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Building a Desk

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My previous desk setup was pretty poor, the chair was one of those leather coated ones that look like they are from an era which never existed. Besides that it had lost 3 of its wheels, and the gas cylinder had kicked the bucket, and was replaced by a piece of PVC pipe. My desk, was actually a glass kitchen table, which went up to about knee height, and thus was standing on two flower pots. Getting the right work environment actually does make a big difference in comfort and ultimately productivity, especially considering if you are like me you spend almost your entire day at one desk or another. I noticed this at UTEP, where my office has some ergonomically designed desk and expensive Herman Miller chair. It is just easier to type. Building a new desk chair is a bit beyond me, plus I had fallen in love with the Mirra chair from work, so I received one of those for Christmas. The remaining task then is to obtain a new desk. Shopping for desks sucks. No one seriously wants a desk with drawers and 2 ft of leg room, yet somehow these seem to go for upwards of $200. Your other option is to buy a folding table, not exactly a dream arrangement either (at least they are cheap). My option is to build one :) Requirements

  • Height, my googling suggests that at rest the elbow angle should be slightly more than 90 degrees. This depends on the chair, and the length of your legs, for me ~25″
  • Width, desks are all way too narrow, I think having room for multiple objects on your desk is not unreasonable, two screens, speakers : mine is 5′
  • Finish, this was the most difficult part to decide, the finish should make the table waterproof/scratchproof but epoxy tops and glass can be very expensive
  • Depth, enough for the screens, and room to work on paper in front of them ~ 28″
  • Detachable Top, essentially if you glue everything together you will never be able to transport the table

Design I’ll discuss the general joinery. I looked up some other ideas on how to make tables/work benches online. There are tons of different ways to do this, one of the easiest is to make a skirt (horizontal beams connecting the legs) and use 4 legs. This is very sturdy and simple, but it means an awkward way to put your legs under the table. Another option is to have essentially two legs which are joined in the middle by only one beam, less support, but more leg room. I chose option c), a 3 sided skirt, with the one in the front missing. Easy to do, with plenty of leg space, you only make it structurally unstable to side-to-side motion. Materials Good wood is hard to find and very expensive, so compromises are made

  1. 2 sheets of 3/4″ oak veneer plywood (tabletop)
  2. 3/4″x 1 1/2″ red oak (trimming)
  3. 4×4″ redwood (legs)
  4. 2×6″ redwood (skirt)
  5. Cherry stain, Mineral spirits and Satin polyurethane

Photos!

The skirt legs are done with a half-open mortar tenon joint. I drilled the holes first with a forstner bit, and then go back with chisels.
The skirt legs are done with a half-open mortar tenon joint. I drilled the holes first with a forstner bit, and then go back with chisels.
Table top two pieces of plywood joined together, and trimmed with a router. I used a friend's table saw to cut this, the nice thing is with a trim-bit on your router you don't have to worry about matching the sizes exactly.
Table top two pieces of plywood joined together, and trimmed with a router. I used a friend’s table saw to cut this, the nice thing is with a trim-bit on your router you don’t have to worry about matching the sizes exactly. I used cross-beams to clamp them together, but alas you always need more clamps and there is a small gap in some places.
The trimmings are joined to the edges of the tabletop
The trimmings are joined to the edges of the tabletop. I cut off the extra with a miter saw, and then a chisel. I bought some pipes for my pipeclamps and used several ratcheting band-clamp like things to glue this together.
This is the assembled and glued leg fixture
This is the assembled and glued leg fixture. Used belts and extra wood to make sure the joints were square when clamping
The top will be attached with screws into a few oak blocks
The top will be attached with screws into a few oak blocks, lining them up is a pain. I glued the blocks to the skirt, because it seemed convenient, but they could have just been drilled to both the bottom and the top
A look at the bottom of the tabletop before staining. The trimmings have been planed to be flat with the surface, and then rounded with a router. I have the wholes predrilled on the bottom with screws so that I can stain/finish both sides simultaneously.
A look at the bottom of the tabletop before staining. The trimmings have been hand-planed to be flat with the surface, and then rounded with a router. I have the wholes pre-drilled on the bottom with screws so that I can stain/finish both sides simultaneously.
The legs, ready for staining. What we don't see is the hours of sanding I did on everything...
The legs, ready for staining. What we don’t see is the hours of sanding I did on everything…
After a few coats of wipe-on poly. There are 9 coats total. The staining wasn't done very well, and it became very uneven and mixed with the first two coats of poly
After a few coats of wipe-on poly. There are 9 coats total. The staining wasn’t done very well, and it became very uneven and mixed with the first two coats of poly
Of course the stain color is different on two diff. woods. I only sand every 3 coats. Unfortunately there is a lot of dust around
Of course the stain color is different on two diff. woods. I only sand every 3 coats. Unfortunately there is a lot of dust around
My final desk setup. There are dust bits in the last part of the finish, but it is very waterproof, and I think it looks pretty good. And needless to say the dimensions are perfect
My final desk setup. There are dust bits in the last part of the finish, but it is very waterproof, and I think it looks pretty good. And needless to say the dimensions are perfect

Tips/Mistakes

  • Unfortunately I have no pictures, but this involved a lot of very creative clamping because I just don’t have the right ones. Clamps can be extended by using leather belts, racheting tie downs can be used as band clamps, etc.
  • Let the stain dry completely before finishing. Finishing takes forever but you need to be patient
  • Had never actually used a hand-plane before, but it made quick work of the trimming. Unfortunately it also makes quick work of the veneer!

    Welded together when still in the table :(
  • Redwood has tons of knots, I filled mine with wood putty, but they are not very pretty
  • The screws were a total mess, the alignment somehow shifted and they made their own holes, and then I stripped one of them and ended up having to weld a nail onto it to remove it (don’t try this at home)