After viewing several ideas for desks, a client in Milwaukee decided he wanted a reproduction of a John Townsend writing desk (also known as a slant-top desk).  This desk is made of Mahogany and is a reproduction of one pictured in "John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker." It has four lipped and dovetailed main drawers, a case that is joined with hand cut dovetails, which are visible in the photos, and several other dovetailed and carved drawers and doors in the gallery. The drawer dividers are joined to the sides of the case with hand cut dovetails.  The lower case molding was shaped with a molding plane, and so was the drawer lip. The plane for this profile I recently acquired from Tod Herrli at Mississinewa Planes. Tod makes this and many other traditional molding planes. The several wide boards necessary for this project were all flattened and planed to thickness by hand using several planes (this explains the piles of shavings in the pictures). It is finished with aniline dyes, oil, and shellac.