Computer Desks

[Anonymous No.776385]

/g/ fag, here.
First /diy/ post, be gentle.

Thinking of building a large, basic computer desk. Funds and tools are limited to a the basic hand tools, a drill with various bits, and a standard circular hand saw.

Thinking something along the lines of pic related. I'm comfortable with building simple structures and I'm thinking 36"x96"x3/4" project panel surface, with 2x4 legs and supports. What would the best method of going about affixing the surface to the legs and supports, while keeping the surface as smooth as possible, and preserving structural integrity?

My first instinct says wood dowels and glue, drilled 1/2" into the bottom of the surface and 1" into the supports/ legs, or even dowels all the way through the surface and down into the supports, then cut/sand dowels flush with the surface.

Thoughts? Plans? Completed projects?

[Swift No.776386]

Personally what I look for in a table is a dedicated lifted leg space.
This is because I'm scared of spiders attacking my exposed feet ;_;

[Anonymous No.776389]

You might want something to support the top at the front, it will sag.

I built a big bench for my garage, top was 3 3/4" ply sheets glued and screwed from the bottom.
I didn't fix it to the base because it doesn't move.

I would probably end up fixing strips to the underside of the table top, add some rigitity to stop sagging and placed so that the edges butt up against the legs so it won't move laterally but could be lifted off.

Depends what you need though.

[Anonymous No.776394]

>>776389
I plan on putting a couple of 1x4's along the bottom to make a classic "H" brace, and I'll need some blocking to attach my keyboard slide mount, since I have to attach from the bottom

[Anonymous No.776868]

>>776385
I made pretty much this desk. It cost around 60 dollars before finishing materials. I used pine furring for the legs and desktop frame and a nice pine finished top. Lets see if I can find a picture.

[Anonymous No.776870]

>>776868
Here is a picture I just took of my desk. To follow will be a picture before some finishing was added.

[Anonymous No.776871]

>>776870
Here is a picture I just took, lacquer, several shelves were added. Under the lacquer I used the oil that is generally used on gun stocks, I am forgetting the name. I am happy with how it turned out. I still need to cover up the edges of the legs where the cpu is. That will be in the near future.

[Anonymous No.776872]

>>776871

[Anonymous No.776874]

>>776870
In this picture you can see what I did different from that picture. Basically I constructed 3 leg "frames" which need to be perfectly measured. I needed to shim the desktop and cut the bottoms off some of the legs to get everything level. The reason this happened was because I used pine furring, CHEAP but generally not the straightest wood. After I made the legs I made the desktop frame, screwed the one long board across the front, one on the back towards the top, and then one on the back towards the bottom. It is strong and wood only cost me around 60 dollars, 25~ because of the desktop piece. Size is 6'x2'.

[Anonymous No.776875]

>>776874
Actually, I am pretty sure the depth of the desktop of larger than 2 feet.

[Anonymous No.777034]

This is the desk that I made. It measures 85 x 205 cm and is made of Tasmanian hardwood floor boards that were left over from the floors visible at the bottom of the picture. I used two boards on either underside to provide rigidity and act as supports to hold the boards together. The adjustable legs are from IKEA and actually work quite well. The drawers I bought second hand for $5 and trimmed the legs to be at my preferred height and be able to support the desk closer to the mid line. The boards are glued together and screwed into the underside supports. The top was coated with left over polyurethane and looks great. I couldn't be happier with my big ass desk.

[Anonymous No.777049]

>>776385
>What would the best method of going about affixing the surface to the legs and supports
Angle brackets would be the easiest. Wouldn't mess with the top surface. Wouldn't be as sturdy as dowels, but would be adequate.
You could even buy some angle iron to run the full <36" and drill your own holes for more stability. Making the top removable would make it possible to get it through a doorway in the future.

>/g/ fag, here.
That's ok, we wont hold it against you.
We ARE tech support.

[Anonymous No.777133]

>>776871
Probably thinking of linseed oil

[Anonymous No.777146]

I'm actually in the same boat. Not a lot of wood tools, just basic drill bits and absolutely no wood. If you're looking for supplies I'd check out my local craigslist's "free" section to see what you can nab.

I'm actually planning on using pallets to build my desk. It has to accomodate a mini-fridge, a nightstand or filing cabinet, my tower, subwoofer, a power strip and have enough space for dual monitors.
I'm gonna try to post my rough drawings for it. Not sure how to do it but we'll see how it turns out. :D

[Anonymous No.777166]

>>776385
i had a desktop, and i was living on my own @ 16 in a basement apartment. My landlord had a baby cradel parts and i built a desk outa that :D

[Anonymous No.777173]

I did something similar. I picked up a table from a thrift store for $16 and sanded and painted it to color accordinate with my bedroom. Now I want to make it taller in the future with different legs.

[Anonymous No.777176]

>>777173
I also went to used furniture stores and saw damn good looking desks. If I weren't between jobs would have dropped some on a nice wooden one with pipe metal legs.

[Anonymous No.777185]

>>776385
i built a very similar desk at the last place i lived. i used 2x4 for legs and the front horizontal under the top. i used 1x4 for the rest. i put a pre made 8' countertop from lowes on top. i didnt bother to fasten the top to the base, with all mah crap on it, it never moved

[Zombi No.777188]

I went with the floating concept and attached it to the wall with some pretty beefy braces.

[Anonymous No.777275]

>>777188
ugly as fuck

[Anonymous No.777276]

>>777188
holy shit that's ugly. atleast it looks like you're on the studs.

[Rosewood No.777291]

Op,the cheapest way to attach the top would be to drill 3/4 of the depth into the top stretchers to make clearance for a screw,otherwise you could insert the screw at a 20 degree angle from the inside of the stretchers under the top.The quickest would definitely be brackets.As well,I would suggest adding a 2x4 on edge in the front between the two top stretchers to increase rigidity of the desk and flatness of the top.Check out http://ana-white.com/plancatalog , great plans you can do with just a corded drill and (even hand powered)mitre saw

[Anonymous No.777313]

>>777188
My brother did something like this in a small 2x1.5m room he keeps his PC in. If your limited on funds and skills it's perfect.
Make sure you get some beefy braces though if your keeping your computer on the desk (which you should because having it on the floor attracts dust).

[Anonymous No.777348]

Also building a desk here. Looking to use steel square tubing for the frame. Question:
How thick and what gauge tubing do I need to span 10'?
The desk is 30" by 10' and I plan on using 2 10' lengths of tube.

[Anonymous No.777395]

You cant see to well in this picture, but i took two cabinets and put a peice of countertop on it, then just put a keyboard drawer on. As you can see i need bigger, but im lacking space atm.

[Anonymous No.777410]

>>777395
Hey, we have the same printer

[Anonymous No.777641]

>>777188
this would probably look less shitty if you painted those brackets to match the wall color. that way they will disappear better

[Anonymous No.777668]

I made this a few years ago. It was designed to used nothing but spare wood I had in the garage, which is why the top looks so cobbled together.

If bought new though, the material wouldn't be much more than 40-50. Probably significantly less. Its just 1.5 4x4s, a few 1 and 2x4s, some left over cutoff from a sheet of plywood and a few threaded rods and nuts to hold the L extension on. The only thing I bought was a cheap pack of edge banding. Its a cheap build and sturdy as fucking hell.

I was going to build a prettier one with new material but its held up so well and its got enough stuff on it that you don't really notice the all the touched up dings it got while stored.

[Zombi No.779054]

It only looks off because nothing is moved in there yet. Once all the real computer equipment, file cabinets, furniture, etc. goes in you don't even notice braced anymore. I can actually agree that it doesn't look great in the renovation phase.

[Anonymous No.779060]

>>777395
Countertop desks are the best lol. I used to have two sun E450s and a heavy chunk of countertop across them. Made a fucking solid desk considering the suns were >200lbs each.

[Anonymous No.779881]

>>777188
This has potential