I finished up all the details on the cabinet and started finishing. Yipppeee! After lots of edge softening, sanding and other detail work, I started with a base coat of shellac.
I put the finishing touches on the box today and started applying pore filler and finish (ProFin – Daly’s).
Yes, still not top, but I’ve finished the case. And no worries, I have enough finish to do the top. I’ve been waiting on hinges before I complete the top and paint it.
Milk Paint Finish with Boiled Linseed oil on top.
Wood: Sapele – Hardwood to Go
Preparation: Top is sanded to 320, all other surfaces are hand planed / scraped.
Finish: Watco Teak Oil
I jointed two 10″ wide pieces of cherry together to ensure a tight joint. 
Then glued them. 
Once the glue had dried, I squared up the edges on the shooting board. 
Then I plowed a groove in the end boards. 
Then I drilled holes through the grooved bread board ends. 
I trimmed the end on the main board to prevent spelching. 
My Veritas Jack Rabbet plane does a nice job of making a rabbet on the main board. Rabbets on both sides of the board create the tongue for the bread board. 
Here are the shavings from the Jack Rabbet. 
I used my brad point bit to mark the holes to be drilled in the tongue and moved in 1/32″. 
I also elongated the end holes to allow movement. 
I glued only the center hole to allow the ends to move. 
I sawed the edges of the waste to be removed to the proper depth. 
And chiseled out the waste using a chisel smaller than the slot and then a crank neck chisel. 
I finished up using my router plane with some more chiseling to prevent tear out. 
Last I put the runner in the groove and planed it to fit smooth. 
Then I did final clean up on the pull out surface. 
The pull out surface installed. 
And with a coat of shellac. 
Shellaced bread board ends.
Above are all the steps I used to make the pull out work surface for the desk. Next I’ll make the three drawers that will sit in the cabinet and then I’ll be finished with the case.
