Finish-sand all the project pieces. The final product will have some tight spaces, so you might want to pre-finish all components using a penetrating oil while they're separate. Take care to mask off the areas that will be glued-glue won't stick to oily wood.
As you may have found in your dry-fit exercise, this can be a difficult piece to assemble, because of its many interlocking joints. Gluing it up all at once is a challenge, so give yourself lots of time. Practise assembly a few times first. I suggest you choose a slow-drying glue that has a long “open” time, to give yourself time to tweak the assembly. Clamping curved pieces is rather difficult; make it easier using a band clamp or a piece of rubber tubing to clamp the dividers into place.
After you've glued up the project, you may find, as I did, that you need to tweak some of the joints. Parts may have shifted during the glue-up. Per-haps the bottom is now protruding a bit from the front, or maybe one of the dividers doesn't quite line up at the front edge. Use a well-tuned smoothing plane, a low-angle block plane or a spokeshave to trim back any excess wood on the back or the bottom pieces. With care, you can also use a plane to trim the dividers if they are sticking out here and there.
The stopped dados can also cause some headaches at this point. Because of the fact that the dados do not extend the whole length of all joints, there is a part of the shelf or divider that is not in a dado. This can result in a small gap. If it's quite small, mix some fine sawdust and glue, then pack this into the opening. If the gap is larger, some slivers of wood or perhaps some thicker shavings from your plane can be slipped in with glue to close the gap.
I chose to finish this spalted maple piece with Danish oil. Use a brush or clean cotton rag to wipe on a thin coat. Wait five minutes, then wipe off any excess. Once the oil has soaked in, buff with a soft cloth. I like to apply a second coat of oil and sometimes a third. Buffing creates a silky surface, and the oil reveals an almost three-dimensional depth to the grain.
Place the completed organizer on your office desk and fill it up. Will it help you conquer the clutter? Perhaps. But if not, at least you'll be cluttered in style.
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