I got a week off, so I am hitting a few projects pretty heavy. Now that the monster bed is out of my way, I have a koa desk and an ash dresser for a few ags I am going to be busting it on this week. I figured I would do a 'build' thread and post daily updates.

The first Project is a koa desk I have referenced and posted a few initial pics of before:

This is the desk plan:



This is the dresser plan:

It is going to be ash and covered in a tinted lacquer. I did one similar for the same Ag a few years ago for their newborn son. This one will be for their new daughter.

This was the first one for the son:

I did a koa bar for an Ag that was sapele mahogany with koa panels, was a fun project:



And damn reactionary wood.. hate it..

catching up with work I did before this week on the koa desk - veneering the panels:

Glue backing:


vacuum pumping:


The center panel:


Also the slab prep work:
Raw slabs:


marking where I want to cut the desktop and where I will have extra left over for the frame. All koa in the desk (except the panels) will be from these two boards:

the bag, fittings, and hose are from veneersupplies.com. the pump I bought on craigslist. ironically it is an old liposuction pump from a dr's office.

ok, day one in the books. The goal today was to get the frame wood all cut up and selected. Some of the koa has higher figure towards the sapwood/quartersawn, and some has less figure (heartwood/rift/plainsawn), so I wanted to position the wood to show off the grain and use the less figured wood in less visible areas.

The front of the desk has rails that run across all 3 panels, so I wanted the grain to flow across all three panel's rails. I had a long cut of a piece of the slabs, so I used that:


Ripped it in half:


Next I had a section of the end of a slab:

Cut that in to three pieces.

flattened the face of each:

Took the middle piece:


and ripped that in to two:


One got cut up for rails, the other will be used for 3 drawer faces.

I took another piece of the slabs and cut and ripped it up for more rails:




A little alcohol and you can see the tight figure:


Once those were done, I effectively had the from pieces selected for each location on the desk:


Also, I milled a lot of the ash up for the dresser so I could glue up the panels. Everything will be solid wood on the piece except the drawer bottoms and the back wall on the top units/dust panels. These are the main frame pieces for the sides/top/shelves/etc.


Test and mark each of the pieces so I have tight glue joints:


And glue up:


I didn't have as much ash on hand as I thought, so I put a call in to the mill and will have about 40 more BF of ash delivered tomorrow as well as the ash ply for the drawer bottoms, dust shields, and top unit back wall. Along with soft maple for the drawer bodies.

Goals for tomorrow: Get the main frame of the desk mocked up, the rest of the wood in for the other panels and those milled/glued up to start framing the dresser/hutch.

reactionary wood (or at least as I call it) is wood with internal stresses. When you cut the board the stresses relieve themselves and the boards deform as you cut them. Often this can lead to the board closing up behind the blade and pinching the blade. This can lead to burning, or worse yet, kick-back.

Trees that lean very much when they grow, or branches, have more of this. That is why you make wood from straight/vertical tree trunks.

tedious work yesterday, lots of fitting and framing:

cutting grooves in the legs for panels/rails:



Frame fitting:


I thought I would get more done last night, but had a serious migraine kick in around 7, so I called it a day after the kids went to bed and slept through the night...

Also, the mill showed up to deliver the wood I ordered, but they didn't have the full order. The ash got put on the wrong truck and was in east Texas... It should be delivered this morning now...

tedious day. Other stuff kept coming up, so never as much done as I would like.

Cut all of the grooves in the rails, so now they are fully grooved to accept the panels:


Took the panels and sanded them down and hit them with a quick coat of shellac prior to cutting or any fitting:

rough:

sanded and with a coat of shellac:


I put a coat of shellac on as this helps a little with any tearout and also when I glue them up, glue will wipe off more easily from the shellac than raw wood. While it is less of a concern on a laminate board, with solid wood panels the wood can move some, so if you finish it after installation and it shifts, then you can expose a raw line of unfinished wood, which never looks good.

rabbet all the panels:


I also had a thought on the design some and discussed with the owner the change in idea. Instead of a 2" gap at the bottom and a 1" high arch (for a 3" tall gap in the middle) we moved it to a 1" gap and a 1/2" arch to give more drawer and shelf room:


Previous design on left, modification on right.

Some panels fit up (with my youngest boy helping)


I also got the rest of the ash in and glued up the ash panels. I can flatten those friday to start framing the dresser (tomorrow is other plans, so no woodworking unless it is later tomorrow night).

was doing deliveries yesterday, so not too much done, but I did get the end cabinet panels fitted. I leave the rabbets thick and then test fit them and hit the back with a shoulder plane to get them to a nice snug fit (without being too tight or loose). I then mark each panel and its mating components so when I break everything down and sand it I can be sure to glue them all back up in the exact same order.

next step was to get the curve on the bottom rails done and the legs shaped.

I did a majority of the leg contouring on the tablesaw, then blending it by hand.

Cut 1:

cuts 2 and 3:


I needed a jig to hold it and I wanted the curve to be facing upward when I worked on it so it would be easier to keep symmetric. I cut a 90 groove in a board and put stops at each end so the piece couldn't slide when working it:


I then screwed a board on the bottom so I could mount it on my bench clamp:



Then got to work:


All the legs rounded and the rails curved:


Next is to get the end cabinets framed up and the bottoms/rails put in the front side. Right now it is just friction holding it all together in the pics with the mortise/tenon joints on the rails/panels.

a few skipped days, but some progress:

I got the larger panels glued up:


Then I needed to install the bottom/floor. The best way to do this was to cut guides that glued to the inside of the cabinet, then mount the floor in to those:



There was no need to make the entire floor from koa, just the front edge that would be visible when the doors/drawers are closed. So I inset a piece of koa along the leading edge of the floor:



Then I needed the floor panels to come further forward than the back side of the corner posts, so I needed to cut a piece out of the column by hand to get them to fit in there:


and test fit:

full test fit:


I also needed a rail along the top of each cabinet. Once again, no point in wasting solid koa for that, just the front edge:



cut a floating tenon in the end of them and test fit them in:



I got the two end cabinets glued together. The middle panel and its top and bottom rails are still not glued together. The center section will be removeable so that the desk can break down in to 4 pieces (2 end cabinets, front center panel, and the top)


next was some prep work on the top. Koa has an interesting variation in hardness. The edge/quartersawn wood is harder, but the heartwood is softer. I want to make sure the desk is as durable as possible. So I dammed off the edges with tape, made sure the slab was level, and mixed up some thin/slow cure epoxy. I want the epoxy to soak in to the top to help stabilize it. Most of it will be sanded off, but it should help harden the top surface some for better durability.

securing the edges:


pour time!


This will need to sit for about 48-72 hours until it is not tacky and I can move it.

In the meantime, I have another desk for another Ag I am starting some prep work on. Since I had the epoxy out, I started to fill in the desktop slabs:

The slabs:

treatment one:


let that cure for a day (this is a faster set epoxy that I add thickener too so I can spackle it on the underside of the slabs).

Then treatment two:


I mix a thicker epoxy and seal the back, then I can turn the slab over and pour in a thinner epoxy from the top without having to worry about it leaking out the bottom. Nothing is messier than thinking you have it sealed, only to check the next morning and see a big puddle of epoxy on the floor.

The desk plan:


It was based on this desk design I did, but instead of end grain, we will do solid side grain panels, a thicker top, and the frame will be solid mesquite vs the black lacquered frame. The drawers will also extend all the way to the floor vs half height.

The dresser panels are glued/flattened, and I started framing that up tonight. I should have some pics of that skeleton in the next week or so.