My simple D.I.Y. desk

vr_syd

With all the working from home in the past couple of years, it was time to upgrade my humble home table to a decent working surface. For this, I've used the materials below :-

Materials :

1. Beech Laminated Panel - 2200 x 600 x 26 mm

2. Zenith 8G x 20mm Gold Passivated Button Head Stitching Timber Screws - 100 Pack

3. Bondall 500ml Monocel Timber Bench Top Oil

4. Trojan 140mm Surshape Plane

5. Sandpaper

6. Gilly's 200ml Clear Carnauba Polish

7. Ikea Adils Leg - Black

8. Matrix Cable Organiser Tray Black

9. Various tools and bits and bobs

Renting in the city means I have no workshop space so my balcony was commandeered for this work. First step was the first (of many) 'trips to Bunnings' to get all the stuff. Beech wood panel was cut down to 1300 x 600 mm. Not sure what to do with the balance pieces - I'll think of something to use it for later.

Panel cut down to size at Bunnings

All the materials ready to go

Did a test coat on the off cut pieces - Bondall 500ml Monocel Timber Bench Top Oil on the left, Cabot's 250ml Clear Water Based Cabothane Interior Varnish Matt . I definitely like the Bondall Oil waaaay more. Went with that.

Testing Bondall's Timber Benchtop Oil and Cabbots Cabothane Clear

Next step was sanding down the panel to a smooth finish - started with 80 grit, then 120 grit, then 240 grit, then 400 grit for a fine smooth finish. Doing this manually without a sander was a real workout!

The edges were quite sharp, so I used the Trojan Surshape plane at a 45 degree angle on the edges to round them out just a little bit and sanded it down to a smooth finish. Once it was sanded to a silky smooth finish, vacuumed and cleaned it thoroughly and applied 3 coats of Bondall Oil, allowing it to dry for about 2 days between coats - it being so rainy in Sydney over the past few weeks, took longer to dry up.

Edges rounded off slightly.

Leg mounting plates were offset from the edges by 6 mm.

Attached a bit of tape to the drill bit to indicate a depth of 19mm to drill the pilot holes for the leg plates.

Waxed both sides of the panel after it was completely dry and smooth to touch.

I noticed the panel was warping a little, by about 2 mm on one side, so attached a Carinya 340 x 40 x 3.5mm Zinc Plated Mending Plate - single at both ends, which straightened out the panel. Hopefully it holds!

Also attached the Matrix Cable Organiser Tray Black on the underside. Flipped it over and gave it a final wax and left to dry for 2 days.

All finished and ready to use

MitchellMc

That's a very slick desk you've put together there, @vr_syd. I love the simplicity of the design.

I like to say thanks for going to the additional effort of taking images of each individual step and putting this article together for your fellow members. I trust they really appreciate your time. Content added to the community through a documented process like this is invaluable.

With skills like these, I'll be excited to hear about your next project. Many thanks for sharing once again.

Mitchell

Jason

Fantastic work @vr_syd. It was only about a week ago when you made your first post about this project. Congratulations on a great result that I'm sure will inspire other members. Many thanks for sharing. We're looking forward to seeing what you tackle next.

Jason

Noyade

Looks good! 👍

Those panels are very versatile.

Happy with the legs? No wobble?

vr_syd

Hey @Noyade ,

Yeah these panels are very versatile. Wish they came in different thicknesses also. The legs are very sturdy and no wobble, although I did notice that the panel itself was warping downwards by about 2 mm towards one corner. Remedied that with mending plates on the bottom. Next project is a drawer cabinet on wheels for under the desk. Would have loved to use the Beech panel for this also, but 26 mm will be waay too thick for an under desk drawer.