Solid Walnut Computer Desk With Adjustable Tray Height And All Wood Drawer Slides
The desk is made of solid walnut with maple details. The desk top and the legs are 1 3/4 inch thick. All the rest is 3/4 inch stock.
Now for the interesting stuff. While the desk is made for new technology it is constructed with both new old tradition and tools in mind.
For starters, the legs' halves are paired via mortise and tenon joinery.
The desktop is jointed with a handplane and glued up overnight.
Most of the bevels are hand cut with a plane.
While the legs and top are crosscut on a table saw with a sled they are straightened with a shooting board and a jack plane.
The case glued up of boards that have also been jointed and rabbeted with a plane.
The case has been shot with brads on the underside, but I can easily be convinced to make a nail-less case.
The top has a hole in it for monitor cables to be run and the back of the case and the top drawer has a cut out as well so to not interfere.
The drawers have hand cut dovetail joints in the back, while the front slides onto the drawer sides on a routed dovetail channel. The bottom of the drawers are routed in. The handles on the front are made of maple and are comfortable and matching in style.
One of the two things that I am most proud of in this pieces is the slides. From the start I have abandoned those way too perfect metal slides that most kitchen cabinets have these days and opted for something that I knew not too many woodworkers even think of trying. The all wood slide. Even back in the day only the nicest furniture came with these. Most of them did not even have a slide, rather than just a stop at the back of the drawer. These wooden ones required a lot of attention while making, especially since I had to account for the seasonal expansion of the wood. They are double dovetail slides and travel halfway in both the case's and the drawers' channels with stops. They are made of maple and they are the reason why the drawers can be fully opened and it's joinery showed.
The second part I am proud of is the tray. It is adjustable at 3-4 inches. It can be adjusted by a lever that folds behind it. A bolt on one side and a reverse threaded bolt on the other are coupled to nuts embedded in the two arms of the lever. You pull the lever forward and it releases tension. Push it back and it secures the tray.
The finish is several layers of shellac.