Desk top / organizer / thing complete

[X_Digger]

Last edited Sat Oct 26, 2013, 01:21 PM - Edit history (3)

I started a thread a while back discussing the plans for a bunch of mailbox doors that my wife and I came across. Well, my piggy-bank idea got set aside for now.

Instead, my wife asked me to come up with a top for a sewing machine base that incorporated one or more of them, with some drawers, and a shelf.

Here's what I came up with-



Once I got final approval, I blew up the diagram and color coded it..



Then I got a bunch of wood and cut it up..



And I added all the joinery (nothing fancy, half-laps mostly.)



I worked from the inside out..



Back, sides, and dividers..



Then the top shelf..



And the bottom frame (I built it square, then cut it in three pieces, swapped the ends, and glued it back together)..





Put the drawers together..



And that's where I am now.

I've got some antique brass label holder / drawer pulls on order, and my wife should start painting it in the next couple of days. I'll rout a nice edge on the table top and mount the organizer.

I over-built it, I'm sure, but I never know what my wife might put on it.

eta:



Added the table top.

eta2: All done!

[Fridays Child]

1. So, your wife has one of those...

...husbands who can build cool stuff. Lucky, lucky woman! Nice little project, by the way.

[X_Digger]

4. It's been mostly repair until recently. She knew I was good at fixing things..

.. or re-purposing things, but I've only recently started building stuff from scratch (hence my copious note-taking and photo documentation.)

Thanks!

[lamp_shade]

2. That is awesome. Wonderful craftsmanship.

[X_Digger]

6. Thanks! n/t

[northoftheborder]

3. That is a fabulous project and use of interesting old mailbox doors.

My mother (years ago) constructed wooden boxes for some of her collected mail-box doors and gave them to family members. Don't forget the lock combinations! We have the combinations for ours, but mine does not work, and I cannot open it! so be sure the door locks work before closing, or dismantle the lock mechanism.

[X_Digger]

5. Luckily (or unluckily) these have keys.

I would have preferred combinations, but these are what we found.

[Phentex]

8. I really like it!

and I appreciate seeing the steps it takes to make it. Your threads are so interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[X_Digger]

9. I'm a detail / plan / execute / check plan / modify plan / execute / repeat kind of guy.

At least when it comes to projects.

[X_Digger]

10. Complete!

This weekend my wife tackled the painting. We chose a hard oil based paint.



Here it is, sitting on the base temporarily, after mounting the hardware.



I'll wait for the paint to harden before mounting the organizer to the top and the top to the base permanently. I also need to take some gold paint and highlight the 'singer' logo on the side of the base.

[lastlib]

11. Very cool! You are quite the craftsman!

I also really like the bookshelves in the background of the last pic. Did you build those? I would like to know more about them.

[X_Digger]

12. Yup, those are an earlier project.

They're modular- I've carried them through three or four moves, in different configurations. There's four straight ones and a corner unit.

I designed them so that one sheet of plywood makes two units, including shelves. The cost in materials was about $80 for two units. Of course that was back in.. umm.. 1998? 1999?

Here's one I made for a friend as a housewarming gift- he wanted a step-back hutch look.

http://srv.rowelab.com/cabinet/

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. Very well done.

Sketchup is a great tool, isn't it?

[X_Digger]

14. I love it. Steep learning curve, but very very powerful. n/t