An oak worktop that slides along the bookcase

A desk that moves up and down along a bookcase

This worktop doesn't stand on four legs: it is fixed to a metal structure that slides along a tall bookcase, so you can work sitting or standing. I built the bookcase too: how it was made is told in another article. The sliding structure is the work of a metalworker I collaborated with on this project. My part: the solid oak worktop, and the way of marrying wood and metal without the join being visible.

In the workshop: a solid oak panel, assembled with loose tenonsLoose tenon (faux-tenon in French, as in Domino joints): a separate piece of wood inserted into two mortises cut facing each other to join two parts. Here, to align and hold the oak boards of the worktop while the glue sets.

The worktop is made of solid oak boards selected and cut to size in the workshop, joined edge to edge with loose tenons, then glued up under clamps. Classic joinery work, but it is what gives a flat, stable worktop and a grain that runs on from one board to the next. The rounded end of the worktop is marked out at this stage, to follow the curve of the rail.

On site: the metal recessed into the wood

The most technical part happened on site. The rail of the structure is a square metal tube, bent into a curve. For it to stay out of sight, it had to sit within the thickness of the worktop: so I routedRouting: cutting a groove or a housing into wood with a router, a tool with a rotating cutter guided along a template or a curve. Here, a curved groove to the exact shape of the tube. a groove that follows the curve of the tube exactly, with a router, on an already assembled worktop. The tube sits recessed flush with the wood: one single surface, smooth and clean, with no visible metalwork. The worktop is then protected with Kreidezeit natural oilNatural oil: a finish that soaks into the wood rather than forming a film on it, made from plant oils. Here a Kreidezeit oil, which leaves the oak with its natural feel and can be touched up locally where it wears..

The questions I often get asked

Does a solid oak worktop move over time? Can wood and metal be combined in a single piece of furniture without the join showing? Which finish for a desk that is used every day?

I have practical answers to all of that, and two articles to dig deeper: why wood moves, and how the craftsman anticipates it and caring for solid wood furniture. For your own project, call me: the quote (the French devis) is free. I speak English, so feel free to call or write in English.