Desktop Stackable Paper Organizer

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My wife wanted a stackable paper organizer for her desk at work. We wanted it to match her pencil/pen organizer I made. You can see that project here.

The project started out as a few pieces of 6/4 walnut, about 14″ long and 9″ wide. I also had a few pieces of 4/4 birch that I used. I cut the walnut and birch pieces down to ~4 1/2″ wide. The pieces went through the jointer and then planer to get pieces that have two flat and parallel surfaces and one flat and perpendicular edge. After the milling process, I took them to the bandsaw and resawed all the pieces. Then the pieces all went back to the planer, referencing the surface that was jointed/planed in the first milling process.

Bookmatched Sides

When the paper organizers are stacked, the book matched sections will line up. I imagine only a few people will actually notice this, but I think its a nice touch.

Lower Panel

The lower panel the paper sits on is made from two sections of birch and two small strips of walnut. Edge glued, hand planed, sent through the planer. The panel is a little over 1/4″ thick at 0.28″ when measured with calipers. You can see the panel in the above pictures underneath the walnut.

Box Joints

For the jointery, I decided on box joints, so I cut the walnut sides and back down to the appropriate height for my 3/8 box joints (3″). I initially cut them to 4 1/8″, but that was too tall and had odd proportions. The height ensures that there aren’t any small fingers that could break off. I cut my finger joints on the router table with my homemade jig. The picture below is not fom this project, but it gives you the idea.

Once all the fingers are cut, I laid them out to mark for the groove for the panel.

I wanted to make a small piece for the front that would help keep the structure solid and didn’t want to glue the panel all around due to growth/shrinkage of the panel. So, I made a small piece that is 3/4″ tall with a “finger” cut out of it. I also cut a small recess in the two sides for to recieve the small support piece. The top of the small front support piece also locates the panel. The panel will rest on the front piece.

Cutting Grooves for Panel

In order to cut the grooves, I used the table saw and a dado blade. I had to use the two outer blades and a combination of shims to get the width correct. I had to make a couple of test cuts, but got it dialed in. The grooves had to stopped, so it wouldn’t show through the ends. This is a little tricky on the table saw since I had to drop it onto the blade. I placed some tape on the fence to act as visual indicators when I was nearing the end.

Tape to help show start and stop of blade

The grooves are 1/4″ deep and had to be chiseled out on each end to square them up. It is important to make sure the panel is as thick as my thinnest chisel.

It took a few shots at cleaning out the corners, but I fially got it all fit together.

Cutting Angle, Sanding, & Clamping

The next step was to cut a small angle on the front to soften the appearance. I used my miter gauge with a smatll stop block to help keep the piece in place while cutting.

TIme to sand everything

The glue up was a bit harder than I expected and I am pretty dissappointed that I couldn’t pull all the joints together real tight. From now on when I do box joints I need to make some small clamp pieces that fit in the voids of the fingers. That way I can put direct pressure on the joints, instead of the pressure being offset. The problem is that the fingers are a bit longer than the thickness of the sides and the clamp contacts the fingers before the adjoining piece.

Flushing of Joints

After the glue up was dry, it was time to flush everything up. I started with the finger joints. The joints were proud of the surface.

I utilized my flexible flush trim saw and a block plane. I never used to use the flush trim saw, but it saves time and dulling of blades. It is useful to first knock off most the material. The flush trim saw only works on material thicker than the blade. Any thinner and it just rides over it. In that case, I only use the block plane. Once I trim the finger with the saw I flush it up with the block plane and move onto the next finger.

I move to the bottom and top after the fingers are done. Finally, I had to flush up the front of the panel to the front surface of the smaller support piece.