I have been excited about doing a woodworking projects and my brother and sister both placed in the student competition last year. You must be 13 years old by December 31st to enter the competition for that year. I turned 13 on December 27th meeting the deadline by just four days.

I knew I wanted to do a desk of some kind so my dad and I started researching desk online. The problem is the competition restricts all projects two 36×36 x 36 so many desk would not qualify. In researching we came across Davenport desks that were originally used on ships by the captain because of the close quarters these desks tended to be very small. On top of the fact that they met the criteria for the competition I also love the overall form and function of these desks.

Soon after last year’s competition we started designing and combining ideas from different desks that I liked. Then I started working on practicing the different skills that I would need to complete this project. I started by creating a prototype of Poplar and this turned out to be a very valuable exercise. I am changing a lot of things in the final project based on what I found in doing the prototype things that I liked some that didn’t work as well as I thought they might.

When I got the prototype of the base to a basic shell it was time to buy the wood for the final project. Traditionally most of these desks were made out of mahogany of some sort many times with another access would for panels or drawer fronts. I chose to go with mahogany as the primary wood with white Maple as a secondary would for drawer sides bottoms and other interior items.

1. I was able to use a couple feet off of the end of a piece of 16/4 mahogany that my brother bought for his project for the larger areas. I also bought 5/4 mahogany for the basic construction. We brought this back to the shop and gave it four or five days to acclimate to the humidity in the shop.
2. Within rough planed the boards a little oversized and set it aside to reacclimate.

For more on this project see my site at http://www.planeoldwood.com/jalens-davenport-2010.html

I started the project by working on the base. It will have decorative blocks at all the corners and at the ends of the feet. The ones at the ends of the feet will be rounded. The wood I am using for this is 16/4 mahogany it was about 11 inches wide and a little over a foot long.
1. My jointer will only handle 8 inches so I had to plane sides flat and then join one at 90°.
2. Then cut to pieces 3 inches wide off of the blank with the table saw.
3. I used a number 4 smoothing plane to clean up the mill marks and snipe on the ends of the board.
4. I laid out the total length and two sides of the recessed area.
5. I laid template over the area that needed the recessed and cut it with a plunge router, using a straight bit.
6. I then later tapered template over the recessed area and used a Bosch colt to tamper half of the inner area.
7. I then turned the template around and did the same to the other side.
8. Then I use the ramp block with sandpaper on the back to guide my chisel and trim the ends at an angle.
9. This is the chisel to square the corners and trim up the edges.
10. I made a dimpling tool out of a bolt by cutting it with hacksaw and a file. I saw this on Tommy MacDonald’s podcast. When he was doing his Bombee secretary.
11. Lastly, I just wet it with mineral spirits to see what it was going to look like.

Now I have a bunch more than these to make as well as mortise and tenant in the strechers in between.




Thanks for watching and here’s a link to a video of the process. I sped up the boring areas to make it shorter.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jwaggoner20 ... pZia38z-3U
See more about this project and others at
http://www.planeoldwood.com/jalens-davenport-2010.html

I can't even imagine what your work will look like by the time you're Tommy's age, let alone mine! You have a magnificent future ahead of you in working with wood, whether you take it up as a career or simply keep it as a hobby.

Paul
the little guy

Your attention to even the smallest detail will serve you proudly for many years to come. Can't wait to see more of your project.

Beautiful work, will look forward to seeing the progress and finished piece. I went to your shop site and looked at all of the projects, really beautiful work. What a beautiful and talented family. Keep posting progress pics, work safe and enjoy your shop time.

Pops

Jeff - Your family sure is talented. Nice work comming out of your shop. Have you guys made any tools? It's a real nice feeling to make a tool and then actually produce a great project with it. I look forward to seeing more of the work from your family.