DIY Desk Build

We decided to redo part of our living room, moving our pool table to our expanded studio space. With the open space we decided we needed a dedicated desk space. I designed it up in Solidworks and got to work. Frames welded 1.5x1.5 tube, and 1/2" plywood. The tops are 3/4" plywood.

Wife's only requirement was that there were no cords on the ground, that was the easy part.

A couple more images

Cool. How do you sit without a backrest?

digital paradise wrote in post #17829613
Cool. How do you sit without a backrest?

I am getting a new computer chair for Christmas so its only for a few more days. I used a dinning room chair for a while which had no padding and that sucked as well.

That explains it.

Very nice, I should consider this technique some day. What grade Plywood did you use and what did you do to finish it?

I love your design and execution! This is a fantastic set up!


I have to say, and partially in answer to the question above, I DO NOT like your choice of standard grade AC (or worse) pine plywood!

You should treat your time and effort better by simply paying a small amount more for some decent stuff that will actually take a finish and not be full of patches and knots and rough yuckoo surface. It will offer a much nicer end result and is easier to work with as well.

CCF, At your local Home Depot you can find reasonable priced "sande" "poplar" and "Birch" ply, and for a bit more you can get Oak and other more high end woods. For the record, all plywoods at Home Depot are fairly "cheap" in both price and quality even when you move into the "cabinet grades" like those I am recommending. real Cabinet grade quality will cost $80.00 or more a sheet, the stuff at Home Depot will start at about $38.00 for the 3/4" poplar

I love to work with the birch and sande, both light colored blond woods that take any finish beautifully. The Poplar is only available in 3/4" and DO NOT USE if you want to paint it For Urethane of staining it's fine. All three are hardly a few bucks more than generic rough AC pine/fir ply.

Everything but the tops is cheap 1/2" stuff with some voids and knots. However it matches most of the other wood and decor in our living room. The top was 3/4" from home depot not sure the grade or kind of wood.

I just used standard wood stain from home depot as well to finish it all, again matching other shelves and woodwork in the room.

Thank you both!

I built an Electronics Rack for work out of a single sheet of 3/4" Birch Plywood and sanded and painted black as is typical of racks. 2 foot deep, 6 foot tall and holds lots of equipment, saving lots of table space the office was wasting before. It came out pretty good. Commercially purchased pre drilled brackets were used for the 6 foot tall rack rails. I've made work benches very similar to what the OP has posted here.

I was a bit perturbed when I saw someone left dozens of double sided tape squares on the outside of the cabinet after they failed to hold some cork sheet on the side. My that stuff looks ugly on my nicely finished cabinet!!! I think it'll get cleaned off during the holiday break as things are slow in the shop. The Birch was really nice to work with. I want to use it again. Welding is my background; though I do not have one at home, but wish.

I think the layout/design is nice. Have to agree with CDS regarding the choice of material, but thats water under the bridge now I guess. Personally I would primer and paint it though as it looks like a shipping crate to me, but if the other half likes the look I guess youre good to go.