Have you ever built a desk/table?

[deadly7]

Long story short: I'm interested in building myself a miniature desk/table to learn shop technique etc. Wondering if anybody's had similar experiences, how you went about drawing up your designs, figuring out loadbearing/sturdiness, and materials.

 

[whiteslashasian]



Long story short: I'm interested in building myself a miniature desk/table to learn shop technique etc. Wondering if anybody's had similar experiences, how you went about drawing up your designs, figuring out loadbearing/sturdiness, and materials.

Common sense worked for me.

To be fair, my dad was a general contractor for many years and I learned much of the trade from him, including carpentry...

 

[deadly7]



Common sense worked for me.
To be fair, my dad was a general contractor for many years and I learned much of the trade from him, including carpentry...

I was thinking about something nicer looking than just "4 legs and a flat top".

Most of my childhood was spent mucking with PCBs, not shop equipment..

 

[whiteslashasian]



I was thinking about something nicer looking than just "4 legs and a flat top".
Most of my childhood was spent mucking with PCBs, not shop equipment..

I wasn't implying that you're just trying to make a "plain" surface. However carpentry and furniture building isn't exactly rocket science.

Use quality woods, steer clear of thin pine and any particle boards if you can.

What style are you going for? Sleek and modern? Provincial Country? Rustic?

Not saying this is what you want, but it gives you a good idea on what can be required depending on complexity. http://www.minwax.com/wood-projects/pdfs/advanced-project-computer-workstation.pdf

I'm building a desk right now to go along with a wall unit I'm building. Steel pipe and old pine boards (like 1.5" thick) are being used. Going for a more minimal theme with my setup though.

 

[deadly7]



I wasn't implying that you're just trying to make a "plain" surface. However carpentry and furniture building isn't exactly rocket science.
Use quality woods, steer clear of thin pine and any particle boards if you can.
What style are you going for? Sleek and modern? Provincial Country? Rustic?
Not saying this is what you want, but it gives you a good idea on what can be required depending on complexity. http://www.minwax.com/wood-projects/pdfs/advanced-project-computer-workstation.pdf
I'm building a desk right now to go along with a wall unit I'm building. Steel pipe and old pine boards (like 1.5" thick) are being used. Going for a more minimal theme with my setup though.

Ideally I'm looking to make a rustic wrap-around (or corner, or L-shaped) desk with half serving as a computer desk and half as a writing surface. Similar to this http://www.renofurniture.com/Updated Images/Furniture/rusticoak/2862-2-large.gif minus the cabinet in the background. That link is pretty helpful -- definitely don't have all the requisite tools.

A few concerns I had when I was thinking about this further:
1. Sag of the top board under the weight of a lot of stuff. This has happened in most desks I've encountered, but I'm not sure if that's from cheap material or age or what.
2. Figuring out how much load-bearing is needed to make it sturdy.
3. Ideally this would be modular. I don't plan on taking it apart IKEA style, but in case of moving in the future it would be nice if it "disassembled" into pieces.

 

[EMY]

To prevent sag of top board, you can try to have some tension bars underneath the surface. Or you can even embed some metal tubes that run the length of the surface.