Serpentine Bow Front Desk

This desk is my pride and joy! It’s a Serpentine Bow Front writing desk that I built over the summer out of a giant slab of 10/4 x 13″ x 9′ Ribboned Sapele. That being said, the fact that it is built out of one slab is very crucial to this desk. Since it was all one board, all of the color, as well as the grain, matches all over the desk. Examples of this are the top which is book matched out of two pieces, as well as the front apron which is a bent lamination with the drawers cut out of the front to maintain the grain flow through the front.

The drawers themselves are constructed with hand-cut dovetails. It was difficult to cut them on the curved surface both because of the curve and trying to handle the front to chop out the pins but I got through. It only took about 10 tries to get the front dovetails to look perfect lol. When it came time for finish it was a simple Sherwin Williams pre-cat lacquer. About 4 full coats in total and then rubbed out with a paper bag to get it super smooth. The lacquer really makes this Ribboned Sapele shine, but not so much that the figure outweighs the curves of the desk. In the end, I had a really great time building this project and it is my favorite so far. Now onto the slant front desk!!