I have been a member of Fine Woodworking for a long time.  It is the only woodworking publication that I subscribe to.  After retiring in early 2011, I turned my garage into a woodworking shop to make furniture for my two adult children and wife. I do not sell or make furniture for anyone else.  I prefer craftsman or mission style furniture which shows the joinery.

My daughter has three small children and her husband is a captain in the United States Marine Corps.  She and the children were recently staying with us during his third deployment.  She was lamenting about the number of electronic devices they had and the number of cords it took to recharge them.  She abhors seeing all the cords.  We researched through Fine Woodworking online and found Gustav Stickley’s Fall Drop-Front Desk and decided that it would be ideal for a modern day charging station.  I had no plans, only pictures and my daughter helped with the design.  She likes the idea of mixing different types of wood in furniture.  We decided to make the project with mahogany and integrate spalted maple.  The handle is made of walnut stained dark ebony.  Notice the two inset spalted maple pieces are almost mirror images.  The biggest challenge was that I had no plans to work with as well as cutting the 14 through mortises by hand and figuring out how to install the hidden hinges in the door.

I have made many pieces of furniture for my family that were much more difficult than this piece but never utilizing different types of wood in any one piece of furniture.  I was totally against this.  After finishing this project, I became an advocate for utilizing different woods in a single piece and will do so again.

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me.

Gene R. Roe
317-443-8966
email me at [email protected]

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