw it in place(Fig. 23). ■

TAMBOURSLAT BLANK

#/8" ROUNDOVERBIT

AFTER JOINTING EDGE,ROUT HALF-ROUND PROFILE

ON EDGE OF BLANK

20TAMBOUR SLAT

BLANK

#/8" ROUNDOVERBIT

a.

M

CARRIERBOARD

TAMBOURSLAT

%/16"NOTCH

SLATBLANK

USE CARRIER BOARD TORIP SLATS TO UNIFORM

THICKNESS

21

CARRIERBOARD

M

CROSSSECTION

SLATBLANK

TAMBOUR SLAT

%/16a.

CASE

FIRST: INSTALLTAMBOURDOORIN CASE

SECOND:SCREWCASE TODESK TOP

TAMBOURDOOR

DESKTOP

NOTE: ROLL-TOP CASE ISCENTERED ON DESK TOP

#8 x 1 FhWOODSCREW

!/2"

MASKINGTAPE

22

#8 x 1Fh WOODSCREW

!/2"

CASE

CROSSSECTION(FRONTVIEW)

MASKINGTAPE

DESK TOP

#/8a.

DESKTOP

BASE

ATTACH DESK TOPTO BASE WITH

#8 x 1 FhWOODSCREWS

!/4"

NOTE:DESK TOP ISCENTEREDON BASE

23



Q

Q

QQ

O

P

TOP

VERTICALDIVIDER

NOTE:ALL DADOES

WIDE,DEEP

!/2"!/4"

NOTE:CUT DADOESIN OUTSIDEDIVIDERS

ONLY

SHELF

39!/2

!/2

!/4

9!/2

911!/2

14!/2

95!/2!/22!/2

SEE DETAIL a

1

WASTE SHELF

SCRAP BLOCK

5"RADIUS 4#/4

3

a.

END VIEWTHICKNESS OF

" PLYWOOD!/4

!/4

!/4

O TOPb.

Sized to fit into the Roll-Top Desk, this organizer can be built with or without drawers. Besidesproviding storage, it also hides the back side of the tambour when the door is rolled up into the desk.

CONSTRUCTION NOTES:■ To build the Desk Organizer, I startedwith the top (O) and shelf (P) (Fig. 1).They’re made from 1/2" stock edge-gluedinto 10"-wide panels (rough size).■ When the top and shelf panels are dryand planed flat, they can be cut to thesame length (391/2" or a hair less). Buttheir widths are dif ferent. The top iswider (91/2") than the shelf (9") because

it holds a back panel added later.■ To hold the back, I cut a 1/4"-deepgroove along the back edge of the toppanel (O) (Fig. 1b). This groove is cut towidth to match the thickness of the 1/4"plywood used for the back panel.■ The shelf and top are connected byfour dividers. These fit in 1/2"-widedadoes cut 1/4" deep (Fig. 1). To make

NEW PARTSO Top (1) 1/2 x 91/2 - 391/2P Shelf (1) 1/2 x 9 - 391/2Q Vert. Dividers (4) 1/2 x 9 - 51/2R Sides (2) 1/2 x 91/2 - 10S Horiz. Dividers (2) 1/2 x 9 - 113/4T Back Molding (1) 1/2 x 3/4 - 391/2U Back (1) 1/4 ply - 91/4 x 391/2V Drwr. Frt./Bk. (4) 1/2 x 21/4 - 113/16

W Drawer Sides (4) 1/2 x 21/4 - 9X Drwr. Bottoms (2)1/4 ply - 81/2 x 1011/16

MATERIALS LIST

sure the dadoes align, clamp the shelfand top together and use a hand-heldrouter and a straightedge guide.

But you don’t want to rout all the wayacross both pieces. So stop the dadowhen the router bit reaches the groovein the top (O). Then chisel out the wasteto square up the end of the dado.■ After routing the dadoes, cut an arc inthe front edge of the shelf, centered onthe length of the shelf. To do this, you’llneed to locate the arc’s centerpoint in apiece of scrap (Fig. 1a).■ Next, the four vertical dividers (Q) canbe cut to size (Fig. 1).■ The two outside dividers also hold hor-



V

V

X

WSIDE

CUTDEEP

GROOVETO HOLDBOTTOM

!/4"

BACK

NOTE:!/2"-THICKSTOCK

BOTTOM

FILL HOLEWITH

HARDWOODPLUG

( PLY - 8 x 10 )!/4" !/2" !!/16"

FRONT

11#/16

9

2!/4

!/2

!/4

!/4

3

CL

HANDLE CUTOUT

NOTE: CENTERCUTOUT ON WIDTH

OF DRAWER

DRAWERFRONT

!/4!/2

#/4

!/2

!/2" R

!/2" R

1!/2

4

U

S

T

R

NOTE: SIDE LENGTH DETERMINESHEIGHT OF ORGANIZER. CUT TO FIT

DESK OPENING, IF NECESSARY.

HORIZONTALDIVIDER

SIDE

BACKMOLDING

BACK

11#/4

9

9!/2

10

2izontal dividers added later (refer to Fig.2). Rout a 1/4"-deep dado centered on theheight of each of these two verticaldividers (Fig. 1).■ When the dadoes are routed, the top,shelf, and vertical dividers can all beglued together (Fig. 1). Check that theassembly is square.■ The next step is to add the sides (R)(Fig. 2). Begin by ripping two 1/2"-thickpanels to match the width of the top(91/2"). The length of each side panelshould be just less than the desk’s tam-bour opening. (I cut my sides 10" tall.)■ Next, rout three 1/4"-deep x 1/2"-widedadoes in each side (Fig. 2a). The firstdado holds the top panel and is located1/4" down from the top edge. The othertwo align with the shelf (B) and the dadocut on the vertical divider (Q).■ To hold the back (added later), eachside also needs a 1/2"-wide rabbet alongits back inside edge (Fig. 2b). Thisrabbet is stopped as it hits the top dadoin the side panel.■ Finally, to soften the top end of eachside panel, I used a 1/2" roundover bitraised 5/16" above the router table to routa bullnose profile (Fig. 2b).■ With the side panels complete, it’s timeto cut the horizontal dividers (S). Thewidth of these pieces is the same as theshelf (P) (9"). To determine their length,dry-assemble the case (Fig. 2). Then cutthe horizontal dividers to length to fitbetween the dadoes in the sides (R) andthe vertical dividers (Q). When they’vebeen cut to size, these pieces and theside panels can be glued and clampedto the ends of the case.■ Before adding the plywood back, aback molding (T) is cut to fit betweenthe rabbets in the sides (R) (Fig. 2c).Then I notched the front corners so the

3BULLNOSETOP EDGE

NOTE: ALLDADOES

" WIDE!/2

ENDVIEW

!/4

5#/4

!/4a.

BACKVIEW

!/4

!/2"-WIDERABBET

b.

U

CUT " x "GROOVE FOR

BACK

!/4 !/4

!/2

!/2

T

!/4

!/4

c.

3/4"-wide molding would fit flush withthe back edge of each side.■ Next I cut a 1/4"-deep groove in themolding. This groove is sized to hold the1/4"-thick plywood back (Fig. 2c).■ Now that the molding is complete, youcan cut the back (U) to size from 1/4"-thick plywood (Fig. 2).■ Once the back is cut to size, glue it tothe back molding and then glue thisassembly to the back of the organizer.■ The case is complete, but I decided toadd two drawers to fit in the organizer.(You could build four drawers if you wanta drawer in each opening.)■ Start by cutting the drawer fronts (V),backs (V), and sides (W) to size from1/2"-thick stock (Fig. 3). Allow for a 1/32"

gap at each side. But for now, the heightof each drawer should match its opening.The drawers will be trimmed for clear-ance after they’re assembled.■ The drawer is constructed with 1/4"box joints at each corner (Fig. 3). The1/4" plywood bottom (X) is held in agroove that’s cut in each piece. Align thisgroove with a slot in the drawer side (W).This way it will be hidden by a pin onthe drawer front.■ Before assembling the drawers, I laidout and cut an opening for a handle oneach front piece (Fig. 4).■ Next, cut a drawer bottom to fit andassemble the drawers. Then trim the topand bottom edges very slightly to createa 1/32" gap above the drawer.■ After each drawer is assembled, thegrooves for the drawer bottom will beexposed on the sides. I cut small woodplugs and inserted them into the squareholes to hide the grooves (Fig. 3).



#8 xFh WOODSCREW

!/2"#/4" PLYWOOD

!/4"HARDBOARDSTOP BLOCK

!/4"HARDBOARD

SLED

NOTE:POSITION OF BLOCKDETERMINES LENGTH

OF TAPER. OFFSETOF BLOCK DETERMINES

ANGLE OF TAPER.

POSITION WORKPIECEIN SECOND NOTCH FOR

THIRD AND FOURTH PASSES

STOP BLOCKPASS 4

PASS 3

PASS 1

PASS 2STOP BLOCK

POSITION WORKPIECEIN FIRST NOTCH FOR FIRST

AND SECOND PASSES

1 2

Tapering all four sides ofa leg requires a jig that’s

“adjustable.” That’s becauseafter two faces of the leg aretapered, there aren’t anymore straight faces to placeagainst the rip fence or onthe table of the table saw.

To cut the tapers on thelegs of the roll-top desk, Imade a special jig with apiece of 3/4" plywood and astop block (Fig. 1). Thesepieces are screwed to a 1/4"hardboard sled that carriesthe leg and the jig past thesaw blade.

STOP BLOCK. The stopblock is the key to the jig.It’s just a piece of 1/4" hard-board (or plywood) withtwo notches in it (Fig. 1a).These notches offset theleg on the jig and set the angle of thetaper.

One of the nice things about usingthis jig is that you don’t have to worryabout any angles. Just determine howmuch stock needs to be cut from eachside of the leg (1/4" for the legs on theRoll-Top Desk). This is how far the firstnotch needs to be offset from the edge

of the plywood (Fig. 1a). Then thesecond notch is offset the same distance(1/4") from the first.

The stop block also needs to be posi-tioned on the length of the plywood (Fig.1b). This position determines the lengthof the taper. (The tapers on the desk legsare 221/4" long. Refer to Fig. 1 on page 3).

Note: I attached the stop block to the

front of the jig. This meansyou push the workpiece,not just the jig. I find it saferto use this way.

USING THE JIG. To usethe taper jig, first lock downthe rip fence so the distancefrom the fence to the bladeis equal to the width of theplywood on the jig plus thewidth of the leg. (It’s okayif you trim off a little bit ofthe sled on the very firstpass.)

Now simply place theleg in the first notch andthen make two passes,rotating the leg 90°between passes (Fig. 2).

Note: For safety, I stuckthe leg to the sled withdouble-sided carpet tapebefore making a pass.

To taper the last two faces, place theleg in the other notch (the one closest tothe blade), and make two more passes,rotating the leg 90° between passes.

Once the tapers are cut, some lightsanding on each face should take care ofany blade marks.

STOP BLOCKDETAIL

OFFSET FIRSTNOTCHFROM EDGEOF PLYWOOD

!/4"

!/4

!/4

a.

TOPVIEW

LENGTHOF TAPER

CARPETTAPELEG TOSLED

b.

SHOP JIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taper Jig



CROSS SECTION

#/8"-WIDE GROOVE

RABBETED ENDON WIDE LIFTRAIL ALLOWSRAIL TO FITGROOVEWITHOUTREDUCINGTHICKNESS

LIFTRAIL

%/16"-THICK SLAT

OPTIONAL RAILSUPPORT STRIP

PROVIDES A GRIPTO PULL DOOR

CLOSED

1

CROSS SECTION

WIDE SLATS CAN BEUSED IN A TAMBOUR

DOOR IF THEY FOLLOWA SHALLOW CURVE

NARROWER SLATS ARENEEDED WHEN THE

TAMBOUR DOOR HASTO FOLLOW A TIGHT CURVE

3

Some people think thattambour doors are a

mystery. After all, theremust be some trick to get-ting all those pieces towork together as asmoothly sliding door.

But once you under-stand the design, you’ll seethere’s really no trick at all.You make a tambour flex-ible by gluing a bunch ofthin slats to a piece offabric. Then cut a groovefor the pieces to follow sothe door can slide out ofsight inside its own cabinet.That’s it. Nothing so mys-terious about it after all.

TAMBOUR ANATOMY

All tambour or roll-top doors consist ofthe same three parts (Fig. 1). There’susually a thick, heavier piece at the front(a lift rail), followed by a series of thinner

pieces (tambour slats), all held togetherwith a piece of fabric.

CANVAS. I use canvas when buildingtambour doors. This allows the door toflex as it slides through the groove.

But it takes more than a piece ofcanvas to allow a door to flex in morethan one direction (as it has to for theS-shaped tambour used in the Roll-TopDesk). The real “secret” is the style (orprofile) of the tambour lift rail and slats.

SLAT PROFILE. The key to creating thisflex is building in enough clearancebetween the slats. This can be accom-plished easily by changing the slat pro-file. I wanted the door on the Roll-TopDesk to move through some pretty tightcurves. By rounding over the slats, theycan flex or move back and forth as thedoor moves through the curved groove(Figs. 2 and 2a). The greater the clear-ance between the slats, the tighter thecurve the door can follow.

SLAT WIDTH. But thereare a couple of other thingsthat come into play. One isthe width of the slat (Fig.3). A wider slat makes asturdier door. But a wideslat can’t slide through atight curve. That’s why youtypically don’t find slatswider than 1".

There is one exceptionto this: the lift rail at thefront of the door. Here awide piece is needed totake all the wear and tearas the door is pushed openand pulled closed.

To get a wide piece likethis to work in a groove,

simply reduce the thickness on each endby cutting a rabbet to create a tongue(Fig. 1).

THICKNESS. When you reduce thethickness of a lift rail or slat, you canmake it wider and still have it slidesmoothly. This is because you’ve cre-ated more clearance around it. Ofcourse you can go too far and makethem too thin. Then on a wide door theslats could start to sag and even fall outof the grooves.

CLEARANCE. Finally, there’s one otherconsideration for making tambour doorsslide smoothly. You need to allow forclearance between the slat and thegroove. The tambour door in the Roll-Top Desk used 5/16"-thick slats in a 3/8"groove (Fig. 1). This provided justenough clearance so the tambour doorwould slide smoothly without rattling.

CROSS SECTION

GROOVE

TAMBOUR

S-SHAPED TAMBOURBENDS IN TWO

DIRECTIONS

2

CLEARANCE BETWEEN SLATSALLOWS TAMBOURTO BEND FORWARD

CANVASBACKING

a.

TECHNIQUE . . . . . . . Building Tambours



CARRIERBOARD

TAMBOUR SLATBLANK

5

CONSTRUCTION

Okay, so now you know there’s more toa tambour door than gluing some sticksto a piece of canvas. The next step isto put this information to use. Forme this means starting on thecase sides that hold the door.

TAMBOUR CASE. The firststep is to cut the groovesin the sides that guide thedoor.

Since the grooves aremirror images of each other,the easiest way to keep themaligned is by making a tem-plate (refer to page 5). Thisway a guide bushing in ahand-held router can follow the tem-plate and rout the groove.

LIFT RAIL. After routing the grooves,the lift rail can be built for the door (seedrawing at right). Just cut it to length tofit between the grooves and rabbet theends so it slides easily in the grooves.

SLATS. Next I turn my attention to thetambour slats. The safest and most accu-rate way to make these is to start with awide piece of stock and cut several slatsoff it like strips of bacon.

To do this, first rout the profile onone edge (Figs. 4 and 4a). Then switchto the table saw to rip a slat from theedge of the board.

Here I use a carrier board with anotch cut at one end that matches thethickness of the slat (Figs. 5 and 5a).As the slat is cut from the blank, the car-rier pushes it safely past the blade.

I also like to number the slats as

#/8" ROUNDOVER BIT

TAMBOURSLAT BLANK

NOTE: AFTER JOINTING EDGE,ROUT HALF-ROUND PROFILE ONEDGE OF TAMBOUR BLANK

4

TAMBOURSLAT

LIFTRAIL

CANVASBACKING

ROUND OVEREDGE

OF BLANK#/8"

ROUNDOVERBIT

a.

CARRIER BOARD DETAIL

NOTCH DEPTHEQUALS SLAT THICKNESS

EQUALS LENGTH OF SLAT

a.

TAMBOUR SLATS

NOTE:NUMBERING SLATSMAKES IT EASIERTO REASSEMBLE THEPIECES DURINGGLUE-UP

b.



SLATS. The slats can also get hung up.Here again, round over the ends. Butbecause the groove is shallow, keep theradius small so it’s not exposed.

FILE ORSAND ENDS

OF SLATS TOSMOOTH ROUGH SPOTS

SAND AND WAX. It’s always a good ideato sand the groove lightly to remove anychatter marks left by the router. Thenapply paste wax so door will slide freely.

SAND AND WAXGROOVE TO HELPDOOR SLIDESMOOTHLY

LIFT RAIL. When a tambour won’t slidefreely, check the lift rail. Sharp cornerscan hang up in the groove. Use a sandingblock to round the corners.

LIFTRAIL

ROUND OVER ENDOF TONGUE ON

LIFT RAIL

they’re cut (Fig. 5b). That way they canbe reassembled for the best color andappearance. And while you’re set up,make some extras. It seems there arealways a few slats that will twist or bow.

GLUE-UP

To hold all of the slats and the lift railtogether, they’re glued to a piece ofcanvas. Trim the canvas so it’s narrowerthan the slats. This keeps the canvas outof the grooves. But allow some extralength to help you keep the fabric taut asyou mount slats.

I use a couple of coats of contact adhe-sive to glue the slats to the canvas. Asmall roller spreads the adhesive quickly.This is easy on a big piece of canvas. Butit can be tedious on the narrow slats. SoI temporarily assemble a few slats bytaping the ends (Fig. 6).

Taping the slats together serves twopurposes. First, it gives you a large sur-face to work on. And once you remove it,the ends are free of glue so the slats willslide freely in the grooves.

ASSEMBLY JIG. Now the challenge isgetting the slats and lift rail installed on

the canvas so they’re square to eachother. Here’s where an assembly jighelps (Figs. 7, 8 and the photo on page87). This jig is just a couple of pieces ofscrap screwed to a piece of plywood at aright angle to one another. These guideboards keep the door pieces straight atthe sides and parallel to each other.

I stretch out the canvas first (adhe-sive side up) so it’s flat and tight. Justscrew a guide board at one end to holdthe canvas in place, stretch it out, andsecure the other end with a piece ofscrap. Then using a framing square,

MASKING TAPE PROTECTSENDS OF SLATS FROM GLUE

NOTE: MASKING TAPE HOLDSPIECES TOGETHER WHILEAPPLYING GLUE

USE ROLLER TOSPREAD CONTACT ADHESIVE

6

TO PREVENT GAPS,KEEP SLATS PRESSED

TIGHTLY ASTHEY'RE INSTALLED

TOGETHER

90°

GUIDEBOARDS

CANVASLIFTRAIL

7

TROUBLESHOOTING TAMBOUR MOVEMENT

TOP VIEW

FRAMINGSQUARE

CANVAS

NOTE: CHECK EVERY 5TO 6 SLATS TO MAKESURE THEY ARE TRUE

NOTE:CHECKTHAT

DISTANCEIS THESAME

ON BOTHSIDES

8

install the other guide board square tothe first one.

Now the lift rail and slats can beinstalled on the canvas. Just remember,when they make contact, you won’t beable to move them. It’s also a good ideato check periodically that the slats arerunning true (Fig. 8).

After the slats are all in place, tapthem with a mallet to remove any airgaps under the slats. Finally, to com-plete the door, trim of f the excesscanvas at the ends.

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