Roll Top Desk -- 367 hours -- Can$ 2715.00 -- Advanced

My wife, Jeannette, wanted to have a roll top desk for a long time. She likes the roll top, but above all lots of little drawers and cubby holes. And then of course some secret compartments. I really don't see the point as I would know where they are, but... when the boss speaks... I obey. As this desk will replace two other storage cabinets, another requirement is that there be some kind of "hutch" on top of it all. The whole desk will be made from red oak that is ready available in our area.

The total time includes approximately 25 hours of studying the plan and preparing the list of materials to buy. Some 20 hours can be contributed to learning how to use the Leigh mortise and tenon jig and the Leigh dovetailing jig, as well as time needed to correct mistakes. The first piece of wood was cut on 7-Feb-2005. The plan was to have this project completely finished by mid May or there about. On May 7th all the woodworking was done, and on May 31st the staining and varnishing was completed.

Compare this with the roll top desk project at the American Sycamore Woodworking School. Tuition and materials is US$ 1,800.00 for an intense 12 days of using professional tools under professional guidance with what looks like an excellent lunch as well. Hours are from 9:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., so roughly 96 hours at Can$ 2,200.00, and you take your own built roll top desk home.

Conclusion

Looking at the finished roll top desk I must say that it looks great. It is definitely my best project ever. Although the project had its frustrating moments, it was a great project to do, while I learned a lot in the process. Looking back at the project there were certainly areas where things could have been done more efficient, but on the other hand the time of a retired guy is free. And last but not least, the wife is very happy with it, and that is in the end what counts.

Pictures

Click on a picture to get a larger picture and then used the back button of the browser to return.

The ultimate goal, plus hutch on top.	Half of the 3/4" red oak, all the aspen stock, and all the 6/4 rough-sawn red oak.
Rails and stiles of lower desk side panel dry-fitted to verify measurements.	Stock for lower desk side panels sawn and shaped .
Only the two inner stiles are glued. The rest is only dry-fitted.	Glued, clamped and checked for squareness.
Finished lower desk side panel; front view.	Finished lower desk side panel; back view.
Stock for back panels of lower desk and hutch sawn and shaped.	Finished lower desk back panel.
Assembled face frames of lower desk using mortise and tenon joints.	Assembled centre face frame of lower desk.
Lower desk dry fitted.	Lower desk support frames sawn and shaped.
Lower desk dry fitted, ready for glueing.	Lower desk glued together.
Writing boards.	Slides for drawers mounted.
Lower desk completed.	Drawers sawn and shaped.
Drawers assembled.	Drawers installed.
File drawer veneer detail. (see also what went wrong)	Another look at the drawers.
Lower desk top finished (tops for upper desk and hutch in the background). Notice the slots on the left and right for mounting the upper desk.	Slot detail underneath the top of lower desk, using UHMW material.
Upper desk sawn and shaped.	Upper desk assembled.
Drawer fronts and drawer pulls sawn and shaped.	Drawers fronts/pulls mounted.
Pencil tray insert in centre drawer.	Slats and lift bar of tambour sawn and shaped.
Tambour finished.	Side panels and doors of hutch sawn and shaped.
Hutch partialy glued.	Hutch completed.
Main desk complete high resolution (661 KB).	Main desk completed. high resolution (599 KB)
Main desk complete high resolution (584 KB).	Main desk completed. high resolution (597 KB)
Storage dry-fitted.	Storage compartments finished.
Drawer part sawn and shaped.	Drawer dovetailing details.
Some finished drawers.	Drawers in place (some knobs still missing).
A pile of cutoffs, discards, test pieces, once-off jigs, and not shown the 15 to 20 garbage bags with saw dust and shavings.	Stained and varnished components.
Complete view. high resolution (556 KB)	Inside view. high resolution (692 KB)
Side view. high resolution (626 KB)	Front view. high resolution (762 KB)
The boss takes possession... high resolution (651 KB)	...and I am forgotten already. high resolution (550 KB)

How others did it

Mark Janaes made this beautiful roll top desk using the same American Furniture plans as I did. This is what he had to say, "Let me say thank you for documenting and publishing your experience building your roll top desk. I have been looking for roll top plans for a while, and your web site convinced me to select the American Furniture plans. Your information gives me the confidence to take on this project. In particular, it is great to read about the critical remarks you have pointed out in the plans, and to see your enhancements." And here is Mark again when he finished his desk, "I can't thank you enough for posting your experiences building your desk. They were far more valuable than the instructions that came with the plans. I probably would not have attempted such a project without your website."

Plans, Drawings, Sketches (inches)

The plan is from the American Furniture Design Co., plan #151, Roll Top Desk. You can order the plan directly from them. It comes with a clear large drawing and 13-page instruction manual.

Critical remarks about the plan

The importance of studying drawings, plans, instructions, parts list, etc., can not be emphasized enough. Working up to a project like this one, study it for several hours over the course of one or two months. These are the critical notes we want to shared before you embark on this project.

• Throughout the instruction manual references are made to "(See Source of Supply)". With the exception of a reference on the last page that Daly's finishing supplies can be ordered from American Furniture Design Co., there is no Source of Supply list. Suggest that you visit their web site for more information on available hardware, etc..
• Looking at the drawing and adding up the sizes of a set of stiles and panels it indeed adds up to the overall size. As it is a "raised panel" construction, the rail and stile routers will create a 3/8" deep groove into which the panels will slide. So far, so good. This means that the stile or rail has to be 3/8" wider to accommodate for this. However, the bill of materials listed on pages 11 to 13 of the instruction manual does NOT TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT!!! Therefore, add 3/8" to the width of each stile and rail that has a panel on one side, and add 3/4" to the width of each stile and rail that has a panel on both sides.
• According to the drawing the sides of the upper desk go all the way to the back, i.e. its back is in between the sides. That means that the end stiles should be 1-7/8" (plus that 3/8") wide. Yet the bill of materials indicate a width of 2-7/8".
• On the bill of materials the two inner stiles for the back of the lower desk are missing. Their width should be 5-3/4" (plus that 3/4") and length 21-1/4". On the drawing the width is indicated as 5-11/16".
• On the bill of materials the top rail for the back of the lower desk is missing. The width should be 2-3/4" (plus that 3/8") and length 45-1/2".
• In order to prevent the panels from sticking out above the rails and styles of the lower desk, they need to be planed down from 3/4" to 5/8". This is assuming that the inside ridge on the rails and stiles is about 1/8". The plan does not mention this.

In other words we were not particularly impressed with the instruction manual we got.

Changes made to plan

In our construction we made several changes to the back of the lower desk. We wanted the vertical lines to match more with those of the back of the upper desk.

• Width of outer stiles changed from 2-1/4" to 2-7/8".
• Width of side panels changed from 7-1/2" to 7-1/4".
• Width of inner stiles changed from 5-3/4" (5-11/16" on drawing) to 5-3/8".

For the face frames we use mortise and tenon joints instead of dowels to connect the rails to the stiles. For the 1/2" tenons we added 1" to the length of those rails.

We used 1/4" space balls to provide for expansion and contraction of the panels, while at the same time preventing rattling of the panels. The panels have to be 5/32" smaller on all sides, or 5/16" smaller in width and height.

According to the plan the storage compartments with small drawers and cubby holes is 12-1/2" high and 7-1/2" deep. We changed that to 8-1/2" deep plus 1/4" plywood backing. Although it fits perfect, we recommend that you choose a depth between 8" and 8-1/4" plus plywood backing for a slightly better look and to provide enough space for the knobs that protrude from the centre drawer of the storage compartment. For the drawers we used rabbited drawer fronts and half blind dovetails.

Adding a hutch

The hutch sits on top of the upper desk, and measures 50" wide, 11-3/4" deep and 26-3/4" high. The left and right section is 13-1/4" wide, with two adjustable glass shelves, and covered with a beveled glass door. The glass in each door features a decorative sandblasted rose, which was very much appreciated by my wife. The centre has an arched top and two adjustable glass shelves. The top is the same as the top of the upper desk: 13-1/4" by 51-1/2". The back panel has the same lay-out as the back panel of the lower desk. The total height of the desk is 76-3/4".

Materials List (inches)

No detailed material list, as that can be found on the drawing and in the construction manual. The desk will be made from red oak. The plan calls for poplar for the drawers and internal frame work. However, poplar is not available in our area, so we will use aspen instead -- I can even say this with a straight face --. Interestingly enough both poplar and aspen have the botanical name "populus". Got that?

The hardware we will get from Lee Valley. This is our shopping list:

1" x 8" (3/4" x 7-1/4") red oak	158 linear feet
1" x 8" (3/4" x 7-1/4") red oak (to be planed down to 1/2" thickness)	43 linear feet
6/4" rough sawn red oak (to be planed down to 1" thickness)	80 board feet
1" x 8" (3/4" x 7-1/4") aspen	22 linear feet
1" x 6" (3/4" x 5-1/2") aspen	45 linear feet
3/4" red oak plywood for writing boards	2 x 4 feet
1/2" birch plywood for filing drawer	2 x 4 feet
1/4" red oak plywood for drawer bottoms	4 x 8 feet
medium weight denim, large enough to end up with a pre-shrunk size of 47" x 28"	1 piece
1/4" aluminium rod for file drawer	2 feet
small knobs for storage drawers	12 pieces
full extension 26" zinc slides	8 pairs
space balls (about 8 per panel)	about 300
table top mounting fasteners, 3/4" #10 screws	14 + 8 + 10
22-1/2" x 9-3/16" bevelled glass for hutch doors; decorated with a sand-blasted rose	2 panes
23-3/8" x 10-1/8" glass shelves for hutch centre	2 panes
11-11/16" x 10-1/8" glass shelves for hutch sides	4 panes
brass magnetic catch for hutch doors	2 pieces
lift off hinges with finial for hutch doors	2 pairs
tambour glue from van Dyke's Restorers	less than 500ml
Acrylic Urethane Varnish, satin finish	1 gallon

You are welcome to have a look at my own detailed materials list, a MS Excel2000 spreadsheet. Although I have done my utmost to keep the spreadsheet up-to-date, it is possible that it may contain minor errors.

Required Tools

• Power tools -- table saw, miter saw, planer, jointer, router, frame mortise and tenon jig, hand drill.
• Hand tools -- hand saw, chisels, tape measure, clamps, straps.
• Router bits -- Ogee Raised Panel Bit (16J64.60), Vertical Ogee Panel Raising Bit (16J63.51), Reversible Ogee Frame Bit (16J67.51). All from Lee Valley.

Construction

Followed the drawing and the instruction manual. These are notes on how I did some of the construction.

• Built two rectangular aspen support frames in each pedestal of the lower desk. One just under the lowest drawer and one just under the writing board. This gives the whole desk much more rigidity. Built another support frame just underneath the central drawer.
• Sand the panels with #220 grid before mounting.
• Sand the rails and stiles with #220 grid before mounting.
• Ease over all edges of panels, rails and stiles, except those edges that will be mounted against another piece of wood. Ease over means two passes with #220 grid sand paper under a 45° angle. It takes the sharpness away while still leaving a nice crisp edge.
• Don't try to glue up a whole side in one go unless you are superman. For example, for the lower side panels I glued the two inner stiles between the bottom rail and inner rail with the bottom row of panels in place with the space balls. The other pieces are just dry-fitted and then everything is clamped. See above pictures. Put a pencil mark on the bottom rail and inner rail where the two inner styles should come. If you don't you will have a hell of a time positioning them with the glue applied and the slight pressure from the space balls.
• Clamp at least twice as long as recommended by the glue manufacturer. I use LePage Sure Grip® yellow carpenter's glue (cabinet maker's quality; 2 tons of strength or 4,000 psi). Recommended clamping time is 25 minutes, but I clamp at least one hour.
• Instead of routing mortises in the drawer fronts for the drawer sides and bottom, I made complete drawers from aspen with the red oak drawer fronts attached later. As I had 1/4" red oak plywood left over from other projects, I used that as the bottom. The colour difference gave the drawers a nice special effect.
• The right bottom filing drawer will get two drawer fronts to match the two drawers on the left. The plan calls for a 1/2" centre support strip. However, this will stick out inside the drawer and looks ugly. A much nicer way is to route a shallow groove where the gap between the two drawer fronts will be, glue a strip of red oak veneer in the groove and sand it flush. Groove should be about 1-1/4" wide and slightly less deep then the red oak veneer. See above picture for details.
• To mount the upper desk on the top of the lower desk the plan calls for three screws in the back and dowels on the front side. I use screws at the front too. The top of the lower desk has a 2" slot on each side. On the underside is a piece of UHMW, ultra-high molecular weight plastic with very low friction, that allows the screw to slide easy when the lower desk top expands and contracts. See above picture for details.
• A high point is when you successfully complete the tambour and slide it into the upper desk. Next moment is a huge disappointment as the tambour does not slide at all or only with enormous effort. First of all make sure that the 1/2" mortises in the sides of the upper desk are absolute smooth. Also ensure that the tambour fits loosely in the mortises. That is all you can do for now. If after finishing the desk (staining and several coats of Acrylic Urethane Varnish) the tambour still gives problems then treat the mortises and edges of the tambour with paraffin. I used a leftover piece from a paraffin candle, and the tambour runs very smooth.
• For the drawers of the storage compartments it was decided to use use rabbited drawer fronts and half blind dovetails. After the pieces were cut to size, it became apparent that the front and back pieces of the six small drawers cannot be clamped in the Leigh dovetailing jig. With some creative thinking this solution was found. Cut two pieces of wood of equal thickness and about 3" wide, and 5" and 8" long. Glue them together at the edge, forming a fat "L-piece". The small drawer front/back is placed under the finger assembly against the left stop of the jig and the stop board clamped in the front of the jig. Slide the L-piece under the top clamp such that is pushes against the drawer front/back piece towards the left and the front and then lock the top clamp down on the L-piece. Lower and lock the finger assembly. Take small bites with the router. It is not ideal, but the results were good enough.
• The desk has four secret/hidden compartments. No details or pictures for obvious reasons.
• For the finishing the whole desk was taken apart into 57 separate wooden pieces. Visible red oak was stained with a medium oak colour and then given two coats of Acrylic Urethane Varnish. The three tops where stained and varnished on both sides to help prevent warping and cupping. The topside of the tops got four coats of varnish. The plywood and aspen of the drawers got one coat of varnish. See Woodworking Tips for finishing tips.

Building the tambour

One challenge was making the raised panels for the first time, and the other challenge was making the tambour from scratch.

Making the slats is easy. Take a 3/4" board, sand it on both sides, and make sure that the edges are parallel and run through the jointer. Then round over one edge with a 3/8" round over bit on both sides. On the table saw rip the half round edge at a thickness of 1/2". Run the half round slat, using a little jig, one pass over the jointer to smooth the back and to ensure that it can run free in the grooves of the upper desk side panels. The little jig is just a 3/4" by 2" board, with a stop block at the end and with the same length as the slats. Next run the sawn edge of the remaining board over the jointer, and start rounding over again. I used five boards at the time to speed up the process. Created 38 slats and kept 35. The plan calls for 34 slats, but I wanted to build the tambour with 35 -- just in case --. I can later cut off one slat if it is indeed too much. Sand the slats, ease over the edges, and make them free of dust.

For fabric I used a medium weight denim, washed it so it is pre-shrunk, and ironed it. I found very little helpful information how to glue the slats on the denim. In the end I followed the instructions that came with the tambour glue (a PVC-E glue) I bought from Van Dyke's Restorers in the USA. Apparently they have a quick way of applying glue to all slats, but I did it one slat at a time.

1. Cut the denim to a width of at least 2" less than the slat length. Spread the denim on a flat surface and clam the bottom 3/4" to 1" of denim under a straight edge. This excess material will be used later to attach the lift bar. Secure the top edge of the denim with duct tape just so that the denim flat but not overly stretched. For the left edge of the slats clamp another piece of straight wood perpendicular to the bottom straight edge and about 1" to the left of the edge of the denim. Lay out the slats in the order you want to place them, back side up.
2. Apply glue to the back of the first slat leaving 1" inch on each end without glue. Let the glue set for a few minutes while doing the next step. Apply about the same amount of glue as you would do for a normal wood joint.
3. Apply glue to the back of the next slat leaving 1" inch on each end without glue. Let the glue set for a few minutes while placing the other slat on the denim. Push the slat against the left edge and the bottom edge or slat and press down while gradually lowering the right end of the slat. Apply pressure on the slat with a roller or rubbing hard with a towel. Repeat this step for the next slat, and so on.
4. Let everything dry for at least one hour after the last slat is glued before handling the tambour. Attach the lift bar with glue to the excess denim at the bottom. Trim any excess denim at the top and the bottom. The tambour needs 24 hours to cure before you should place it in the upper desk and operate it.

My concern was that glueing with fabric would be messy, but the method from Van Dyke's Restorers makes it an easy and clean job.

My other concern was about the flexibility of the tambour. I could see that it would bend easily towards the fabric side, but I had a problem imagining it bending the other way as is needed in the S-curve of the upper desk. After the tambour was glued up I found that there is just enough flexibility when using the above construction method.

I hope that this helps future tambour builders.

Building sequence

• Preparation and study plan (25.0 hours)
• Lower desk 4 side panels (26.5 hours)
• Lower desk back panel and hutch back panel as their measurements are almost the same (20.8 hours)
• Lower desk face frames (17.3 hours)
• Lower desk inside support frames, assemble lower desk (15.5 hours)
• Baseboards (4.3 hours)
• Drawers, writing boards (39.5 hours)
• Tops for lower desk, upper desk, hutch (25.8 hours)
• Back and side panels upper desk (37.7 hours)
• Drawer fronts, drawer pulls (16.0 hours)
• Tambour (22.9 hours)
• Side panels and doors hutch (30.5 hours)
• Inside drawers and compartments (49.6 hours)
• Finishing and final assembly (35.3 hours)

In case you like to know

This desk is a heavy beast as the next figures will show. These figures include all hardware.

hutch -- door and shelf glass hutch -- body and top hutch -- complete	10 kg (22 lbs) 28-1/4 kg (62-3/4 lbs) 38-1/2 kg (84-3/4 lbs)
upper desk -- storage compartments and drawers upper desk -- tambour upper desk -- body and top upper desk -- complete	21 kg (46-1/4 lbs) 6-1/2 kg (14-1/4 lbs) 23-1/4 kg (51-1/4 lbs) 50-3/4 kg (111-3/4 lbs)
lower desk -- top lower desk -- drawers, slides and writing boards lower desk -- body lower desk -- complete	18-1/4 kg (40-1/4 lbs) 42-1/4 kg (93 lbs) 54 kg (119 lbs) 114-1/2 kg (252-1/4 lbs)
TOTAL WEIGHT DESK	203-3/4 kg (448-3/4 lbs)

For the staining and varnishing the desk was taken apart into 57 separate wooden pieces (bodies, tambour, drawers, drawer fronts, drawer handles, tops and storage unit) in order to do a proper job.

What went wrong

There is always something that goes wrong during a project. Sometimes you can find a quick fix and sometimes you throw the piece away and start all over again. Here are some of the mishaps during this project:

• Had to cut two pieces from a board that was just long enough. I marked where to cut the first piece, but got sidetracked and turned the board around. The result was that I cut on the wrong side of the line. Arrggghhhh.
• Was routing the ends of rails and stiles so they would fit into the sides of other rails and stiles. Did not pay attention and accidentally routed the ends of two end stiles that did not need routing. Arrggghhhh.
• Finished glueing the two side panels of the upper desk. All that needed to be done was to route the 1/2" mortise in them for the tambour. I carefully positioned the 3/4" plywood template, clamped everything, and started routing. The first pass went fine, but about 3/4 of the way through the final pass I noticed that the template had shifted. The result was an up to 1/4" wider mortise over a length of about 4". Decided to fix it by selecting a small piece of matching oak, and custom fitting and glueing it in the slot. Once the glue was dry carefully re-routed that section of the mortise. Arrggghhhh.
• Drawer pulls are mounted to the drawer front with two screws. The drawer pulls are in the middle of the 3-1/2" high drawers -- about 1-1/8" from the top. The pulls for the other drawers are supposed be the same amount from the top. I had a "seniors moment" and marked all the screw holes in the centre of all drawers. After drilling the 4-1/2" drawers I realized my mistake. Luckily, repositioning the pull to the correct place still covered the wrong holes. Arrggghhhh.
• In picture 24 I showed how smart I was in covering the potential gap between the two drawer fronts with red oak veneer on the filing drawer. Well, after mounting the two drawer fronts it became apparent that nothing covers the gaps between drawer and sides and thus showing a nice 1/2" by 3/4" gap. Solution: re-route the groove, but now 1/8" deep and let the filler piece stick out 1/2" to each side of the drawer. Arrggghhhh.
• I had arranged the numbered slats on top of the denim. Disaster struck after glueing slat 20 to the denim. Slat 21 had glue on it. Instead of applying glue to slat 22 I applied glue to slat 35. When I discovered that, I had a seniors moment, and tipped over the jar with glue. The glue spilled on the denim and on the back side of a few slats that I still had to glue. In the recovery process I used a putty knife to scoop the glue from the denim causing more glue to drip from the putty knife onto yet more slats. Then I discovered that I had put glued slat 35, glue side down, diagonally over the other slats. Everything came right again, but not after a few choice words were said which I will not repeat here. Arrggghhhh.
• We were celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary, and that day and the next day I was working on the storage compartments. I got distracted too much with visits and phone calls, resulting in three cock-ups. The storage compartments were glued together and looked fantastic. Next was the 1/4" plywood backing. First error: I forgot to sand it before I glued it against the back. After the glue was dry I trimmed the oversized plywood with a flush trimming bit. That went fine, except that I also cut away the open area at the bottom of the storage compartments. The plywood was not supposed to be taken away there as it had to hide the view of the back of the tambour: second error. Fixed it with a "patch" of plywood and quarter round trim. While marking off the patch I used a ballpoint pen instead of my carpenters pencil: error three. That was when I called it quits for the day. Arrggghhhh.
• O.K. this is the last one. While making the cutting plan for the drawers of the storage compartment I needed 9/16" thick boards for the front and back because of the half-blind dovetails. For some reason -- another seniors moment I guess -- I sized the sides 1/2" thick. It was not until everything was cut and shaped, and I dry-fitted the smallest drawer, did I realized that the thickness of the sides did not look right for the small drawer. And indeed, the plan called for 1/4" thick sides. This time I had enough of it, and decided that we would have to learn to live with it. Arrggghhhh.

References

• American Furniture Design Co., plan #151, Roll Top desk.