DIY Network

Contemporary Writing Desk: Veneered Zebra-Wood Top From "Wood Works" episode WWK-511

The simple cherry base of this writing desk is offset by the striking pattern of the richly figured zebra wood.

With the writing-desk frame assembled, and the glue dried, work can begin on the zebra-wood desktop.

Materials:

Zebra wood and cherry stock for veneers
3/4-inch plywood stock for substrate
Vacuum press
Table saw
Drum sander
Jointer
Belt sander
Hand scraper
Hand plane
Dead-blow hammer
Chalk
Yellow woodworker's glue
Slow-setting resin glue
Glue roller
Carpenter's tape
Carpenter's straight-edge
Clamps
Safety glasses or goggles

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F

Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses when
working with wood, power-tools, saws, drills, routers, etc.

Once the glue in the assembled base is dry, remove the clamps and chisel the inside corner-notches of the legs square so that the top will fit snugly.

The top of the writing desk is composed of a 3/4-inch substrate of apple plywood laminated with veneers of cherry on the bottom and African zebra-wood on the top. The top is 18 inches wide by 42 inches long. Since our cherry and zebra-wood stock was only 6 inches wide, we had to glue up three pieces of each to achieve the necessary width for the veneers.

Preparing the Zebra and Cherry Veneers

• At the band saw, re-saw the cherry and zebra-wood into veneers that are 3/32-inch thick (figure A).

• Once they are cut, run the veneers (both cherry and zebra wood) through the drum sander to achieve a uniform thickness of 1/16-inch (figure B).

• Before edge-gluing the veneers, joint one edge at the jointer (figure C).

• Also before gluing, mark the faces of the zebra-wood veneers to ensure a continuous flow of the wood grain. Take the center veneer and book-match the right side, then the left side (figure D) and then mark faces with cabinet-maker's triangles to indicate the placement of the veneers for glue-up.

• With the panels clamped together, evenly roll yellow glue onto the edges (figure E).

• Line up the triangles, add blue carpenters tape across the seams, and clamp the veneer securely. Use bricks to keep the veneer sheets flat as the glue dries (figure F).

• Follow the same procedure to glue up the cherry veneers.

• Once the glue has dried, remove any hardened squeeze-out from the faces of the veneer using a hand-scraper.

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