Pro Woodworking Tips.com-Custom Desk

Custom Desk - page three

The next step in the process was to wrap the frame with flexible 3/8" thick plywood. This plywood is called bendy board, and is commercially available. It is flexible in only one direction, and is ordered according to the direction you want it to bend. Typically ordered as either a 4' by 8', or an 8' by 4' sheet. This method of ordering tells the distributer which direction you want it to bend. It is quite flexible, but not enough to cover the sharp radius of the corners. That was the purpose of building them up out of plywood.

The bendy board was glued and nailed into place, and was planed to the proper length after being installed. This technique permitted the ends to be planned on the same angle formed by the leg curves. The edges of the bendy board planes nicely accross the end grain, provided your using a nice sharp block plane or a low angle plane.

Notice the rectangular knotches in the top and bottom front pieces. These were cut on the band saw to allow plywood to form a drawer compartment, as well as a place to mount the drawer slides. (see photos one and two). Photo three shows the bottom piece of plywood, with side pieces and drawer slides premounted. This assembly will be installed as a unit, making it easier than trying to reach into a small area and installing drawer slides.

While this work was being done the granite and stainless steel pieces were being made. Templates were provided for the granite, and drawings were submitted to a machinist for the steel parts.