roll top desk complete

Thank guys. It will be in the November show.
I don’t build for ribbons, Daryl, but thank you for your generous thoughts. Your supportive responses are sincerely appreciated as are your tips on design and construction.
As for the wood, I studied lots of roll top desks. Most around the turn of the last century were built using quartered white oak, which I had been collecting for a while. I have seen ones in walnut, but rare. The antique roll top I own is mahogany, and I’ve only come across one other built from this wood. I think in person, if you can overlook my faults, you’ll appreciate how the grain and color really contribute so much to this small-scale desk. But there’s a look of age that the stain contributes to, and that was something I aimed for. Good ol’ Behlen stains.
As for mistakes, I was aware as I constructed the different frames that the rails must be running at a precise distance measured from the bottom or from the top of the frame. I constantly walked around the desk–my workbench is on wheels so I can move it into the center of the shop–as it came together, making sure I could eyeball a straight line along the top or bottom edges of the rails and of course take measurements. For the two tiers and modesty panel, I was on the money. But when I got to the tambour casework, I was 3/16″ off with one of the rails! Yikes!! So I rebuilt part of it. Yeah, attention to details, with no room for sloppiness.
And Charlie, I did have to redo the tambour roll. The canvas was way too porous, so I needed three coats of contact cement instead of two, and I had to turn the tambour with canvas side up and put pressure on the canvas to guarantee a strong bond. A shame to go through all that knowing I’ll probably never make another roll desk like this one again.
Hope this year is a productive one in your shops.
Roger