Walnut Cover Stained with First Coat of Poly

Two Christmas gift desks remain. Both remaining desks will be made of walnut.  Most of the walnut came from a saw mill in Missouri, and the rest came from three other sources.

The first of the remaining desks received stain and a first coat of poly this week.  As requested, I used the same Minwax Dark Walnut stain used on the baby crib.  The last desk goes to the parents of the baby, and the older daughter voted for the same wood and color.  So both daughters get walnut desks.

I enjoy walnut.  The wood works well, and responds well to hand tools and hand sanding.  I avoided walnut for years due to a skin reaction that I encountered some 25 years back.  I nervously agreed to use walnut on the crib, and found that the reaction did not occur.  Either I grew out of it, or the specific tree that I used years ago did not like me.

Main Pieces stained

I need to stain a couple of little pieces and then put several coats of poly on them before this desk is ready for glue.  I am seeing a fair amount of blotching again due to the figure in this wood.  I may try sealing the wood on future projects to avoid that, but that is a trade off with wood that has character.

Oak Desk With Lid Closed

The white oak desk is ‘done’.  I have a tiny bit of detailing to complete, but it is essentially finished. Included in this blog are photos of the desk by itself, and then a couple of photos with the sycamore desk.

The oak desk feels like it weighs twice as much as the sycamore desk.  As this one came together, I noticed that a couple of pieces were extremely dense.  The sides came from another source, and that wood seemed to weigh twice as much as the other pieces.  That is a curiosity that will remain a mystery.

With Lid Open

My photography is limited to a point and shoot camera, and few places where I can avoid background clutter.  Thus the pictures contain a fair amount of glare.

The wood in general has some nice ray and fleck places.  Depending upon where you stand from the desk, sometimes it really pops, and sometimes it is barely noticable.

Overall, I am quite happy with the way that it turned out.  The color is pretty good, and the grain of the wood is nice.

Oak Desk From Side

Oak and Sycamore With Closed Lids

Oak and Sycamore With Open Lids

Oak Desk Glued Together

With the assistance of my wife, we glued the oak desk together last night.  Overall, I believe this one seems a bit more square and tight than the first desk.  The rays and fleck in the wood really pops out when it comes together, and that in itself is a satisfying moment when you step back and look at a piece.  Even with all the clamps on it, the eye sees the parts that it wants to see.

I would compare that with looking at a gorgeous vista, and quickly snapping a picture.  When you look at the picture later, there may be electric wires running across the picture, but you never noticed it.  The eye is a wonderful organ.

I also cut the top piece to length last night.  I sanded the newly sawn ends and put some stain on them.  Taking a lesson from those more experienced, I sanded the end grain to about 500 grit so that the ends do not darken more than the other parts when the stain is applied.

This morning  is all about getting the other pieces ready, so there is now a first coat of poly on the end grain that was stained last night, and the catch is being installed.