Stickley #706 desk

 

 

Just finished this project....a reproduction of a Stickley #706 desk. Unlike the real thing (which is made of quartesawn white oak and sells for $10,000+ these days), my reproduction is made from clear white pine. Some people talk smack about pine, but I found some really nice long and thick clear boards that were dead straight and pretty inexpensive, so I went for it. Working with hand tools, pine was a welcome respite from the veritable hell I went through with the walnut from my last project.

As you can see from the pictures, I did not build any cubbyholes in the desk for storing writing supplies. I'm using this for my laptop, so need open space inside for storing it. I may add a few cubbies later if need be.

This is actually the first project I've built where I didn't design the piece myself. I found a picture of this desk in a book on Craftsman furniture and instantly decided I wanted one (it just looked so.....right). Another book had shop drawings in it of this desk, and that's what I used to build this one.

The desk is finished with 21 coats of shellac with some added tint in it to deepen the color. I'm pleased overall with how it turned out.