Executive Desk
Hand fitted solid copper dovetail inlays
This was a more challenging but very rewarding project.
It started with me buying a huge red oak slab when a furniture company closed its doors. When I say huge, I mean it: 18 feet long, almost 4 feet wide and 3” thick - it weighed around 800 lbs.! My friend Gary and I cut it in half and it still took four men to load the halves into a trailer.
One large red oak slab!
The client had a few parameters for her new desk:
She wanted live edges front and back, a 90 degree turn of the desk top to fit her office space and she liked the idea of a waterfall drop on one end as support. When we talked about design she gave me free reign but mentioned that copper was her favorite metal.
Splits have to go
Being so wide, the slab was from the center of the tree and the pith section was split and cracked badly so I removed it completely.
Outdoor job
Next I spend time removing the outer bark layers which were soft and brittle.
Talk about a dusty and messy job!
Time to make it flat
I built a flattening fixture to flatten one side of the boards with a router, then I ran the boards through my planer to get them to even thickness.
I glued the two slab sections back together and created the waterfall drop with a miter joint and hardwood tenons. As shown in the close-up the waterfall miter joint came together perfectly.
Nice!!
Close-up of the miter joint.
Traditional woodworking details
To keep the table tops flat even with seasonal moisture changes I fitted and installed three dovetail cleats on the underside of the tops. The dovetailed grooves and the wooden cleats are tapered along their length – the further the cleats are driven in the tighter the connection gets. The cleats hold tight without any glue or screws.
This traditional construction method allows the table tops to expand and contract across their width with the seasons while at the same time holding the top perfectly flat.
After the cleats are installed, cover plugs were fitted and sanded flush with the live edge.
Getting around a corner
The 90 degree turn section of the table top needed to be disassembled for transport - loose tenons for alignment and countertop connectors to pull the joint tight worked great.
Cool details - tricky cuts
To incorporate a custom accent I machined a solid block of copper, 3/4” thick, 2” wide and 6” long into three dovetail inserts. The block was first cut on a table saw in a fitted fixture with a special blade and lubricant.
Getting the hacksaw out
Next the block was cut into three short sections by hand as the parts were too short to safely cut them on the table saw. Clean up was done with metal files and hand sanding.
Sneaking up on the perfect fit
Three matching pockets were routed into the waterfall edge and the copper inserts were installed with epoxy adhesive.
Once the desk was finished I built two solid oak cabinets with dovetailed cherry drawers and hidden undermount slides.
To continue the copper accent theme I inlaid 1/4” solid copper square rods into the drawer fronts in a random pattern.
No knobs or pulls
Modern push-to-open slides are hidden beneath the drawers and do not need knobs or drawer pulls, a simple push will make the drawer slide open.
The desk is finished with medium brown stain, the cabinets are stained a darker brown and everything was top-coated with hardwax oil. I used clear lacquer on the copper parts to keep them from tarnishing.
