# Some real wood



## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Well I have finally got another 'real wood' job. I have made a start on the oak computer desk for one of my clients. Not much to show at the moment apart from some proper wood








The Oak not the Pine. :lol: 
and starting to machine it up








and a glue up for the legs








I hope to get the rest of the wood machined up tomorrow and start on the legs and frame. I will of course keep you all posted as usual.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

keep us posted, Alan.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

I know this makes you happy Alan.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Thanks guys. Yes Mike, it makes me very happy when I can work in a real wood instead of MDF. 
Well I really got cracking today and managed to get the frame in a dry fit








The tennons need a little fettling and the legs still need some work but not a bad days work considering I also got all the planks for the top milled up.








By the end of the day, (well evening really) I had the top in a glue up but didn't get any pics of it.


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## Jerry Bowen (Jun 25, 2011)

This is a very interesting project, thanks for sharing it with us.

Jerry Bowen
C City, TX


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

After a lot of sanding today I got the frame in a glue up:








I have added the drawer dividers and cross brace to the frame now too.
Then I cut the top to dimensions and added the bread board ends, finally giving it all a good sanding. (I am sick of sanding now) 








My next job is to start on the drawers and the frame work for the drawer box which will fit below the right hand side.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

haha. Alan - sanding is the penalty for using good wood.....worth it in the long run, however.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Yes James you are right and it is worth all the hassle in the end.
I made and fitted the buttons to hold the top on today.








I then got on with making the smaller drawer boxes that will sit just under the top.








I am waiting for some veneered MDF to arrive for the drawer chest so made the smaller drawer fronts and couldn't resist trying them in place.


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## Camero68 (Jun 27, 2012)

Elegantly simple and functional. Thanks for the share.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Made a start on the drawer unit today. I haven't got the veneered MDF yet but thought I would build the frame for it. Using the table saw and spindle moulder I cut all of the frame parts.








It is now ready for the veneered MDF when it arrives.








I am having a day off on Monday so that's it for a couple of days for now.


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## Harrison67 (May 30, 2012)

Looking great!!


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Been pretty busy today on the Oak desk. I got the main frame and top in a sealer coat and started work on the drawers now the runners had arrived. I got them fitted eventually as they took a bit of fiddling about to get them to operate smoothly.
















Once they were all fitted I made the drawer boxes for the drawer unit.








More sanding tomorrow and I shall start to assemble the drawer unit.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

I got the veneered panels today and cracked on with the drawer unit. I had already cut the parts so it was a simple matter of assembling it. 








By the end of the day I had the unit in place below the desk. It will now be removed again to give it a finish.








I used my usual soft close runners for these which were much easier to install than the ball bearing jobbies of the top ones.
I have also used the Hambridge progression for the drawers on this unit.


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## cedarwood (Feb 3, 2012)

Looking really good Alan beautiful craftsmanship, like you I much prefer to work with real wood, I have just ordered some oak from British hardwoods it should arrive next week so I should be starting my next project soon after, which will be a sewing desk for SWMBO (got to keep her happy lol).
I can only hope that it turns out half as good as the work that you do.


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## Scottey66 (Feb 1, 2012)

Alan, so very impressive. I been looking forward to seeing the progress, I cant wait to see the finished result. you can see you realy love yoour work. great job.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Thanks Mike, yes I do love my work, especially this type of stuff. Well I got the desk finished and will be delivering it on Monday. 
























I have now dismantled it so I can transport it on Monday.


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## mailee (Nov 11, 2005)

Delivered and fitted it today. Customer was happy with it and has ordered a dinning chair to be made.  
























another job well done.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Great result, Alan.

Can you 'flat pack' it to Australia.........VBG....


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

mailee said:


> I used my usual soft close runners for these which were much easier to install than the ball bearing jobbies of the top ones.
> I have also used the Hambridge progression for the drawers on this unit.


Great work Alan. I have a question about the Hambridge progression. I found this site which gives a formula and sketch Helpful Woodworking Formulas & References but I'm still having trouble understanding where the base dimension comes from. Can you explain how it is done in the real world? I like the way the size progression looks.


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## AndyL (Jun 3, 2011)

I had never heard of the Hambridge progression so I looked it up and found this which provides some more info:
Calculating Drawer Heights | Math Encounters Blog
It looks like the measurement you start with is the width of the drawers. There is an explanation of the drawing method, using a compass, towards the bottom of the page. Mathematically, the height of drawer number n (counting from the bottom) is:

width * ( √(n+1) - √n )

So working the numbers, that would give drawer heights for your first 10 drawers of:
1: width * 0.414
2: width * 0.318
3: width * 0.268
4: width * 0.236
5: width * 0.213
6: width * 0.196
7: width * 0.183
8: width * 0.172
9: width * 0.162
10: width * 0.154

Since I had the spreadsheet out and I know how much everyone here loves inches, here's the drawer heights to the nearest 1/32" for 1-foot wide drawers  :
4 31/32"
3 13/16"
3 7/32"
2 27/32"
2 9/16"
2 11/32"
2 3/16"
2 1/16"
1 15/16"
1 27/32"

I agree it gives nice-looking sizes - with the arithmetic or geometric progressions, the difference between the bottom two drawers doesn't look enough to my eye.


Oh and the total height of n drawers will be:
width * (√(n+1) - 1)
So e.g. an 8 drawer stack will have a height of width*(√9 - 1) = width * 2.
And a 3-drawer stack will be as high as it is wide.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

All the math makes my head hurt. However I begin to see how this works and I think I'll do a quick Sketchup model to see if I can apply it. Thanks Andy.




AndyL said:


> I had never heard of the Hambridge progression so I looked it up and found this which provides some more info:
> Calculating Drawer Heights | Math Encounters Blog
> It looks like the measurement you start with is the width of the drawers. There is an explanation of the drawing method, using a compass, towards the bottom of the page. Mathematically, the height of drawer number n (counting from the bottom) is:
> 
> ...


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## L Town Graphics (May 24, 2012)

Alan, great work!


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