Newbie furniture building

[Anonymous No.892656]

I want to make my own furniture for my home. Im looking for ideas for materials/construction techniques with regards to sturdyness. I want strong shelving, a bookshelf, an entertainment center, a nightstand, a bedframe.

But my first project is a general desk/work table. Suitible for office use such as a computer, reading, writing/drawing, as well as workshop uses (re)building, repairing anything i need. A lot of pics i see have crossbeams all the way around the bottom, but i need to leave one out so i can slide left and right with my chair.

I like dark, but honestly this is a trial run to learn the ropes, so i dont want to get super expensive if i dont need to. In a few years i can do a better set for a new home. I have a decent tool set and can buy what i need.

[Anonymous No.892659]

my idea thus far was a sheet of 3/4" 4x8 ripped to about 30"(standard desk depth, remaining wood saved for shelving or somesuch) and on a support frame of 4x4s. Idk what size fasteners I should go for.

[Anonymous No.892662]

4x4s will be way too bulky for just a desk.

[Anonymous No.892663]

>>892659
2x4s will do just fine

[Anonymous No.892837]

>>892659
I've had the stuff lying around for a week to build a bullshit desk I've been needing for school. Since I don't have a whole lot of experience with woodworking or furniture, I don't expect it to last indefinitely, but I sorta over engineered it so that my cheap ass materials will last until I can either buy a better one or build it.

Basically I'm just gonna build using mostly 2x6 and using 2x4 in the places where it won't be so stressed. The entire tabletop will be 2x6 lined up the ass, and to give me a good working surface I've got a decent 8x4 piece. I've never sanded before but I'm gonna sand it pretty well on any surface I think might be used/touched regularly. I bought 150 and I think 350 before I read online recommendations for nothing more than 250 being necessary on anything but ebony, but with how much I'm gonna use the desk if the 350 isn't satisfactory I think I've got some 400 left over from another project.

I'll try to document the process a bit and post it if you'd like, but it may not be pretty lol. I just need a desk, I've been using nothing but a computer chair (keyboard in lap, mouse pad on armrest, monitors on shelves mounted to the wall... fucking ridiculous now that I write it out) and it is... unnecessarily inconvenient, especially for writing.

[Anonymous No.892955]

Hey OP. I know this is well known amongst DIYers but Palets always give lots of good, cheap base material.

Pic related my new living room table. Two palets, some very old timber for the legs and a rest of wooden flor lacquer to finish it.

[Anonymous No.892991]

Free plans OP.

http://www.freewoodworkingplan.com/index.php

[Anonymous No.893126]

>>892656

I don't want to sound like a dick but building furniture to a decent standard out of expensive hardwood takes some degree of practice in wood work.

Start by learning good joinery and practice on wood scraps. Industrial sites usually throw out lots of wood from packaging and shipments. That's a good place to start.

What tools do you have?

[Anonymous No.893143]

>>892955
Pallets can also be full of hideous chemicals, depending upon what/where they were used.

[Anonymous No.893496]

>>893143
this. i hope you know what was transported on them, and what they were treated with.

[Anonymous No.893503]

Plywood is good cheap material for home learner projects.

[Anonymous No.893516]

>>893496
a friend of mine whos an electrician gave me them. They carried cable rolls, lamps and other electrician stuff before.

I also covered the wood in a dozen coats of wooden floor lacquer. Even IF there whould have been chemicals (which is not) it would have a damn hard time evaporating. And last but not least: I had them outside for a good year

[Anonymous No.893520]

>>893143
You can't even trust store brought furniture to be toxic free.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1268982/Hundreds-toxic-sofa-burns-victims-line-20m-payout.html

[Anonymous No.893702]

>>892955
Disregard this, OP.

[Anonymous No.893706]

>>893516
>I also covered the wood in a dozen coats of wooden floor lacquer.

See, dude, all that time and effort and money you wasted on those pallets: you could have just bought good wood from the start and it would have only needed 2 or 3 coats of finish.

But then again I work in furniture making so all we ever use is the expensive stuff.

[Anonymous No.893815]

>>892656
If you dont have one, Kreg pocket-hole jigs.

I recently build a foldout cutting table/workbench, incredibly sturdy and heavy duty - I cant sing the praises of the 'Kreg Jig' enough I was sceptical about the strength of the joins at first but for just a workbench where the joins are hidden its great - they do a regular and a 'heavy duty' one, I used the heavy duty one.

[Anonymous No.893845]

Also building a desk here and thought it's better to post here than to make a new thread.
Was planning on using 2x10 VJ. Basically pic related but it will be taller, have no shelves in the larger midsection, no boards as a flat base and also have one or two boards flat across the back for support.
Without the flat base like in my picture and with the added height, will this still be a sturdy structure?

[Anonymous No.893846]

>>893845

[Anonymous No.893849]

>>893815

Sorry if this sounds a bit cork-sniffer-ish but pocket holes are absolute last resort for me. Intact I've never used pocket holes.

I don't rate the strength and if you can learn basically joinery over the use of pocket holes, it's a skill that will never go out of fashion.

The only place on a work bench I'd use them is to secure a solid work top to a frame(that wasn't put together with pocket holes).

And in that instance I'd still use splines is biscuits.

[Anonymous No.893850]

>>893849
Splines or biscuits rather.

[Anonymous No.893976]

>>893706
See, I know that but first of all I'm no carpenter nor did I want to spend ANY money on that table. My goal was to build a new table without having to buy anything. All done with onboard stuff I had lying around

[Anonymous No.893977]

>>893846
Thats neat. But the cables on the left trigger my autism to infinity

[Anonymous No.893979]

My mom had bought an old barn door. I turned it into a desk.

[Anonymous No.893980]

Part way sanded...

[Anonymous No.893981]

Fully sanded and steel wooled

[Anonymous No.893982]

After several coats of teak oil....

[Anonymous No.893983]

And now with black iron legs.

Lessons learned:

1) Don't use furniture wax on something you use every day.

2) Black iron pipe is very expensive

[Anonymous No.893988]

>>893983
Nice refinish. Just an FYI that you're going to want something with a little more "surface" than teak oil if you plan to really "use" this desk. Something like a several built-up coats of a decent polyurethane. That is, unless you're cool with lots of dings, dents and scratches (which may be what you're going for).

- Furniture builder/refinisher here. Taking a minute while I wait for a coat of french polish to dry.

Good luck.

[Anonymous No.893996]

>>893983
>2) Black iron pipe is very expensive
i guess being a fucking hipser has its downsides

[Anonymous No.894013]

>>893996
I never get comments like that. They're just table legs.

[Anonymous No.894014]

Don't want to make a new thread so:

I have a telescope and when I'm not using it it stays assembled in my room. I have been wanting to get a case for it but they are quite expensive so I figured I'd make one and cut the foam specifically for my telescope. I'm thinking something like a large-ish, sturdy trunk, but I'd also like it to have compartments for lenses/other accessories. Are there any reference things I can go off for this?

[Anonymous No.894022]

>>894014
Find examples of cases you like.
Sketch your ideas.
Draw up some dimensions.
Then look for plans or part of plans that fit your design.
Use those plans to plan your project.

[Anonymous No.894186]

>>894014
Basically just a scaled version of a trunk.

Go on youtube and search "how to build a wood case"

[Anonymous No.894225]

>>893988

I made this thing like a year ago. It's held up well.

I already had put furniture wax on it, and from what I read, other finishes wont stick on top of wax and you have to scrub the shit out of it with solvent to remove the wax.

It has some scratches and mug rings, but it's a desk. It gets used.

[Anonymous No.894300]

>>894022
>>894186

Alright.

[Anonymous No.894324]

Please don't use big ugly screws like everyone on this board and the people in your picture.

Get a biscuiter and a drill bress and build your furniture on a dowel/biscuit system wherever you would have an otherwise visible screw.

Would glue on a biscuit is plenty strong enough for any household application and it looks much better, the only advantage of screws/staples/brads is the speed at which you can build.

t. former cabinetmaker / son of cabinet maker

[Anonymous No.894327]

>>894324
>would glue
>drill bress

fug ogay i fugged it up bud serioudly use bisgits

[Anonymous No.894400]

>>894327
I always wondered if I try this will it fuck up and not be as strong if I drill too far in?

[Anonymous No.894411]

>>894324
Ain't nobody got time fo dat

[Anonymous No.894429]

>>892991
Nice link. Thanks

[Anonymous No.894434]

>>894400
not really. but you can set your biscuiter to only cut out so far anyway. It's a pretty easy to use tool.

[Anonymous No.894606]

>>894400
>>894324

I use dowel pegs on my joints.

I like the the through peg joint.
I just drill through one and into the other, then knock in dowel rod it and cut it down with a flush saw.

[Anonymous No.894622]

>>894606
You're leaving out that they need a bunch of routers and cutters to makes those joints. Not to mention the expertise to know how to use them.

That's the old timey way to build furniture. Nails are 10,000 x faster.

[Anonymous No.894630]

>>894622
You mean a saw and a chisel?

[Anonymous No.894634]

>>894622
You can still us through dowels for a lap joint.
Just think of it as driving a wooden nail in.

And also mortise and tenon joints aren't hard to make, I learnt to make them in school aged 9.
This guy here can teach you how.
>>894630