Sometime during the year 1775 Thomas Jefferson was riding in a coach from his home in Virginia to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. I’m not sure what was going on inside his head during the 260 mile trip. I can envision that his brain power was near overload capacity. Think of all that was going on in the colonies at that time and then there was talk of kicking King George and company off of the continent. The colonists needed a Declaration of Independence and Jefferson was given the task. I can see him on the journey, bouncing around inside the coach, trying to get his homework done and it just wasn’t happening. When he gets to Philly he secures a room with Benjamin Randolph, a cabinet maker. Imagine that, a diplomat renting from a tradesman and probably eating with the family as well. How times have changed. Anyway,  Jefferson gives Randolph a set of drawings for a small lap desk with a drawer for his writing essentials and a fold out writing surface. Randolph builds the desk, the Declaration was written and the world has never been the same. A tradesman saved the world.  At least this is how I think it happened. some details may have been left out, but you get the picture.

Fast forward to the spring of 2006 and my seventh grade son is on a field trip to Washington DC. He visits the Smithsonian Museum and sees the desk. He comes home and a couple of nights later comes out to the garage where I was trying to build something. I just remember that Kristin’s car was out of the garage and there was an assortment of tools and a lot of sawdust. He politely flashes the lights to let me know that someone has entered my domain. I shut down everything that was making noise and dust so that he could talk with me. He simply said that he would like for me to make him a lap desk. I had never heard of the story above, so I was at a loss as to how to respond. I think I said something like, “Do you have a drawing or a blueprint?” He grabbed my drawing tablet and a thick, dull carpenters pencil and drew me a picture that was about 1″ x 2″. Keep in mind that he had seen the desk but had not mentioned seeing it until this time. I looked at his drawing and told him, “I would have to see what I could do”. He did not know that was code for “Dad doesn’t have a clue about this”. Fortunately, later that year in October, we were on a trip to DC to celebrate my father-in-law’s 80th birthday and I got to see the desk. I knew that I would have to build it now but I also knew that I did not have the skills to build such a desk.

Research had to begin. I found a set of plans and also a great little book about the desk. It cost about $8.00 then, now it’s close to a $100.00. I found a beautiful piece of Honduran Mahogany that would work. It measured 1″ x 8″ x 8′ long.  I studied everything I could about how it was built then and some recommendations for how it should have been built, and how to build it today using today’s techniques. Being hardheaded and stubborn I decided to build it just like Benjamin Randolph did, including using hot hide glue from a glue pot. Everything about this desk is small. It measures 14 & 3/4″ long, 9 & 3/8″ wide and 2 &1/2″tall. The drawer sides are 3/16″ thick. The book stand support is a scant 1/8″ thick with a half-lap joint of only 1/16″. So I had to start practicing everything. I learned how to rip a board down the middle to make the 3/8″ leaves. I learned how to sharpen and use  the handplanes and card scrapers. I learned chisel techniques and how to sharpen them for specific purposes. Remember, it’s all about process.

Finally after six years of my son waiting for his desk, I was able to present it to him before he left for college. It’s not an exact replica. I left out the space for an ink well and quills and just made a space for pencils and such. I made the paper storage to fit our current size of paper with a relief cut into it in order to get the paper out. I believe it to be the most intimate item that I have built to date with hand tools. I enjoy just holding it and feeling the wood through the simple oil finish.

I don’t know if this desk will be used for great writings or not but I do know that it started me on this journey of hand tool woodworking. These are the tools that I used to make the desk:

26″ rip saw, 26″ crosscut saw, 10″ dovetail saw, assorted bench chisels, a  1/16″ dovetail chisel, 3 handplanes, card scrapers and some 400 grit sandpaper. And here is the desk                                          

You can see a few more pictures under Stuff I Make.

Thank you Benjamin Randolph and thank you for perusing,

Gary