Building a small desk for our 7-year old, and a worktable for me for electronics, both nearly the same design. But lots of little screw-ups during the build. and a cameo appearance by a real camera man from CBC!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who makes those types of mistakes and keeps working around them. Most of the time, I'll point them out to people after it is completed and they don't even care or understand. :) I am in the process of designing a simple desk for my son who hates his old monster desk as well. This seems like a really easy concept to adapt... and looks great. Thanks!
Jajaja when Harriet gets a bit older and watches this video she'll know the effort you put in to please her, and will bring lots of joyfull memories. Nice desk btw
for lots of glue surface area I sometimes keep a spray bottle handy to mist the glue area as needed. this gives me a lot more time to get things right, and more importantly, the peace of mind which allows me to have clarity about my actions.
Love the occasional mis steps and how to quickly solve them. M W is certainly my favorite woodworking projects teacher. Top job Mate. Cheers from Michael. Australia.
Many youtubers talk only about making money, and they assess their success only through profit. But I cannot tell you how big of an impact and inspiration you've been on my woodworking and mindset around it. So, yeah, keep up the videos, even when, one day, this will not be profitable anymore. thank you
I enjoyed this one. I watch all your videos, but the ones I enjoy the most are when you show your mistakes and frustration and when you use approaches and tools we all can. I know, we can all build a pantarouter, but I probably won't. So using dowels is more in line with what I can go do today.
Wow that reinforcing screw at a diagonal is really cool. Is there a name for that technique? Perhaps you could use a jig to properly countersink and get the screw in at a consistent angle on future projects. Would be really useful to attach two pieces with no hardware showing from the outside.
Matthias never said pocket screws are a bad idea, he just doesn't think they're the end-all wood joint. They *are* weaker than glue, and the jig is ridiculously expensive, so they're just too loaded down with anti-features to be generally useful. There are a few situations where they make sense, like this bodge. It should tell you something that you had to wait years for Matthias to use one single pocket screw, so you could make your snarky comment. Also "no hardware showing" is a pocket screw slogan that happens to just be a lie. Everybody can see the pocket and the screw inside, it's uglier than the screw head would have been by itself.
The ‘toy’ desk looks really interesting! Really lovely to see project videos again, even though I’m sure they’re becoming less and less worthwhile in terms of invested time / payout for you. Hope injuries are not too bad!
I am surprised you have never been in the CBC. I had found your website looking up how to make wood gears and found the story of your father's shop and found it one of the most touching things I have read. The whole story from starting as a kid on Father's sawmill, helping with with his professional and hobby woodworking, organizing his shop as he got older, and ultimately thinking of it as a legacy. I shared the story withy folks because it was is so beautiful and touching and the story could be a documentary about fathers and sons.
You made it to the "Now here's some good news to start your day" section of the CBC Morning Brief newsletter...and in so doing, got yourself a new subscriber!
Anytime a vid from you pops up I'm immediately watching, thanks for all the great content Matthias, you're an inspiration for sure. That being said, I'm shocked you didn't jump on these.
I just want to thank you for exposing all the mistakes you have done during this project. This gives a beginner like me a bit of self-confidence since a Master like you can miss things sometimes. I'm really a fan of your work and the tools you create
One alternative to building a short desk and gluing blocks to the legs later, is to build a normal height desk, and in the mean time glue blocks to Harriet's feet.
Thanks for showing the design and building of the new desk, Matthias. I store wood vertically for many years and it doesn't warp. Learned the technique from my dad who did so too.
5:00 Why don't use construction glue or Sika, for example? It give muchs more longer workinhg/open time, like 30mins, until it starts to crust and dry eventually. I'm not a professional or pro-level craftsman, but done some floors, ceilings, furniture, renovation, tiling, painting, concrete etc. indoor construction for some years now. Thanks for the always interesting and inspiring content, greetings from Finland, Europe!
2022-11-22 heard you on CBC Radio this morning...wasn't paying too close attention until they talked about the engineering and building your own tools etc. Then heard your voice and ding-ding-ding...the light came on...lol. Cheers from NB Edit: will have to watch CBC News now I guess...lol.
Matthias: Using this joint because it has a lot of glue surface. Matthias (later): This joint is hard to pull together because it has too much glue surface.
I've met a lot of people who think making a table (let alone a functional desk with drawers) is easy. Like they think it's something ordinary and the lowest peak you can attain in woodworking. It's not as difficult as chairs, not by a long shot, but it's not easy either. Lots of things to screw up leading to something that looks like it but isn't. And the "best" part is, even if you think you've done a right job... in one year the squeak tells you "no, no you didn't".
Great video - your family are very fortunate to have bespoke furniture designed to their specification . . . All the stuff piled on the desks - how about a small column of shelves - extending upwards - to keep the desktops free?
Great video, as always. And these unbuttoned cuff moments add spice to it. But Matthias, I really want you to be safe and sound) Please do not neglect safety precautions (despite I know you always do)
I always feel like an idiot when I mess up while building something. Then I watch these videos and see Matthias also messes up so then I don't feel so bad! :)
I rarely see anyone use desk drawers anymore. I think it's mostly due to people rarely use paper files anymore. Just about all point, click, save now. So no need for drawers. Almost all flat desk with a mechanism of some sort to raise and lower the work station for sitting or standing.
Yeah, those are mandatory in many EU countries. Up-desks I've heard them called. I'd like to see Matthias' take on one. Preferably without a motor. Just a crank or a foot-pedal.
It's not terribly uncommon in Canada for people who want to get rid of their old furniture to just put it out on the edge of the road with a sign saying "Free." It's typically gone within a week. (THis is generally done in summer, or whatever the dry season is, for obvious reasons, though I've definitely seen (and rescued) furniture put out in the weather.)
It's nice to see a pro make all these mistakes... Especially as I make way many more mistakes with my woodwork...lol we are all humane... Lovely desks - made with love!!!
Beautiful! :) Simple yet so beautiful. Congrats. :) Don't worry about the small mistakes, the project got finished, and you've managed to correct the mistakes on the fly, which is a proof of intelligence. Cheers.:)
Titebond makes a slower setting version of their glue, I wonder if it would help with assembly time. Also you know what your friend John uses for his glueups.
May I ask about not gluing the dowel/skewers? It might make the process less of a rush, at no meaningful loss of build integrity since they appear to be primarily for alignment.
Hide glue is kind of a PITA compared to PVA, though. Like you kind of have to have a crock pot running all the time if you want to be able to just pick up the bottle of glue and use it.
For complicated glue ups that can give me trouble. I mist them with water after applying the glue. It slows down the drying a little and makes it a little more slippery.
Only shown briefly @ 11:12 -- I like the round-edged wood strip you put on the white melamine computer project table. Have been planning to do that myself.
Tight fitting joints have always been a problem for me. One at a time is okay but when I spread water based PVA glue on several at once the joints swell enough to make it almost impossible to close them. I've had good luck using polyurethane glues in those cases since they are not water based and don't swell the wood. They do require a longer clamp time though.
Try using a little more clearance in your joints, and use a spray bottle of water to mist the glue and keep it wet. Then you can take your time closing all the joints.
Oh. I still have hope then. I did manage to fix some of my screwups but also added more in the process. Anyways. Doweling jig - done. Closet standing. For now. Lol.
Could have asked her if you could shorten the desk (shorten the drawers on one side), remove one set of drawers on one side, and change the pulls. I bet she would have liked that. It's a nice oak desk, needs to be saved.
odds are good we'll see another video next year about how Matthias built his new kitchen cabinets or something from an old desk that nobody wanted anymore...
I like your channel, like what you do, how you show it. As an also-engineer who does woodworking I have one comment regarding "design". Let me suggest *chamfer* , not *round-over* . It's a matter of taste of course, but I would be curious to see you try chamfering rather than rounding over and see if you don't also prefer it.
