New desk - built in lockdown

[cmstar]

I needed a new desk so we had these delivered from Bunnings in Melbourne lockdown. I purchased 2 x steel Rapidmesh leg furniture, a pine panel which we then painted with liming white paint. It came up really well. Very happy with the finished product. 

[lockdownv6]

@EricL  thanks a lot for your advice and suggestions

I don't need to pre drill for the screws?

With the beeswax, would it be worth giving it a varnish beforehand to give it a darker color then applying coats of beeswax? This will be a computer desk so I don't want to damage the wood

[EricL]

Hello @lockdownv6

Pre-drilling your benchtop is best practice and prevents the timber from splitting. I suggest giving the Beeswax a go first to see if shine agrees with you. Using varnish to seal the table locks it into that colour, and the Beeswax will no longer affect the colour of the table. If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[lockdownv6]

Hi @EricL 

Quick question, will the width of the legs mentioned actually fit the width of the table? Just realised the panel is 60cm width and the legs are 73cm width... How did the OP make them fit ? Or am I miscalculating somewhere

[MitchellMc]

Hi @lockdownv6,

@EricL will be back on site on Monday and will be happy to continue the conversation with you.

In the meantime, I've had a look at a few of the details for you. @cmstar used an AraucoPly 2100 x 900 x 30mm Clear Pine FJ Laminated Panel and similar legs that were 700mm wide. Since their panel was 900mm wide, the legs suited. In answer to your question, the SpecRite 2200 x 600 x 26mm Merbau Panel would not be wide enough to suit these legs as they would stick out. Sorry that we didn't pick up on this sooner.

We have the SpecRite 2400 x 900 x 33mm Finger Joined Teak Panel if you were after a hardwood instead of the pine. Another option might be to use these RapidMesh 70 x 66 x 5cm Black Madison Steel Flat Bar Table Furniture Legs that appear to taper in significantly at the top. They do drop in height by 7cm versus the RapidMesh 70 x 73.2 x 6cm Black Cusco Steel Tube Table Furniture Leg. To suit your colour choice, you could also consider staining the AraucoPly 2100 x 900 x 30mm Clear Pine FJ Laminated Panel.

If you were really set on the Merbau top and those legs, perhaps creating a bulkhead at the rear to take up the difference could be an option. You'd need to drill some leg mounting holes closer to their centre and build a unit at the rear. This could look quite nice, serve as a shelf, and double as a fantastic cable management tray. I've created some images below to illustrate.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[lockdownv6]

Thanks for your reply mitchell and the time taken to illustrate the idea. 

Unfortunately that doesn't work for me as I wanted the table to be flat. I'll eventually be getting monitor mounts that will be on the desk so the bullhead will be in the way.

I've had to cancel the legs from my order as Bunnings had none in stock of the tapered one you mentioned and couldn't get an estimated time. 

I've gone to Amazon instead and found similar legs, 2 for 100 with free shipping so should be here on the same day as

I'll upload a picture of it once completed