Woodworker's Journal 1992-16-6, страница 43

hole drawers; the secret drawer, in keeping with its station, eschews the knob accoutrement. Instead, to open Lhe secret drawer, one reaches under the drawer with both doors open, and the lip serves as a convenient finger pull.

Finishing l p

Needless to say, all the fine tuning and fitting of the drawers and doors for the pigeonhole section should be completed before the section is slid into the desk. When it finally comes time to mount the pigeonhole section, don't try to slide ii into place from the desk front. That's a sure way to scratch the desk writing surface. The pigeonhole section is slid into place from the back, before the

Take care to set all finish nails, and fill the nail holes on visible surfaces, such as the nails holding the front pieces, before applying the finish.

As for the final finish, you could really take your pick of several finishes, including penetrating oil, shellac and polyurethane. However, by far and away the best choice—and the finish used on the desk shown—is lacquer. A century or two ago. craftsmen used shellac in much ihe same way that lacquer is used today, but lacquer has several distinct advantages over shellac. It's durable, attractive, easy to maintain, and unlike shellac, il won't show a white ring from a moist glass that's left on the desk surface without benefit of a coaster. A

The secret drawer lip rides in rabbets on the top of the doors

plywood case back is screwed in place. Use a screw or two to fasten the pigeonhole section securely, so it won't move: no glue is needed here. And while we're on the matter of glue, don't use any on the case back either. There's always the possibility thai al some future time you may need to remove the back to make some repair or adjustment.

For convenience sake, it's a good idea to finish the pigeonhole section, and its doors and drawers, before the unit is mounted in the desk. You could finish the desk with the pigeonhole section already in place, but it's a lot easier to get into corners, nooks and cubbies when there's easy access from all sides.

November/December WJ

spray finishing outfit is the best way to apply a lacquer finish, but if you don't have one, you can use brushing lacquer instead. Aerosol spray cans are another option, though on a project of this size your finishing budget will quickly be in ihe red if you're buying your finish in little aerosol cans.

The Chippendale pulls (WW), matching escutcheon (XX). and knobs (ZZj should only be mounted after the desk has been finished, [f you've pre-drilled for and already mounted some of the hardware, be sure to remove it before applying the finish. The hardware has it's own patina, and a layer of finish doesn't improve the look. E3l