Designer-maker Brendan Devitt-Spooner has a love of home-grown timber, as expressed in this beautiful waney edge desk project.
This desk came about when a client visited my workshop looking to have one made. They had seen my work at a craft show I was taking part in and liked the pieces I had on display. What was particularly nice about the initial meeting was the fact that they did not have any preconceived ideas on what it should look like.
Looking at some of the pieces in my showroom they expressed a preference for a natural edge to the top. As luck would have it I had some ash (Fraxinus excelsior) from a tree we took down about 18 years ago. One of the planks turned out to be ideal – wider at one end, no splits or shakes and to clinch it, it was a single slab that had stayed flat.
Engineering nature
With only the desire to have two drawers, the design brief was open ended which allowed me freedom to consider different ways to make the desk. Rather than continue the theme of natural edges I decided to contrast the edge with ‘engineered ends’ which highlighted the wavy edged top. The two drawers were placed one at either end and to mirror the top they would have to have angled fronts. With any desk or table for that matter, it is a given that it should be rigid and not move when in use. With the top joined only to the sides at the top it was necessary to have a large stiffening member to restrain any movement. With the drawing of the desk accepted by the client, the timber was prepared. The top had been in the workshop for many years and therefore was acclimatised to a warm setting. The remaining ash and the contrast timber, which was iroko (Milicia excelsa), had also been in the workshop so could be worked immediately.
Waney Edge Desk plan
Shaping the top
As the top of the desk would be the main part of the design I worked on this first, mainly because all the other dimensions would be based upon the end lengths. As the top was rough sawn the first job was to flatten it. Having a wide-belt sander the job was made easier and resulted in a beautifully flat slab. Establishing a straight rear edge the two ends were then crosscut to give the maximum length possible.
Loose tongues
Now that the top dimensions were finalised, I could work out the sizes for the ends. Allowing for a small protrusion at front and back, the widths of the pieces which made up the ends were determined. Each end was made up from ash pieces approximately 75 x 50mm. The two pieces of iroko at each end were 65 x 50mm. These were joined together with twin loose tongues. The ash pieces were fluted to give the ends an engineered sculptural look. Before any jointing was attempted each end was laid out to establish the ‘nicest’ composition of grain patterns. Because these faces would be reshaped I marked the back with a large pencil triangle to ensure they would go back together in the correct order.
As with many woodworking processes, there are invariably more ways than one to achieve a result. Having a spindle moulder I cut all the grooves with a 6mm groover. Considering that a groove through a top would not look too good, I made sure that each piece had a top mark to remind me to stop the groove.
Fluting
The next major operation was to form the flutes on the pieces of ash. Again this was effected on the spindle using a dedicated cutter. By not fluting the iroko pieces it gave the ends. With all the preparation work done on the ends, all that remained to do was cut the plywood tongues to length and shape one end to complement the curve produced by the grooving cutter. By using a 6mm grooving cutter, inserting the birch plywood tongues necessitated planing them slightly thinner to allow them to fit with a little room for expansion due to the water in the glue.
Gluing and sanding
As with all gluing up operations, preparation was vital. Getting halfway through a glue up and finding that one of the ply tongues was too wide or thick is not good. Laying out the sash cramps with scrap wood pieces to protect the edges, each end was dry cramped. Checking that all was well I glued up each end and also made sure that each end was flat to the cramp bed.
After the ends had dried each was passed through the wide-belt sander to flatten off the inside flat surfaces and lightly run through on the fluted side. Before any jointing could take place the ends were sawn to length, in this case 746mm. After jointing this would allow for a small up-step from the top height of 740mm.
Tongue and trench
To join the ends to the top I simply used a tongue and trench. The trench was formed by a 16mm straight cutter in a portable router to a depth of 12mm. The corresponding tongue was formed on the ends of the top, making sure it was not too tight in case it weakened the short grain above the trench, it was also only 11mm long to allow for any excess glue.
Screw assembly
To reinforce the joint I decided I would screw the ends to the top. The ones used were 100mm long with a hexagonal head. The important consideration was to ensure that the head diameter or the integrated washer diameter was smaller than the hole into which a tapered plug was going. The screws would go through the centre of the joint and each hole would centred on each piece of ash. A 14mm hole was bored to a depth of 16mm after which a clearance hole then went all the way through. With the whole thing dry cramped, a pilot hole was drilled into the top for each screw.
Before inserting the screws, a small bit of wax was smeared onto the threads to make insertion easier. Rather than put in all the screws I only put two at each end. This would allow me to put the remaining screws into virgin wood when it was finally assembled. What I found useful at this stage was to have a support under the top which would help me to assemble it quite easily without having to wish I had three pairs of hands. A high stool with a few magazines did the trick.
Stiffening rail
With the top and ends together attention was focused on the stiffening rail. This, simply, was a 150 x 35mm piece of ash that was double tenoned into each end. The position was not critical, although I felt it looked better nearer the top. The mortices were formed with a 12mm cutter in the router. The tenons were produced on a tenoner, although I could have quite as easily cut them using a bandsaw. One essential consideration to note was that the length of the shoulders on the rail were identical to the length of the top. Rather than leaving the rail ‘straight’, I decided to curve the underside to mirror the natural curve on the top and the flutes on the ends.
Drawer runner slotting
Before the final assembly, the only other necessary operation to do was form the trenches for the two hangers onto which the extending drawer runners would hang. These again were formed using a 16mm straight cutter, making sure they were parallel to the ends. The two hangers were fitted and secured by screws into a series of holes and slots which would allow for any subsequent movement of the top. I am pleased to say the desk was very well received by the client!
