Erica’s New Desk

We got started!

This will be your place on the internet for updates on the desk and all of the other wonderful work we’ll be doing for the Hurvitz household! The material arrived just ahead of last week’s snow storm and we were excited to see it in person. It’s wonderfully figured maple and is going to make a great desktop.

We started by rough milling the boards for the desktop, selecting the most figured sections of the widest boards. I shot some video of this process, but neglected to take any still photos. We’ll be better about that as we get into it!

We’re working on some finishing samples that we’ll send out to you when they’re ready. We have two options when it comes to maple. Boiled linseed oil with a polyurethane top coat, or a hard wax oil finish called Osmo. They both offer something different and they’re both great options. More on that when I send it out, probably just after the new year. Pictured below are two samples from the same material as your desktop, finished with both methods. They’re substantial in size, so you can get a clear picture of the look and feel. It’ll be hard to convey that through photos.

What to do with the gallery?

Here's your desktop set atop one of our workbenches. Please take the holiday break to think about how you want the gallery to function for you. Would you like your monitor centered or off to one side? Do you want tiny drawers? Open shelves? Monitor up on a stand? Let us know how to arrange the gallery to give you the highest functioning workspace you can dream up. The desktop is pictured here with a 17” iMac. If you’d like to schedule any more calls to discuss it, we’re here for you!

Working On Gallery Concepts…

We’ve been looking for a reason to add a tambour door to a piece and this one seems fitting. Open shelves will be handy, but it would also be nice to keep any clutter hidden easily. This style also kind of harkens back to the rolltop desk concept and there’s something we like about modernizing that style. The photos below are a mockup of what our intention is. The six drawers will be cut from one wide board so that grain reads as continuous. Click the images to enlarge.

We’ve also got the main drawer case underway and the desktop glued up. You should be receiving those finishing samples within the next day or so. The desk is really looking beautiful in the shop!

Nearing the finish line!

This is the time of year where we get a break in the action from teaching and get to put all our focus into making. It’s been a real pleasure to work on this desk for you and we think it’s our best one yet. When we get into what we’re doing, we usually forget to take photos, but we’ve got some to share.

Last week, we started on the drawers, the legs and stretchers and the gallery. The drawers are side hung, which makes them track nicely. The feel of a wood drawer on wood runners is just the best. The tiny drawers on the gallery above are joined with contrasting dowels. A wide board was cut into bits to get a continuous match on the drawer fronts.

Larissa had quite a challenge ahead of her for the gallery. There are lots of moving parts to get a tambour door working properly. Below, you can see some of the process. A board is cut into a bunch of little pieces, then pressed and glued onto fabric. After some fine tuning, the door rides nicely around it’s track.

The most fun part about the Harris Desk is all of the little bells and whistles. This week, we worked on the sliding pencil tray, the keyboard tray and the dovetailed pulls. Please excuse us borrowing your desk while we put it together. It’s a pleasure to use…I’m actually giving it a test drive as I type this.
The sliding tray has a few compartments, with a removable pencil tray. The keyboard tray is a solid piece of cherry, with dovetailed battens to keep it flat. Larissa made the pulls today, but we’ll install them next week. After that, it’s a little detail sanding and we’re ready for finish! We’re very excited to see this desk in color.

Here’s what it looks like at the end of this week!