Seeking your ideas for: A) Slab desk and B) Small Night Table

[smorgasbord]

With my big Murphy Bed project complete, I'm going to tackle two projects:
- A night table to be next to the Murphy Bed
- A desk for me in the same room, which is really my study

As an old guy previously in high-tech, I'm struggling with what new electronics/lighting I should be incorporating. Part of me wishes I had put some lighting in the crown at the top of the Murphy Bed (still could do it, though), but I'm thinking for the night table in particular that I should have some kind of accommodation for phone charging, and maybe a down-facing night light so guests are struggling in the dark at night to get to the bathroom.

Any thoughts on that? There are things like wireless phone charging pads that you can recess into the bottom of a top, like this one:
[attachimg=1]

Or this kinda ugly pop-up thing with USB and line power outlets:
[attachimg=2]

Since the night table is for guests, may not even put a drawer on it, probably just a shelf. 

And I'm thinking some kind of LED strip under the shelf to illuminate the floor around the table, which will be placed near the bed.

And then there's the desk. I just found a couple what appear to be really nice Cherry Slabs, so I'm going to attempt my first live edge slab project. I run a laptop, a large pad for the laptop and mouse, and a drink coaster today. Not sure I really want the typical 3-drawer cabinet on one side, though. At least one pencil style drawer off to the side - not underneath the seating area because of leg room and arm rests.

So, how should I deal with the labtop's power cable? Just run it up from the floor through the evitable crack at the end of the table? Punch a hole and feed it through? Should I do wireless phone charging there as well, or continue to rely on a short USB-C cable from laptop to phone (doubles as data for backup).

Here's another power option:
[attachimg=3]

Actually, looking at my desk now, it's pretty cluttered. I probably should have somewhere to hide some of the things on it, although at least half are things I don't need anywhere near the desk anymore.

Part of me is worried that anything electronic I build into the desk will eventually break, and then ruin what I hope will otherwise be a great piece. It's one thing to build in a charger into something you expect to last only 10 years. But, somehow it just doesn't feel right to build a 1950's style George Nakashima slab desk in the 2020's. I certainly don't need to build a big drawer for hanging files - all of that stuff is electronic, even for me, now.

I'd love to hear thoughts and have a discussion around these challenges.

 

[Packard]

Dimmable strip up-lighting over the crown molding, makes an easy and very nice night light.  Get one that allows color changes and you can set the mood. 

I read years ago that magenta lighting has a slight anesthesia effect, dulling the nerves slightly.  True or not, it looks nice.

I have not tried it, but an up-light behind a night stand or above the headboard sounds nice.  Up-lighting provides very diffuse and soft quality of light.  In my case, it provides enough light to walk to the bathroom at night without being bright enough to hinder sleep.

https://www.colorpsychology.org/magenta/

 

[Packard]

Under my desk I have a hidden pullout keyboard shelf.  It is mounted on a pair of short length drawer slides and features a trough to hold pencils and pens and a spot for a mouse to roam. 

I also have a three drawer cabinet on casters.  I have another cabinet in the room for filing, so these drawers are all for smaller items.  And the top has a “fence” so I can leave stuff on the top without worrying that they will fall off and I would then have to crawl under the desk to retrieve them. 

If you get a charger that fits into one of those 2” diameter grommets, check the output.  Some of them have such tiny outputs that they are rendered nearly useless.

 

[smorgasbord]

Found these cheapies on WayFair, might use some ideas from them:
[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[member=74278]Packard[/member], agree on the uplighting. Might still add that to the Murphy bed.

The chargers I linked are all USB-C compatible and decently high output. But yeah, what's going to be standard in 2040 or for my children when they're adults?

 

[Packard]

Are your adult children going to be living at home, or are you going to gift them the furniture?

 

[smorgasbord]

Are your adult children going to be living at home, or are you going to gift them the furniture?

Inherit.

 

[smorgasbord]

Got my slab on order. He thinks after the drum sanding to flat (150 grit), it'll end up about 1.75" thick.

That's pretty thick for a desk that's going to be like 60"-66" long and about 27"-30" deep. I've seen trestle tables built where they back-bevel the bottom to make the top thinner at the edge. Usually go in about 3.5" to reduce the thickness to ⅝"-¾" thick at the outside edge. Now, of course, these are standard rectangular tables, but I'm wondering if anyone has done such thinning with a single live-edge slab?

Yeah, a lot of the appeal of having the live edge is having enough thickness to appreciate the live-edge, but just as I don't eat a quart of ice cream in one sitting, you can have too much of a good thing. In this case, I'd go from 1.75" to about 1". Note my Nakashima dining room table is less than 1" though through-out, even though the base members are quite large.

Any thoughts here? Due to the table size and non-rectangular edges I'd probably buy and use a power planer for most of the shaping.

 

[Michael Kellough]

About the night stand, if you make it it’s going to be a quality thing long term. Don’t make holes in it to accommodate a short term appliance.

Instead, buy a top quality device and then design a nice weighted holder for it so it can be positioned wherever it’s needed. The holder can be changed when the device is obsolete but a hole in the night stand will always be there.

About the slab and beveling the edge. In keeping with the irregular live edge maybe get an Arbortech cutter so the bevel can follow the undulations. A power plane won’t get into the concave sections.

 

[smorgasbord]

About the night stand, if you make it it’s going to be a quality thing long term. Don’t make holes in it to accommodate a short term appliance.

I hear you - that's my concern, too, even if I get a high quality charger today who knows about compatibility down the road? I laughed at cassette players in cars when CDs came out, now it's all just bluetooth and streaming. I am thinking that an undermount wireless charger might be OK as it could be unscrewed from the bottom and replaced with whatever next decade's standard is. And if not, the top is still clear and clean.

About the slab and beveling the edge. In keeping with the irregular live edge maybe get an Arbortech cutter so the bevel can follow the undulations. A power plane won’t get into the concave sections.

I don't believe I'll need to follow the contours at all. I could just rabbet the edge to the thickness I wanted, where the rabbet's width is as big as the difference in edge protrusion - and then bevel up from there. If the piece were easy enough to handle, I could clamp a straight edged board to the top surface such that the straight edge lines up with the two high points of the live edge, and then run the thing vertically over a tilted tablesaw blade (my 12" blade has a 4" depth of cut). Any differences in the thickness due to the distance of that portion of the live edge from the straight edge might actually give it some interest, since it would be flat and smooth underneath, particularly to the touch. I may grab a helper and try that out if I've convinced myself the look is right.

 

[Packard]

I would get some nice metal cord grommets (pictured is one from Hafele) and place them at uniform distance from each other.  It won’t look as much as “custom”, but it won’t look “wrong” later on.

 

[smorgasbord]

Here are the slabs now on their way to me:
[attachimg=1]
and
[attachimg=2]

I got two since shipping is the same as one and kind of hard to tell which one will be best for the desk. As you can see, they're quite a bit longer than I need, so I'll have some left over wood for base/drawer front. Haven't decided if I'm going to use the other slab for the night table or whatever.

Prices on slabs are all over the map. Places like GL Veneer and CS Woods, as well as my local wood specialty store (Global Wood Source in Campbell, CA) charge a lot more than the place I got these slabs. Matter of fact, these two were cheaper delivered than similar walnut ones just slightly larger at Global or CS Woods. Some of that is Cherry vs Walnut, but I think it's also the stores' popularity. Hopefully, the quality will be as good as claimed.

 

[rvieceli]

[member=77266]smorgasbord[/member] those are a couple of great looking pieces of cherry.

I’d like to make an out of the box suggestion.

How about using the slab not as a horizontal surface that may get covered in lots of desk stuff but make it a vertical art piece hanging on the wall over the desk surface. That way you would see and appreciate the piece every time you were at your desk.

Ron

 

[rvieceli]

To use both pieces, make them fold” along the straighter edges. One on the wall and one on the flat. The curved section reminds me of a theater organ and would make a nice spot for your chair.

Ron

 

[smorgasbord]

How about using the slab not as a horizontal surface that may get covered in lots of desk stuff but make it a vertical art piece hanging on the wall over the desk surface. That way you would see and appreciate the piece every time you were at your desk.

Cool idea, but this room has a nice view I don't want to block.

As for outlets, this seems like a nice, if overly expensive, pop-up:https://dockingdrawer.com/products/15-amp-point-pod-pop-up?variant=41055049646123

It can handle a thin wood insert so at least it's almost all wood that's visible.

 

[Packard]

You could cut the piece to the required depth and use the drop-off as a sort of “back-splash”.  It would be mostly decorative, but it would keep things from spilling off the rear of the slab. 

Of course, if you are mounting to the wall, that becomes superfluous, but I think it would look pretty good.  Add some wood pegs to hang things from.

Yours would look very different, but here’s the concept:

P.S.:  What does that slab weigh?

 

[smorgasbord]

OK, interesting idea to make a backsplash of sorts. The desk will abut a wall to the left, but not be attached. I was actually thinking of doing some cantilevered, maybe like this Nakashima desk:
[attachimg=1]

P.S.:  What does that slab weigh?

Two of them packed on a pallet weigh 280lbs:
[attachimg=2]

I don't need anywhere near the 80" total length - more like 60"-66" long. And yes, my plan is to use the concave curve for the in front of seating area.

 

[Packard]

140 pounds each.  Get a helper.

I’m a fan of some of the campaign desk designs, some dating back to the American Civil War.

They have a nice minimalist look and a historic look.  The originals were all intended to fold away and be transported in a covered (horse drawn) wagon.  Most modern interpretations do not fold, but do separate from the top.  In that way, even if your kids have a different take on furniture, they can re-mount the slab top onto a different base.

Cantilevered designs make huge demands on joinery, generally require more robust timbers, and often sport a top that exhibits, at the minimum, a small amount of “bounce” to the top.

I would look at other options before going “cantilever”. 

Addendum:  I Googled “interesting table/desk understructures” [images] and saw little of interest.  Hmm.  Interesting.

You could probably do better with a clean sheet of paper design.
https://www.google.com/search?clien...9724&sxsrf=AHTn8zrjL48xk-Al4taaO59M1hkvZ17ewA:1737903946868&q=interesting+desk/table+under+structures&udm=2&fbs=ABzOT_CWdhQLP1FcmU5B0fn3xuWpA-dk4wpBWOGsoR7DG5zJBsxayPSIAqObp_AgjkUGqel8I9BqVq9bH2KsRutiW9c0-9V-gWJkTolKMHiiUp3NLMiO93p0faCtGzcFcusL-qYDDTEpTt_MHvZzND_-4A9Sv7ZLjV_pW5_RhKyhUUZfyrn0l2ydfbLPCfwD_lXia_1wbhpAcwTHQcuXglyCmCEu92-zbg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPqKDb1JOLAxU_mokEHb1lPRMQtKgLegQIEhAB&biw=1054&bih=664&dpr=2

 

[smorgasbord]

Slabs arrived today. Picked one of the two and started drawing the outline for where to cut:

[attachimg=1]

The finished length will be about 1.5 meters (almost 5').

This is the slab:
[attachimg=2]

Thoughts?

 

[luvmytoolz]

Very nice! I love me a good slab! ;-)

 

[smorgasbord]

I wish it wasn't so thick (1.9") but don't really want to router sled the underside just to thin it out.

What do you think of my proposed cut lines?