Pedestal desk, the Beginning.
The need for a pedestal desk with drawers came from the COVID-19 pandemic. After working from home for a few months my customer asked me if I could build her a “real” desk. So, I sat down and drew up the plans (available here). She loved it and the build began.
Picking out the stock for the desk.
The first step was digging through the lumber pile and pulling out the cherry and poplar needed for the build. I started with 85 board feet of rough sawn cherry and 50 board feet of poplar to use for the drawers and other internal parts.
Making the Legs.
The material for the legs was the first job. I cut strips and laminated them together so I could mill the legs down to a 2×2 size. Then for looks I added an angle to the bottoms of each leg. Then I cut the groves for the panels to fit into each leg.
Cutting the rails and stiles.
After the legs were complete, the rails and stiles for the sides and back of the pedestals were cut to size. I then cut a 1/4″ wide by 1/2″ deep grove for the floating panels to sit.
The floating panels.
The floating panels were made by taking thick stock and resawing it into thinner parts. This does two things for me. First it allows the material to go farther. Second it gives the panels a mirrored look when glued together. This will make the Pedestal desk different from others.
Time to assemble the pedestal panels
I assembled the side and back panels for the pedestals next. The floating panels are slide into the groves that were cut in the rails and stiles. These panels are allowed to float so they can expand and contract with changes in humidity.
Desk drawer slides and the internals.
Once the panels were dry, it was time to add the legs. At this point the pedestal desk was showing its beauty. The internal structure and the drawer slides were added to finish of this step of the process.
Drawers and a top!
My next job was making the drawer boxes and the top. The boxes were made out of poplar with cherry fronts installed. The top is 1 1/4 thick and is 72 inches long and 30 inches wide. This thing is heavy!
Finishing the Pedestal desk with drawers.
Once the hard work was completed, the desk was finished with General Finishes water based dye stain. It is top coated with a satin water based poly to give it just a little shine.
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