Walnut Desk
This desk was inspired by a special find: a slab of walnut that my dad and I stumbled upon at a local building materials sourcing warehouse called Community Forklift. I loved the raw feel of the natural edges, and I tried to make the twists and turns of the wood into a key part of the design. Other than prying off the bark with a chisel and sanding down the edges, the shape is exactly how we found it. The aprons are made of cherry, and the legs are made of walnut. I believe in the value of teaching yourself though trial and error if you don’t know something, and that certainly what this project was about. (Of course, it’s great to have someone to bounce ideas off of, or to have the support of someone more knowledgable: I was lucky on both accounts.) With experimentation comes failure, true, but also hard-won success. With that in mind, as a very amateur woodworker I learned quite a bit!
A view of the desk from above, showing off the live edges of the original walnut slab.
One of the short sides, showing the cherry apron and the walnut legs.
The raw edges that I'm so fond of!
Testing out the desk's design before making rip cuts.
A detail of the two pieces of the top being fitted together with dowel pins.
