I chose this desk to use for my first Fine Woodworking post. I needed to make a standout project for Christmas this year, and chose on a simple desk that uses joinery as the highlights. I started by milling and assembling the top. I had heard about dovetail battens on ShopTalkLive #147, and decided to try my hand at it. Cutting at 5 degrees on the table saw, I cleaned the rest out with chisel work and my shoulder plane. The battens are hammered in without glue. This was also my first venture into using Ash, and my chisels were tested mightily making mortises for my legs to slot into. The legs are walnut and ash, no taper, just straight up and down. I will be more prepared to try tapering and other hand plane work once I get my bandsaw and jointer new blades, and get my new workbench built. All in all I really enjoyed this build, and I think I will have to make a matching desk chair for next christmas!

Launch Gallery