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Dwell-edge slabs have been stylish options for bar tops, mantels, tabletops, shelving and all types of slicing boards for a few years now. When you can think about a mission the place the rugged attractiveness of a bit of wooden in its most pure kind is perhaps interesting, don’t be afraid to show that notion into actuality for all types of dwelling decor!
That’s precisely what we’ve executed right here with this couch armrest desk. It began out as a roughly 10″-wide x 30″-long slab of three/4″-thick walnut. Yow will discover comparable slabs at Rockler shops or many hardwood lumber distributors today. The darkish brown heartwood, separated by stripes of walnut’s cream-colored sapwood, can’t assist however name consideration to itself! And wrapping the slab across the armrest of a settee not solely makes it a dialog piece but additionally a brilliant useful place to park a espresso cup, your good system, a bowl of snacks or the sport controller you’re utilizing in the intervening time.
You received’t want a variety of energy instruments to construct this mission. It requires using a desk noticed or observe noticed to make varied cuts, Rockler’s Nook Key Doweling Jig to strengthen the miter joints, a drill/driver and a random orbit sander. A tape measure, mixture sq., a number of F-style bar clamps and a method of slicing the dowels flush (we used an oscillating multitool, however a flush-cut noticed will work fantastic, too) are about all you’ll want for hand instruments.
Reducing the Miter Joints
The couch proven right here has armrests which might be about 6-1/2″ huge. So, after crosscutting the ends of the slab sq., we discovered its heart level and drew a structure line throughout it. Then we drew a pair of parallel structure traces throughout the slab that every had been 4-3/4″ away from the middle line. These established the highest corners of the desk’s prime panel; in case you draw a 45-degree line again from these structure traces on what could be the sting of the slab, the “backside” size of this prime panel is 8″ — a simple match over many couch arms. However you should definitely measure the armrest width of your couch and modify the size of the highest panel accordingly, if wanted.
It’s crucial that the slab be held securely when slicing the highest panel freed from the 2 facet panels, and this turns into trickier in case your slab has very irregular edges. One solution to do it’s by setting the slab on a crosscut sled, aligning the sting of the sled with every of the slicing traces on the slab and miter-cutting them at 45 levels with the slab clamped to the sled. You possibly can additionally tip a observe noticed to 45 levels and align the sting of the observe to comply with every slicing line, then minimize the highest panel free from the remainder of the slab that means. A miter noticed may very well be an alternative choice, however it can solely work safely if each edges of the slab are flat and parallel so you may set them towards the noticed fence for slicing.
You now have to miter-cut the sides of the 2 facet panels that had been abutting the highest panel to 45 levels. Line these cuts up rigorously so all you’re doing is trimming off the mitered waste however not shortening the facet panels within the course of. That means, when the desk is assembled, the slab’s grain sample will wrap across the armrest in a steady “waterfall” fashion.
With the miter cuts behind you, set the highest and facet panels collectively to test that the miter joints kind 90-degree corners. Now can also be a very good time to confirm that the size of the facet panels will enable the desk to sit down flat on the highest of the armrest with out being obstructed by the seat cushions. Shorten the bottoms of the facet panels if they’re too lengthy to your couch. Then give the faces of the three panels a finish-sanding as much as 180-grit or larger.
Assembling the Desk
Rockler’s Nook Key Doweling Jig allows you to drive dowels in three totally different diameters diagonally throughout miter joints. It reinforces them with a mechanical connection that makes the joints considerably stronger. The dowel ends present by means of the faces of the joints as ovals, which provides an ornamental element. We adopted Rockler’s directions to set our jig up for drilling 3/8″-diameter dowel holes right here. The jig allows you to modify the place of the dowels inside the joint, and we situated them to be centered on the joint thickness.
Each members of a mitered nook are clamped collectively contained in the jig, so you may drill every dowel gap utterly by means of the joint in a single cross. We positioned the dowels for our desk about 1-3/16″ in from the back and front edges of the joints, however you can find them anyplace you want. Identical goes for what number of dowels you select to insert within the joints. We expect two look good for this mission as a result of the walnut dowels we usedcontrast properly with the light-colored sapwood. However you should use as many dowels as you want.
Once you drill the holes, don’t attempt to drill during without delay. Drill partway, again the bit out to clear the accumulating chips after which drill some extra, letting the drill and bit do the work. Ease up in your hand strain on the drill when the tip of the bit begins to poke by means of the opposite facet, to keep away from punching it by means of the joint face and probably tearing out the floor. The cleaner the exit holes are, the higher the dowel particulars will look!
It’s time to spherical up a number of bar clamps so you may assemble your desk! Because the dowels will maintain the joints collectively, that’s a reasonably simple course of to do. We unfold glue alongside the mitered edges of 1 joint, set the highest panel and facet panel collectively and inserted a size of dowel into one of many glued dowel holes.
Go away the dowels overly lengthy for now so you may proceed to put in dowels within the remaining gap or holes of the primary joint, then repeat the method for the second joint. Set up clamps on the desk to tug the joints closed, and wipe off any glue squeeze-out earlier than it begins to treatment. Enable the joints to dry for at the very least eight hours.
Ending Up
When the clamps come off, trim the ends of the dowels flush with the faces of the panels. Then give the dowel areas one other spherical of cautious sanding to clean them till you may’t detect their ends by really feel from the encircling wooden.
Walnut with sapwood like that is too fairly to cowl with stain, so we determined to maintain the wooden’s colour as pure as potential. You may improve the colour and grain sample, nevertheless, by wiping on a liberal coat of boiled linseed oil. Wipe off the surplus utterly, and provides the oil at the very least a full 24 hours to dry. Then topcoat with oil-based polyurethane in a sheen you favor — we used satin. The poly will give this mission a sturdy, waterproof floor. Rub out any imperfections, and apply a second coat. When that dries, it’s prepared to be used in your couch!
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