As my niece was preparing to leave for her first semester of college, she asked me to build a desk for her to take along on her fantastic journey of a lifetime. She wanted a desk that was different from what anyone else might have. I considered the request for a bit and came up with several ideas. I decided to use SketchUp to create a window, allowing her to peer into my thoughts. (She’s quite brave.)
Then after allowing her to look at several of the more conventional designs, I presented her with another option…
How about a “Live Edge” desk made of Hackberry, Walnut, or Sycamore?
She jumped at the chance to have something that was truly unique in every way imaginable. Here are a few photos of the wood selection, the actual structure, and one photo showing the finish while the desk was still in the finishing shop.
Hackberry wood – This is what is commonly referred to as a “book-matched” pair or set. The two planks are joined down the center to make a single wide slab for tabletop or desktop use. The slabs of wood used are typically of 2-4″ thickness. This pair was around 2.5″ prior to surfacing. The end result was a 2″ thick top.
There was a split on one of the halves that couldn’t be allowed to continue for obvious reasons. When stopping a split in live edge wood, a bow-tie shaped hole is cut and a bow-tie is inserted into the hole across the split, keeping the split from growing larger. Although these are considered decorative curiosities, this one is on the bottom side of the table top so as not to detract from the beauty of the grain.
After the two halves were joined, leg sections were made from the remainder of the hackberry planks. The legs were permanently installed using a routed channel on each end and pocket hole joinery for additional strength.
Fourteen hours spent sanding, surfacing, and sealing produced one really beautiful desktop. –A desktop on which much “very focused studying” will be done to maintain a 4.0 GPA, right?
This desk was college-proofed, using a very hard epoxy clear coat. The finish is almost 1/4″ thick!
The finished project in it’s first home, awaiting it’s first semester of college. We also created the small cabinet under the left end of the desk for storage. It isn’t attached, allowing more versatility in how it’s used. This photo was shortly after delivery. The cabinet has now been finished out with basket type drawers.