Making a desktop organiser

Words and photos: Iain Green

A desk can be a great place to showcase fine woodwork and an organiser can help manage the clutter that gravitates to such places. I’ve been using one of these organisers for a few years and it’s become the place I go to for my keys, wallet, business cards, pencils, overdue bills and all the small things I want to be able to find again.

I’ve tried to get a minimalist look by using quartersawn bumpy ash (Flindersia schottiana) to minimise the grain impact. I’ve also kept the boards as thin as possible (8mm on the exterior and 6mm otherwise) to avoid a ‘chunky’ look. This makes construction a bit more challenging.

Allowing for movement

I’ve tried to distill some of the insights into the Japanese approach to small cabinet construction that I’ve seen in traditional designs from Shuko-kai*, when I was in Tokyo (fig.1). An issue with this design is that the maximum expansion of the horizontal boards for the base and the top tray is front to back, whereas for the vertical boards, it is top to bottom. Because of this, it is a good idea to allow the horizontal boards freedom to move in the same way that a drawer base should allow for expansion.

The Shuko-kai approach is to provide a deep tab at the front of these boards which is glued and fastens to the sides, leaving the remainder of the side joint unglued for expansion. While a single piece base could be used, I opted for a two piece base which meets under the middle divider, allowing a strengthening tab front and back.

Fig.1  Construction

Hidden spline joints

Fig.2  Hidden spline joint

The joint between the sides and the back is significant structurally and aesthetically as well. In the past, I have used a blind dovetail to keep a minimalist look but this joint is very time consuming. I have used a box joint, and a dovetail joint could be used as well, though these become part of the external appearance. I’ve long thought that a mitre joint with a hidden spline could have all of the stability and strength required, so I’ve used it here (fig.2).

The choice of joint affects how you construct the carcase. You either make the rear joint first and then work towards the front, or you start at the front and fit the back into the carcase. The edge of the mitre is quite fragile, so I decided to construct this carcase from the front and add the rear joint last.

Grain direction

If possible, cut the sides and the back from one board, with the grain parallel to the base and continuous over the back joints (photo 1). For consistency, I oriented the boards so the outside of the tree was towards the outside and the top of the organiser.

Prepare the boards

Endgrain is seen along the front faces of the side boards. This grain won’t take finish well and will end up having a strong impact. To soften the appearance, I glued a 2mm cover strip over this endgrain (photo 2), before starting on the joinery. Clamp the board vertically onto a flat surface, to make sure the glue lines are minimised.

As things progressed, I took all measurements for cuts from the front or the bottom. It’s important the ends of the boards are square to the sides to minimise surprises as the organiser comes together.

I’ve followed a general rule that trenches shouldn’t be more than a third of the thickness of a board (3mm here) if the strength of the board is to be maintained. The mortises are deeper (5.5mm) to give strength to the joint. I have a strong preference for using hand tools where possible and for the first organiser I made, I cut all the joints by hand. In retrospect though, I can’t see any advantage for using hand tools for this.

For this project, I purchased a 3/16" (4.7mm) solid carbide two-flute down-cut spiral router bit to cut all the joints (photo 3). The speed and accuracy of this bit means I won’t be going back to cutting these joints by hand.

Internal panels

The internal panels have 4.7mm tenons along their edges to fit into the trenches in the sides. I cut these by setting the router bit 4.7mm from the fence and 2.5mm high and passing the board along the fence, behind the bit (photo 4). You can adjust this for a tight fit and the cut will be accurate every time, even if there are slight variances in the thickness of your boards.

Note that if you move the board from right to left, the bit could climb up the edge of the board and rip it through to the left. I didn’t find this to be a problem here as we are taking such a small cut. To control this risk, prepare the smaller pieces such as the front rail by routing the edge of a wider board that can be held securely. Then cut the rail from the board.

 

The internal edges of tenons on opposite sides of the internal boards need to be an accurate 200mm apart (photo 5). After cutting the first tenon, I clamped a ruler 200mm from the bit, reduced the height of the bit and cut the edge of the second tenon by sliding the bottom of the first tenon along the ruler. Then cut the tenon width as per the first tenon. This is likely to leave a small amount of waste at the bottom of the tenon that must be removed by hand.

Fit the panels

Review the fit of each tenon into the corresponding trench. Particularly, check that the shoulder of each tenon beds against the side panel as any obstruction at the bottom of the trench will show here (photo 6).

As you go, relieve any external edges. Some small palm planes and one with a concave sole were very useful in rounding over the tops of the internal panels (photo 7). I don’t mind if small facets are left when these edges are rounded as it shows some evidence of hand work.

Mitre the back joint

Fig.3   45° jig and shooting board

I cut the mitres between the sides and the back on my tablesaw 1–2mm above the joint line. Throughout this project, I used a simple shooting board that is just a 20mm thick board with a straightedge and a stop set at right angles into one end of the board. To finish the mitres, I made a 45° jig (fig.3) to sit on the shooting board that would hold the piece so the mitre was vertical and square to the edge of the shooting board.

 

Toggle clamps held the board on the jig (photo 8). I was then able to plane the mitre and had great control over accuracy and position of the final cut. As you go, check the mitre is flat, square to the bottom and at 45° to the sides.

Assemble the carcase with the sides in place and clamp it so the opening at the back is the final dimension. Cut the back so it is comfortably long. Finish plane one end and then gradually bring the other end down so it just drops into place. While the back is too long, you will feel an edge of the mitre protruding beyond the side. When the back fits into the sides and the bottom, fit the di- vider into the back compartment – a fraction long between the shoulders can help to keep this joint tight.

Corner splines

After you have glued the carcase, a good option to strengthen the mitre joints is to insert say, three splines across the back corners. You will need a jig to carry the carcase across the router bit at 45° to the table. The 3/16" bit, set for a cut of 8mm would be suitable. Use the same timber as the carcase or a contrasting timber for the spline, depending on the effect you want. Glue and plane the splines flush with the sides.

Instead of this approach, I chose to insert a stopped spline internally between the mitre faces. The advantage is these splines will hold the joint in place during glue-up, they aren’t visible and should be stronger.

To cut the trench for each spline, I clamped the side (or the back) onto the 45° jig with the mitre face on the table (photo 9) and adjusted the fence on the router table to be 10mm from the bit.

Placement of the board on the jig is critical to get an even cut along the spline (photo 10). A good check is to place a ruler on the table against the mitre edge and check that an even spacing from the edge of the jig is maintained along the ruler. Set the stops to keep the trench at least 5mm from the top and the bottom. If you haven’t already done it, cut the front profile of the sides and round over the top edges of the sides and back.

Glue up the carcase

Make sure that all internal faces are clean before glue-up – finish plane or sand to remove marks. Glue-up is straightforward – just remember which trenches are not to be glued. With so many joints, it requires careful clamping to minimise gaps. Note that the external width is 216mm. I found that many of my clamps would open only to 200mm. Things to watch out for include over-clamping that distorts the body and main- taining everything square. Finish plane the exterior.

Construct the drawer

Many Japanese small cabinets use Paulownia for the internal elements of drawers as the grain is unobtrusive and the wood is quite soft which helps drawers to slide smoothly. I don’t have easy access to Paulownia, so I used bumpy ash again.
There are lots of options for the drawer pull. I chose to make a 6mm dowel from bumpy ash and to fasten it with a couple of screws from the back of the drawer front (photo 11). To hide these screws, I cut a false drawer front so I could attach the drawer pull to it and then glue the false front on later.

I made the drawer with dovetails front and back and the base was let into trenches cut into the four sides of the drawer. The biggest issue in making the drawer is to ensure a close but not tight fit. My general approach is to creep up on the final fitting. I cut the back first, marginally wider than the opening and checked the fit by reversing the drawer and inserting it to test the width. Prune the bottom of the dovetails until it will just fit into the opening – follow the same approach with the front.

After the body of the drawer is assembled, glue the false drawer front with the drawer pull on. The bottom of the front part of the drawer front beds into the 2mm rebate at the front of the bottom board.

Finish

For this project, I used two coats of an oil sealer and then buffed the finish when dry. The actual configuration of a desk- top organiser that works best is a personal choice and this design could be modified. More importantly though, I am con- fident that the techniques used in the project are applicable to a wide range of small cabinets.

* Shuko-kai is a group in Japan that focus on traditional hand tool techniques for woodworking.

 Iain Green is a Sunshine Coast, Qld based woodworker who has written several articles for Australian Wood Review.