Personal Desk

I needed a desk. It was half way through my third year and I was moving into my first off campus apartment and I needed to furnish it. I bought most of my other furniture online and was going to buy my desk from Ikea or Amazon. Then I saw the cost. For a desk of the size I wanted it was easily a couple hundred dollars. The desks online were all cheap and flimsy. I thought to myself I could make a much sturdier desk for the same amount of money if not less and have fun while doing it. So I did.

Desk top and storage area finished

Desk fully assembled in my college apartment

Design:

Since this was a personal project I do not have any documentation on my design process. I pretty much had an idea in my head and I went with it. I took inspiration from a mid century modern desk which was similar to mine but had a drawer in the middle and angled wooden legs. When coming up with the design I used my prior knowledge of materials to design a desk that would last but not break the bank. This was going to be my personal desk in college where I would use it daily so I made the writing surface out of maple, a hardwood, and the sides and bottom are made out of pine, a softer wood. I would have liked to make the entire desk out of maple but during this time wood prices had sky rocketed so I opted to use pine to stay within budget. When choosing the dimensions I wanted something that was large but not too big so that I could use it in any future apartments. I decided on making the desk 55" x 22". I was going back and forth on what legs to make/use and ended up picking a cheaper and faster option of buying pre-fabricated metal legs rather than making my own.

Fabrication:

I ended up making the desk in my mom's garage where I had access to some tools. The main tools I used were a tape measure, miter saw, drill press, drill, clamps, and saw horses. I bought three 1"x4"x8' and 2 1"x7.25"x8' of maple and then the same amount in pine and another 1"x4"x8' of pine.

I used the tape measure to mark all my cuts and then cut the 8 foot maple boards in half to make the main writing surface. I connected the boards together using dowels and would glue then supported them with mending brace on the underside. I used metal BBs to mark where the dowels would go. I placed the metal BB's spaced evenly across the edge of the board and and then hit them with a hammer to leave an ident. Once the BBs were in place on one board I lined up the board it was going to be mated with ensuring the ends were even. Then while fixing one board in place I hit the other with a rubber mallet to then make a symmetrical mark on the other board. The result was a small indentation on each of the edge of the boards that lined up perfectly. I then used a vice and drill press to ensure the dowel holes were normal to the edge. I used wood glue, dowels and clamps to then join the two boards. I attached the four inch boards to a 7.25 inch board then the 7.25 inch boards to each other. I then added a 22 inch piece with the same process to each end as an end cap to the sides of the writing surface. I then repeated this process with the pine boards to make the top and bottom of the desk.

To attach the top and bottom I cut the pieces of pine into two 22" and one 53" piece to make the supports. I then pre drilled holes on the top and bottom and into the supports. I then used screws to attach all the pieces together.

Since I made this in my mom's garage and had to bring it to my apartment in Boston I decided to not add the legs until I brought it up making it easier to transport. I added the legs when I got to Boston and now the desk is used daily for all my needs.

Results:

The desk has now been in use for over a year and has held up great. It withstands the weight of two monitors, a lamp, other tech accessories and a person leaning on it. The maple has held up well showing no damage from writing on it. The inside stores all my school needs such as notebooks, pens and pencils.

If I were to make this desk again or for someone else there is not much I would change. The desk held up well and the pre-fabricated metal legs work fine and look good but I would change them. I did model this with the goal of making it look mid century modern and I don't think the metal legs go with that style. In the future I would either buy or make wooden legs that are angled to give it more of the style I was looking for. I have also added a monitor riser made out of the same maple that adds storage and makes the desk more ergonomic.