Lap Desk
By Bill22|BY-NC-SA 4.0 License|Updated January 8th, 2023
A lap desk that I built for housing my computer and accessories. The design is adapted from the Aug. 2015 edition of Fine Woodworking.
The bird on the top is a loon. This is a large bird (almost 1.5-m wingspan) that swims underwater for up to five minutes at a time in search of fish... And they really do have red eyes!
2 hr
Intermediate
17
Files included (4)
Box: 3/8" maple
Inlay: 1/8" African Blackwood and Rosewood
Butt Hinge: Brusso CB-302
Shaper Origin
3/8" 8-deg dovetail bit
1/4" straight bit
1/8" straight bit
1/16" straight bit
See Fine Woodworking Aug. 2015 for a detailed description of the construction.
I designed the top using Studio. I cut the inlay using 1/8" and 1/16" cutters with 0" offset. The recess was pocketed using a range of straight bits, and finished using -0.004" offset. I prefer a downcut bit for finish passes to give a cleaner edge. The radius was too tight in some areas, requiring further cleanup with a knife.
The dovetails were cut with Origin using Robert Bieber's awesome tool here: https://dovetails.bieber.dev/.
The dividers are held in place using tapered sliding dovetails as described in Shaper Sessions 15.
The grooves for the hinges were cut with Origin using the CB-302 file from the Hardware catalog.
The foam padding inside is meant to be replaced when the lap desk is repurposed after the computer dies. (I expect the life of the lap desk to be more than 10 times the life of my computer.)