Knockdown Computer Desk | Popular Woodworking Magazine

Ladders kind the bottom of this knockdown desk —     easy steps to the next schooling in woodworking.

Editor’s Note: Hunter was a highschool senior when he accomplished this text for Popular Woodworking in 2009.

I’m within the midst of making ready for school, so I would like a desk that’s useful but in addition moveable, in order that I can simply transfer it into my dorm room when the time comes. The desk that I’ve had since I used to be 9 years outdated is just too small and about to disintegrate. It wouldn’t be value it to take it to highschool with me. So I made a decision to construct a brand new one.

Exploded View

This new desk was designed with a big high to carry a pc monitor and nonetheless have sufficient area for ebook work. It was additionally designed to be simply taken aside and put again collectively. Slots within the rails of the cabinets match on high of the rungs of the ladders with a number of screws for added stability. This design can be splendid for any faculty pupil, and meets my wants completely.

I started constructing the desk by reducing 1 1⁄4“-diameter poplar dowels to 20 1⁄4” for use as connectors for the ladders. Then I made tenons on every finish on the router desk, with a 1⁄2“-diameter straight bit with 1⁄8” of the cutter uncovered above the desk. To hold every dowel centered over the cutter, I clamped blocks on either side of the bit and set the fence on the router desk again from the entrance fringe of the cutter by 7⁄8“.

Take it for a spin. Tenons are shaped on the ends of the rungs by rotating a dowel over the router bit.

I moved every dowel into the cutter and rotated it with my proper hand as I held it down with my left. As the cuts had been made I moved the dowel towards the fence till I had made an entire rotation with the top of the dowel towards the fence. This gave me a tenon on the top with a 1″ diameter – that’s lengthy sufficient to undergo the legs of the ladders.

After making ready the tenons, I minimize the angled leg items to size and laid out facilities for holes based on the drawing on web page 60. I grouped the legs in pairs and marked off the areas for the holes and the angles on the ends of the legs. Then I drilled the holes with a Forstner bit on the drill press, utilizing the fence to middle the holes within the legs.

Little Things Mean a Lot

Holes in a row. Careful format and setup of the holes within the legs makes for straightforward meeting and durable development.

The subsequent step was to make a kerf throughout the grain in every tenon with the band noticed. I set the fence to maintain them centered, and I finished reducing simply earlier than reaching the shoulders of the tenons.

Across the grain. A band sawn kerf is minimize within the middle of every tenon.

Next, I made wedges to place into the tenon kerfs. These wedges strengthen the bond between the dowels and the legs after the joints are put collectively. To do that, I angled the miter gauge to three˚ and sliced wedges from a large, 1″-long cutoff of scrap. I flipped the piece after each minimize to kind the wedges. To hold the items of wooden from falling by means of the insert within the band noticed desk, I put packing tape over it.

Flipping for wedges. The miter gauge is about at a slight angle, and the wedge inventory is flipped over after every minimize.

Now I used to be able to put the tenons into the holes of the leg items. I began by brushing glue across the inside the holes. Then I inserted the tenons and clamped the legs and rungs collectively. I put glue on the wedges and drove them into the slots within the tenons to carry the items collectively. I let the glue dry in a single day then trimmed the protruding tenons and wedges with a flush-cut noticed, and cleaned up the wedges with a block airplane.

One Piece of Plywood

Keyboard & drawer shelf rail (high). Bottom shelf rail (center). Leg (backside).

With the leg items assembled, it was time to start out constructing the cabinets. All the plywood within the cabinets got here from one 5′ x 5′ piece of 3⁄4“-thick Baltic birch plywood. I ripped the plywood on the desk noticed. I made two rips at 181⁄2” for the underside shelf and keyboard shelf, and I made the final rip at 22″ extensive for the highest shelf.

I minimize the underside shelf to 54″ lengthy, minimize the 2 finish items for the drawer cabinets to 115⁄16” lengthy, and set the leftover items apart for the keyboard shelf. I laid out the notches within the solid-wood rails that assist the cabinets and drilled 1 1⁄4“-diameter holes at these areas, with the highest edges centered within the width of rails.

A motive to cover. I used liquid disguise glue to permit extra time to assemble the rungs and legs.

I used an adjustable sq. to attract traces tangent to the sides of the holes from the underside fringe of the rails. I used the band noticed to chop from the sting of the rails to the holes to make notches, however you could possibly simply use a jigsaw as an alternative. Then I used a rasp to take away the noticed marks on the notches and examined that they match nicely sufficient to only slide over the rungs of the ladders.

A brief drive house. The wedges unfold the ends of the tenons, making them tight within the mortises within the legs.

The angled cutout space within the decrease shelf offers legroom. To make it, I set my bevel gauge to 15˚ for the angle and went again from the entrance 9″. With a jigsaw, I rigorously minimize outdoors the traces that I had marked. Then I minimize the rails to match the underside back and front edges of the shelf.

I mitered the ends of the rails on the entrance nook of the cutout within the backside shelf. The final piece under the underside shelf, the foot rail, is simply butted towards the ends of the angled items.

Starting on the Bottom

A bit off the highest. I made the tenons a bit of lengthy, then trimmed them after meeting.

I began meeting with the underside shelf, and labored my manner upward. No fasteners had been vital. I simply used glue, a lot of clamps, and a strip of clear packing tape throughout the mitered corners. After the glue dried in a single day, I used a trim router with a flush-cutting bit to trim the roughly minimize plywood to the straight fringe of the stable wooden rails.

New block for the child. A number of passes with a block airplane ranges the ends of the tenons and wedges to the floor of the legs.

I put the cabinets onto the ladders and clamped them into place. I then connected the cabinets to the ladders with #Eight x 11⁄4” screws from the within of the rails into the legs of the ladder items. These screws don’t present when the desk is assembled, and so they hold the cabinets from pivoting on the rungs.

I wasn’t certain how tall the keyboard tray must be. My authentic design had the keyboard tray on high of the rails of the primary shelf under the highest. I believed that this made the tray too low, so I made a decision to make it a bit of taller. So I minimize two stable items of wooden 2 3⁄4” extensive to assist the keyboard tray, minimize them to size, and connected them between the back and front rails of the highest shelf with pocket screws. I didn’t use glue in case I determine to vary the peak afterward.

Notches are the important thing. The semi-circular openings within the backside of the shelf rails line up all of the elements and make meeting a snap.

You may want to regulate the shelf heights to accommodate your pc case, if you wish to put it on the underside shelf. Check the clearance you will want earlier than constructing. You may also go away the drawer off one aspect in the event you want the area. Replace the plywood shelf with stable wooden rails between the 2 lengthy rails, and that will provide you with a number of extra inches.

Glue is sufficient. The connection between the plywood and stable wooden is long-grain to long-grain, so a glue-only joint will likely be stable.

I used a sq. to find the notches on the keyboard tray, and made certain to depart clearance so I might drop the tray straight down between the ends of the ladders. These notches permit for straightforward disassembly; simply pull the tray straight as much as take the desk aside.

After I minimize the notches within the keyboard tray with a jigsaw and smoothed the sides with a rasp, I screwed it all the way down to the rails. The area behind the tray leaves room for wires and cables. The high was easy; two straight items of stable wooden had been glued beneath the back and front edges of the plywood. The high rests on the highest of the legs, and is secured with a screw from the within of every leg into the desk’s high helps.

Cutting Corners

Quick meeting. A number of screws in hid areas maintain the items securely collectively.

I used the jigsaw to spherical off the sharp corners of the keyboard tray, then smoothed them with a rasp. Next, I used a 1⁄8” radius roundover bit in a trim router to ease the sharp edges on all of the elements of the desk. Now it was time to sand the whole lot. I used #120-grit with a random-orbit sander.

The drawers are easy containers with rabbet-in-groove joints on the corners and a 1⁄4“-thick plywood backside that slides into grooves within the drawer fronts and sides. To information the drawers, I minimize strips of stable wooden 1⁄2” sq.. After the drawers had been made, I set them on the shelf and nailed a strip on either side of the drawer to behave as guides, plus one in the back of every as a cease.

After the whole lot was assembled and sanded, I utilized two coats of brushed-on satin water-based polyurethane. After the primary coat, I sanded with #180-grit sandpaper to easy out the end.

Cutting corners. The angled cutout within the backside shelf offers some legroom in addition to out-of-the-way storage.

The constructing course of wasn’t as troublesome as I had anticipated. I needed to work with many instruments that I had by no means used earlier than, however I took to the brand new challenges readily. The design of the desk could be very useful, so the entire development steps made sense.

After ending the desk, I used to be very glad with my last product. I put onerous work into constructing my desk, however it’ll meet all my wants for school. I’ve already taken it aside and put it again collectively a number of occasions. It was a stress-free course of every time, and I’m not apprehensive in in the slightest degree about having to disassemble it and take it with me to varsity. I do know that it is going to be a easy course of, and it’ll most likely be the best a part of transferring.

Knockdown Computer Desk Cut List

No. merchandise dimensions (inches) materials feedback

T W L

❏ 8 Rungs 1 1⁄4 dia. 20 1⁄4 Poplar 18 1⁄2“ between tenons

❏ 4 Legs 13⁄16x Three x 30 13⁄16 Oak

❏ 2 Desk high helps 13⁄16 x 7⁄Eight x 60 Oak

❏ 2 Keyboard shelf rails 13⁄16 x 2 x 54 Oak

❏ 2 Keyboard tray rails 13⁄16 x 2 3⁄4 x 18 1⁄2 Oak

❏ 1 Bot. shelf again rail 13⁄16 x 2 1⁄2 x 54 Oak

❏ 2 Bot. shelf entrance rails 13⁄16 x 2 1⁄2 x 10 1⁄4 Oak

❏ 2 Bot. shelf angle rail 13⁄16 x 2 1⁄2 x 10 Oak

❏ 1 Bot. shelf foot rail 13⁄16 x 2 1⁄2 x 25 5⁄16 Oak

❏ 2 Drawer fronts 1⁄2 x 2 x 10 5⁄16 Oak

❏ 2 Drawer backs 1⁄2 x 1 1⁄2 x 91 3⁄16 Oak

❏ 4 Drawer sides 1⁄2 x 2 x 12 3⁄16 Oak

❏ 4 Drawer guides 1⁄2 x 1⁄2 x 12 11⁄16 Oak

❏ 2 Drawer stops 1⁄2 x 1⁄2 x 10 5⁄16 Oak

❏ 1 Desk high 3⁄4 x 20 1⁄8 x 60 Birch ply

❏ 1 Bottom shelf 3⁄4 x 18 1⁄2 x 54 Birch ply

❏ 2 Drawer cabinets 3⁄4 x 18 1⁄2 x 11 5⁄16 Birch ply

❏ 1 Keyboard shelf 3⁄4 x 18 1⁄2 x 32 5⁄16 Birch ply

Click here to obtain the 3D Google SketchUp mannequin of the Knockdown Computer Desk.