The PRESIDENTIAL DESK Build

For those who have been following the Build Blog for awhile, you’re probably familiar with The Library CarveWright Built. If not, start with that and then come back to this article.

The finished library with dark carved wood paneling, built-in bookcases and a fireplace, ready to be furnished — The Lovchik Library

The library bookcases and paneling with all the detailed carvings were completed a couple of years ago, but this didn’t finish the room. It still needed to be furnished. Trying to find furniture for this room isn’t easy. For one, it’s a large room, and two, the pieces need to fit stylistically within the space. To start, we knew we needed an impressive desk, so on to google we went to do some research.

Dumbledore's gothic carved desk in his library office, a design inspiration for the desk — Dumbledore’s gothic desk in his amazing library office.

Two ornate antique desks with leather tops, other desk ideas considered for the library — Some other contending desk ideas

We found several desk ideas, but we kept going back to one that seemed to embody everything we were looking for. It was The Resolute Desk that sits at in the Oval Office. Once we learned the backstory of this desk being made from the timbers of a recovered British ship that had been lost in the Arctic, we were fully sold. You can learn the amazing story of the Resolute here on Wikipedia.

The Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, the model for the desk build — The Resolute Desk

Designing the Desk

Ok, so The Resolute Desk has a cool story, it’s the right style, and we have found several companies making replicas. The problem was, as cool as having this desk would be, we didn’t entirely want the exact desk as the president. Maybe we could request some modifications like adding our family crest instead of the Eagle seal? Finally, we decided to just make it ourselves.

Vintage-style plans for the Resolute Desk showing elevations and carved panel details — Plans for The Resolute Desk

We found some plans for the desk online, and it was helpful in defining sizes, but ultimately it wasn’t detailed enough for much more. The trickiest part of this project was replicating the carvings. None of the 3D models for this desk existed yet, so we had to create all of it from scratch. Pattern modeling is meticulous work and can take a lot of time, so we split up the work between us and hired Michael Tyler at CarveBuddy.com to help make some of these. Utilizing the tools available in the Pattern Modeling Suite, Vector Drawing Suite, and Sculptor, we were able to create the entire set of 3D patterns we needed.

CarveWright software showing a 3D scroll and leaf desk panel pattern modeled from a traced reference image — The hi-res desk images were cropped into smaller sections and imported as tracing images to model from.

Animation rotating a 3D modeled carved scroll panel in the CarveWright software — Around 30 patterns were modeled from scratch for the desk using this method.

Once the modeling was finished, the projects could be made ready for carving. All the pieces were laid out and grouped for optimal use of material.

Software preview of the carved scrollwork drawer front project file — Desk Drawers Project File

Software preview of the symmetrical custom base moulding for the desk — Each section of the desk had a symmetrical base moulding detail that needed to be custom carved.

Software preview of the family crest carved as a 3D pattern — Our family crest was carved and substituted for the Great Seal of America emblem.

Carving the Desk

There were over 50 different carving and cutout files to make this desk. Many of those were test pieces cut to make sure the pieces looked and fit correctly. This was a lot of machine time, but it went remarkably fast. The carving portion of these projects always ends up being the fastest and easiest part of the job.

Three views of freshly carved and cut oak desk pieces on the workbench — Just keep feeding the machine.

Carved oak desk drawer fronts with scrollwork just off the CarveWright — Desk drawer pieces fresh off the CarveWright.

Carved arched trim pieces for the desk door panels laid out on the shop floor — Varius door panel top trim pieces

Dozens of carved moulding strips laid out in rows on a table, over 100 linear feet in total — There was over 100 linear feet of various carved moulding pieces for this desk.

Oak door panels with carved round rosettes and a carved arch top before assembly

Assembling the Desk

After all the pieces were carved and cut, the building process began. The desk is basically made up of two pedestals, a middle section that bridges them together, and the desktop.