I'm an author on psychology - and I always recommend your channel as theropy for people. They can build a stool with 3 tools and get a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. Part of rebuilding their life.
I'm 67 years old, lived in a reasonably large town in north Jersey with several elementary schools and sat at this style desk through 6th grade. Now you need to build the simple country style chair that went with the desk. Nice project, lots of memories TFS.
To the people wondering why the desk is at an angle: Slanted desks are far more ergonomic than flat top desks. They've been shown to improve a persons posture, handwriting, and reduce both hand strain and back pain. That's why artists and architects tend to work on slanted surfaces, and why school desks used to be at an angle. The people who made these desks a century ago understood the importance of proper ergonomics in the classroom, and schools only switched over to the modern flat top desk because they were more cost effective to mass produce.
When I was a kid and in school, we did have similair desks but they did have one extra feature: In our desks, there was little baton hinged across front and inside of the desk. It was possible to fold it over to support top so it was angled when needed and flat when needed. It was very smart and simple design that improved usability greatly.
I don't really like craftsman style very much, but I do really like the way you put together projects without the ubiquitous expensive tools like a domino joiner. What that's done for me is as I do develop my tool set is let me do some of your projects in my own way, taking advantage of things like my small table saw and band saw (and recently - thickness planer, which has helped me get really nice boards from construction lumber in short order) to speed up tasks and make changes to suit my own style. Your plans and videos have developed my skills far beyond any other that I've worked with. And I absolutely LOVE that you use inexpensive construction grade lumber. We have northwestern Hemlock out here for construction, and it's such a gorgeous wood when finished properly. I recently finished your English joiner's mallet using a piece of Arizona Ironwood my dad gave me, with a cherry handle. I had a check down the center (it was a 5-inch limb) but the thing was ironwood, so I just ran some superthin starbond CA glue down the check and it's been rock solid. And today I finished making that low, portable bench from two hemlock 2x6's. Instead of your through-leg design, I made my legs into a more mid-century tapered shape and recessed them fully into slots in the batons. the legs feel so narrow but the thing is wildly stable. My thickness planer and table saw/sled helped me get super square, flat, clean surfaces, so I wound up with a piece that flat out looks good as a piece of furniture, and is now pulling double duty as a hallway bench for putting shoes on.
I always really like the « country furniture » style videos. It feels like the « classic forms » are great, but people who are not immersed in the furniture world don’t always know what pieces to even start looking at.
My goodness, who are you? Where did you learn to write? Henry David Thoreau was the bane of my sophomore year. You knowledge and clarity are very welcome.
I simply can’t believe an English professor is dissing Walden! lol I love Walden, though I admit many find it dry. But your desk is anything but dry and boring: in a word, it’s wonderful! I’m going to have to build one (or two) for my grandchildren. Excellent work, as always, Rex!
He’s not a professor, but still someone who used to be an English teacher. I’m taking his comment to mean that as someone who’s not from the country where it’s a classic I shouldn’t bother reading it.
Still had them at my elementary school in the early to mid 90's as well. They were well used and abused by then, but i was in south-fulton county so everything we had was old hand downs from Atlanta area schools.
Personally, I loved Thoreau's book. I even a point to go to Walden's Pond on a business trip to the East Coast from California. It was lovely and peaceful. That was thirty years ago.
It always amazes me how in the past, British and especially American simple-folk consistently came up with basic but classic designs that have shaped the generations since, using the most basic of hand tools, the cheapest wood available (with very little waste) and hardly any mechanical fixings at all, yet they stand the test of time. The sheer simplicity and lasting quality puts just about all modern techniques and manufacturers to shame - at a fraction of the cost in terms of both finance and workload to produce it. For the most part, these people were farmers and cottage industry workers; they had no apprenticeships or college training in design or manufacture - many of them probably couldn't read nor write - yet they could build and furnish a house in no time with items that last a century and more. What have we come to in just a couple hundred years (at most) when home made furniture is no longer desired and we have to spend ridiculous amounts on stuff that has a fashion lifespan of maybe a few years at most...?
This kind of desk takes me back to my childhood: we still used a basically similar design, much carved on by generations of schoolboys, in my UK school in the 60's. One thing in our desks that I think you'll regret not having on yours is a trough along the length of the flat section behind the hinges, not extending to the edge. This gives the user somewhere to put pens and pencils so they don't roll off .
We still had these desks when I was in school in the early 80s here in the Caribbean and I honestly still think they're suing this style now. Great memories and have to agree, the little trough was useful to hold pencils and pens. Another great project to put on the "To Build" list.
Heck, I had one where there was a filled up hole for an inkwell, along with the pencil slot. Sadly our desks were screwed shut because they were used as garbage bins.
@@hardcode57 our desks were screwed shut, and well, after the incident where a unknown person stuffed the desk full of paper and lit it.... Technical school, you know how it goes.
Where I worked we had three geological specimen collections which were started in the mid 19th century. Catalog entries were made by hand in large leather bound registers. These sat in and on a large 19th century ledger desk. Much more refined than your desk. It was heavily built with massive turned legs along with the lift up top with storage underneath. The cataloguing is now done via computer for ease of searching. Some of us don't like putting Al our eggs in the one computer basket so the registers are still used to record basic information
I just completed this project and it was a lot of fun. Made it for my mom who really needed one. She loves it! I made mine from ash, with legs from alder. A nice combination and ended up getting some ash with interesting grain patterns in it that makes it look beautiful.
Some schools in RSA still have them, as a seated unit. For some reason, the repaired ones were never as comfortable as the old originals. I guess the shop teacher couldn't be bothered to do a decent job, even if he had his talking stick ready if you were a millimeter off.
Loved your description of Walden. About three years ago I walked the lake. Then, bought the book. I think i'm 50 pages in. It is a slog to read it for sure.
Real talk, Rex. I don't know if your entire past year of projects has deliberately led up to this, but the way you present it has made it very intuitive. If it's accidental, you're a lucky cuss. If it was done on purpose, you're brilliant. Love your stuff, man. Stay safe.
I read Walden for fun in high school, and I'll have you know I find it much more enjoyable than, say, The Last of the Mohicans, which was required reading.
@@danielbackley9301 Nah, I just like Thoreau's poetic descriptions and philosophical meanderings. On the other hand, I find James Fenimore Cooper unbelievably dull.
Hey Rex, very much enjoyed this project for your daughter. also super nice to see her in the shop with dad. watching the process of furniture being made solely with hand tools is a pleasure. You and Gillis Bjork.....birds of a feather!
My grammar school had such desks made in one with two extended feet to take a flap up wooden seat. Well carved with past pupil’s names etc. All in solid best pine. Would cost a fortune today to make. Might be still in use for all I know. They were bought with the opening of the school in Edwardian days. Some of them used in asbestos cement panelled ‘temporary’ classrooms too. The temporary classrooms to be replaced once we defeated the Kaiser. Still in use when I left in 1972. Comfortable and useful desks/seats. They had a groove for your dip pen and a porcelain inkwell for the ink. A step forward from my father’s village school with slate tablets and slate pencils I suppose.
I was really looking forward to the finish, but we never got there. I think milk paint would look good on this, the light blue example was nice. Overall, great work as usual REX!!!
Love it, how you combine a bit of history and woodworking. Might build such desk a bit taller, so I can stand at it and it can hold my tools and plans. After I build my workbench, and possibly a saw bench, and that garden furniture I promised .... Nice work and another great video, Rex. I hope your daughter is pleased as well :)
Thank you for your incredible research work. Awesome - all thumbs up! The knowledge you are mining from the past is what makes this channel outstanding and very interesting and very trendy. And, as sustainability is the key for the future, I can see, you are far ahead with your wood furniture. It can be used for ages, can easily be modified and at the end with a natural coating it can even be energized in the oven without any chemical pollution. It's a real deal. It is what I like to see.
Nice design, don't forget a small rounded groove on the top edge to stop pencil from rolling off. Easy with a router, but a scraper piece of rounded tin/steel on a stick of pine would do it too. (Probably what they would have used 200 years ago!)
Really nice project. Last weekend I bought a jar of cut/square nails at an antique store for a few dollars with no project in mind. Maybe I'll build my daughter a desk too
I personally have an issue when it comes to clutter. I've been thinking about making furniture with sloped tops to curb that tendency. This is perfect for eliminating stacks and piles. The sloped top will position laptops in a more ergonomic position.
With slightly taller legs to make it standing-height (maybe a cross-brace if needed for wobbling), this looks like it would be an awesome drafting desk for plans/planning in the workshop.
I was thinking this too. Make it standing height, add cross braces on the legs at a height to rest a foot on, and maybe a shelf or drawer below the body but high enough not to hit the knees... This would be a really handy piece in the shop!
Of course your daughter was pretty good with the saw, she is a girl, way smarter than us, men. Great video! I hope she enjoys the desk very much! Thanks for the content!
Yup. My observation with my kids (3 and 5) in the shop and my classmates in school rowing on the river. Boys tend to use too much force and not enough control.
Thank you Rex! I’m currently reading “Country Furniture” by Al Watson. Thank you for recommending this book. It’s a fascinating read. Your narration of your desk build for your daughter ties in well with the images characterized by Watson’s book of early settlers he describes making their own furniture. I love it and I can’t wait to tackle some of these primitive furniture pieces myself.
I really like that curved detail at the top it looks like something you would hold onto :) now really good job Rex I especially like this one, its a cute little desk.
Hi Rex, great video! I have a small request to you. Maybe you will make a video about card/cabinet scrapers for wood? That will be interesting. Cheer man!
It is not literature in the truest sense, but if you want to beat Walden try reading the Journals of Lewis and Clark. They can make you cry with pain. Great build Rex.
That is an awesome project! I might have to make one someday. Not sure the kids would use it, but I think it would be a good conversation piece if nothing else. :)
Have you considered doing a video where you make a nice wooden handle for that 4 in 1 HF screwdriver? I love those things. They had them for around 50¢, a while back. I bought a bunch. Gave some to my kids and several to my church for the Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. I've been thinking about making a London Pattern handle for one, just to see how it goes. The desk turned out great, btw. Another great video. I love your channel. Keep up the good work.
All these years I was afraid I was deficient in my mental abilities with my inability to appreciate Walden. I have always put it into the same category as that old Russian writer everyone always talks about. I did enjoy your desk build very much. I think I will make one using IPE or maybe Ironwood in order to give it a chance to survive my nephews use. Have a great day!
There are very few things you need to know about Russian literature. They are 1. it's always cold .2 everyone is miserable .3 everyone either dies young or is old or becomes old and miserable .4 you will never ever want to read anything that is Russian literature and if assigned to do so you MUST buy the CLIFF NOTES as Russian literature is not meant to be read. No I am not joking and I am not being completely sarcastic either. If anyone tells you that they have read WAR and Peace in it's entirety or that they enjoyed it ---THEY ARE LYING.
@@danielbackley9301 Lying or they are sick and wrong like me and got a grad degree in Russian lit. I've read War and Peace several times, both in Russian and in English. 🤣
@@VeretenoVids Congrats on the degree I know I couldn't have done it but then again I'm half Polish by ancestry. The Jesuits made me read an excerpt from War and Peace in High School there is no way I could have read the entire book and I'm someone who likes to read. God bless and please don't take my remarks too seriously.
Remember: It's very, very important to sit and work in a chair at the correct height, for children as for adults! Luckily most kids like to stand up when working, and that is good for body and mind, if the table has the correct height! Damn, it's complicated! :D
You can still see these in junk shops now and then in Australia. Seems to be a pretty widespread design- suggests that it was very practical. Nice project!
