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Built a DIY Desk : I got bored sitting at home behind my little desk.

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
My little tiny desk was causing me to have claustrophobia! Not really, but I'm not tiny and I was essentially using a kid's desk, so I got ticked off, looked up some quick DIY desk plans and 5 hours later I built this.

It's 28" deep x 96" wide x 30" tall. Honestly, it's TOO big, but I can always cut a foot off the length if I have to.

Tomorrow I have to brace the legs better with a 45-degree support and I'm going to put some type of wood protector on it, not sure what though.

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rickc5

Our back yard
Staff member
100 Posts
Community Leader
Nice! No such thing as a desk that's too big. However, you will find that within a very short time, every square inch of top surface will be occupied by something. Then you will start building shelves.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
And for $40 I might build one for my boys to do their school work on as well.

I'm already thinking of how will I build shelves for it. lol
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
Need to figure out a finishing option for this now, I guess I'll sand it in place with the air scrubber running and wearing a mask, then will stain and put a coat of poly on it.
 

Charlie2640

New Member
Do not use water based polyurethane. Can't tell what wood, but stain of your choice and oil based poly. Wait a couple of days before use, but this is the perfect time of year to do it...
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
I'm concerned about oil based products and the amount of off-gassing VOCs that they put off. One of my kids has asthma and a Dr. said to watch for VOCs and specifically mentioned oil based. So while the finish might be better with oil based, I've got other issues in my household.

I'm getting the woodworking bug again, so I built another one for my kid's computers, with a more traditional table look and 4x4 legs with two leg braces per to make it extra sturdy, and I did a very dark walnut stain with chalk white legs (in the middle of doing that now actually.


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Charlie2640

New Member
Well VOCs aside - I understand - I helped my daughter with a desk that we installed into the wall. Solid hardwood and the water based poly was garbage. If your desktop is not hardwood, poly is not your finish (if just won't matter). Maybe a nice hand rubbed wax...
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
I have at least another 12 hours before I can think about a finish, I was looking at the waxes at the big box stores and might head in there tomorrow and go that route.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
So the wife now wants a matching kitchen table. I think I'll design and build a built-in tv cabinet while I've got free time.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
first you get hooked, then they reel you in :D
I actually worked at a mill shop/lumberyard for a year or two between high school and college. It was Knoll Lumber and Hardware in Kenmore, Washington. I was a lumberyard grunt for a few weeks then they asked me to work in the door shop/mill shop. We were given charge of reclaiming non-salable lumber, plywood, etc.

So we got all of the nasty crooked wood, cracked, and unusable stuff and we'd make products out of it. I must have made at least 750 sawhorses, 50 picnic tables, 20 dog houses, etc. It was actually a good idea for that old-timey lumberyard to do that, it went from scrap wood to a product that we could sell for a profit.

Over the years I've gone more and more digital, and I've hired people to do more and more stuff around the house. But a year or two ago I got hooked on a couple of doctor's teachings that we need to be active, get sunlight, fresh air, exercise, etc. So I've been doing more stuff for myself ... why not make my own furniture?
 

Charlie2640

New Member
Truth, pull your kids in and teach them to work with their hands. My youngest son is now 20 and has decided to be a welder. Some of the things he has learned in the last 8 months - things I would panic about - he just looks at me as if I'm clueless. I now happen to be the sole breadwinner in the house, as this virus passes through, so I'm coding my a$$ off... no time for woodworking. Enjoy
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
You can see how messy my garage/work area is. That's today's task, to clean this up and to build some additional storage space on the far side so I can get it all organzied again.
 

Charlie2640

New Member
Garage - this year's plan for me has two bucket list items: 1) Build a shed. Something large enough for my lawn tractor, mower and yard tools. Solar trickle charger for led lighting and a couple of fans. :) 2) renovate my garage. Epoxy floor, new side door, beadboard and wall trim with 6" floor boards, two tone paint and room for two cars.

Yeah, my clutter has yours beat. But since you started this thread, please post the completed projects.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
I got about 25% of it cleaned up.
  • I've decided that I'll pull down the wire shelves that sit across the left-side of the garage and will build 2x4 shelves into that wall across the entire length.
  • Also, I have an extra window mounted AC and I'm toying with the idea of putting in a small window in that wall in order to get some light in there and also to put the AC in there as well.
  • Of course this means that I'll have to add insulation to the garage door, but it's so jacked up right now that's not an issue as I have to work on it anyhow as one of the rails got bent and it keeps coming off track.
  • I might actually look at replacing it myself, the only issue is there's one large 16' door and no one stocks those, i'm afraid to have one delivered too.
 

Charlie2640

New Member
Nicely done. Did something like this for my daughter - she had a nook in her bedroom that we re-purposed for a work area, replacing another one of those itty-bitty desks. Because I had walls on either side of the nook, I just screwed in supporting brackets and rested the work surface on them. She wanted something more than 2x10s and bought her a birch countertop slab that I cut to size. If I ever get rid of my office furniture, it will be replaced with something more functional for a lab.
 

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