The Office--Done for Now...

Well, to be blunt, I’ve been busy, that’s why this months old update on the office project is just now being posted.  Holidays happen and many things are demanding the attention, ah well, here is the office, mostly finished.  I still have plans for two more pieces, a printer stand, and a parson chair for the light desk (for me!).  I have some rough plans for constructing the chair, but that will have to wait until January, I’m afraid.

 

Both of the desks were painstakingly and thoroughly stripped, the lighter/larger desk then received 2 coats of the golden oak stain and 2 coats of poly (3 on the top).  I later found a problem with the largest of the drawers, it was stuck, presumably due to the humidity, however, this swelling misfit did not improve with time.  I tried everything I could find on the web to solve this dilemma: beeswax and furniture polish for a smoother glide, sanding-sanding-sanding, nothing worked.  It seemed to be catching along the sides, and short of dismantling the entire drawer and reassembling it somewhat smaller, I was lost.  Then, upon further study, I saw that some of the problem actually lay in the back of the drawer, where the backing is taller than the sides.  Some quick jigsaw action took an inch and  a half off.  This, coupled with some frictionless tape I ordered to line the tracks with, has helped a great deal.  It now slides in and out with ease, just doesn’t close completely (I’d have to take the jigsaw to the front drawer panel to make that one fit now too, boy, humidity eh?).

 

The smaller, more brownish desk started out a virtually solid dark brown color, with no wood grain even visible.  It was very difficult to strip (and rather disgusting in its tar-like substance), and the decision was made to simply apply the coats of poly.  It would have been nearly impossible, if not outright impossible, to remove all of the stain from the wood on this desk.  It had seeped far down into the grain over the last decades.  I really like the grain that now shows, though. 

Done for now…one step at a time!