It's always great to see people jump into doing something new with their hands.<p>That said, I predict cracks and early failure for the top. The author created something called "breadboard ends" (the left and the right side of the top writing surface have boards that run 90 degrees to the main boards of the top). Breadboard ends are a great technique - they keep the natural tendency of the left-to-right boards to cup (curl up in the short dimension) in check.<p>That said, there is one issue with breadboard ends: the long boards will shrink and grow in width with humidity changes over the seasons by 1/4" or more. Lumber only changes in width, not in length. So the breadboard ends will not accomodate the seasonal change...and something will give. Likely cracks will open up.<p>There are techniques to avoid this. Perhaps the author used some of them (only gluing the breadboard ends in the center, etc.), but if so I missed it.<p>Moral of the story:<p>* learning new things is great<p>* diving in is awesome<p>* sometimes trades do have semi-secret techniques evolved from dealing with the same damned issues over and over and over again.
Woodworking is a fantastic outlet for creativity, and seriously underrated/underappreciated. Great way to take a break from coding. Extremely rewarding, and not very difficult to learn the basics, either.<p>Since we're sharing, here's a couple things I've made around the house:<p><a href="https://scontent-b-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/302582_2063477263663_3056647_n.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://scontent-b-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/302582_2063...</a><p><a href="https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/309672_10150408756461760_1859029841_n.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/309672_1015...</a>
I built my own desk last year because of the expense of a new desk and the fact that all the desks I looked at weren't quite the right size for what I wanted.<p>I've been using it every day for over a year and the desk has withstood a barrage of abuse much better then previous desks I've owned. If you have the space to build one, I highly recommend building one to match your exact specifications.<p>Here a blog post about how I built it: <a href="http://nolanbrown.com/howto/2012/12/19/desk-build/" rel="nofollow">http://nolanbrown.com/howto/2012/12/19/desk-build/</a>
This is cool if your goal is to learn how to do this stuff yourself but I don't think saving money is among the reasons to go this route.<p>You can get a really nice solid wood desk in the $300 - $400 range on Etsy. Ad a piece of Paduit Wiring duct to the bottom for an inexpensive cable hide.<p>You can also build your own desk a lot cheaper if you buy a pre made unfinished pine panel ($25-$50) for the top and use threaded steel pipe for the legs. The great thing about threaded steel pipe is that you can tighten or loosen the pipes slightly to eliminate any wobble. And all you need to build it is a drill and a brush to finish it.
As long as we're sharing pictures of our homemade desks, here's mine:<p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/vFAThh.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://i.imgur.com/vFAThh.jpg</a><p>Oak, oak, oak, and more oak. I love oak.<p>And here's a full build album, including pictures of my wife's desk on the other side of the room:<p><a href="http://imgur.com/a/HTxXk" rel="nofollow">http://imgur.com/a/HTxXk</a><p>Everything was done by hand except for the cabinet boxes above the corner desk and the cabinet doors, which I had made by a local cabinetry shop, since I don't have the proper tools and router bits.<p>This was one of my first major woodworking projects, and I can confirm what jlongster is now learning: you don't know how much you don't know about something until you try and do it yourself.
Here's Bezos at one of his famous door-desks (joined with flat corner braces) in 1999:<p><a href="http://images.bwbx.io/cms/2013-10-09/feat_Bezo42__08__630.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://images.bwbx.io/cms/2013-10-09/feat_Bezo42__08__630.jp...</a>
This is so awesome and inspiring - I had somewhat of an epiphany a few weeks ago (essentially I felt like I wasn't handy AT ALL) and decided to take a basic woodworking class at TechShop SF this past weekend (<a href="http://www.techshop.ws/take_classes.html?storeId=4&categoryId=25#240" rel="nofollow">http://www.techshop.ws/take_classes.html?storeId=4&categoryI...</a>)<p>I was a bit overwhelmed when we dived right in as I had absolutely ZERO experience before, but it was easier than I thought, especially when I got over the fear of losing limbs and whatnot.<p>I ended up building a basic shelf but am really proud of it - this inspires me to go back in and try to actually plan something to build - I know there's a bunch of resources out there but anyone you guys would specifically recommend?
I recently built my own desk too. I live in an old victorian with a curved window. The only way to fit a desk there was to create my own.<p>I went with a walnut top, and then got some legs from Ikea so I could adjust the height to where I'd like. I think next time, I'd make my own legs for even great stability.<p>Besides doing the finish, the process is super easy. Just lots of sanding. I posted some photos to Instagram, which then synced to Flickr here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisstreeter/sets/72157636666211835" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisstreeter/sets/721576366662...</a> One note is that these photos are pre-27" monitor, so the desk looks a bit more complete now.
This turned out really good. I had a similar journey a few years back where I took a class and built a custom headboard. It was a lot of fun. The two "hacks" that I got out of the experience were to (1) use biscuit joints (in replace of dowels). And, (2) to buy a Kreg jig. These two things made putting together just about anything a lot easier.
For me, a used IKEA Jerker for $50 of CL with task light has been perfect. People worship[0] this desk. Now I see why. Lots more photos[1] available, including standing desks, treadmill desks, etc.<p>It's got adjustable height from slouching to standing (painful to adjust, but possible in 1.5" increments). The shelf I have up top has room for 1 full sized PC, 1 printer, and 2 NAS servers. I use another shelf on the bottom to rest my feet (also adjustable height). Adding an IKEA SIGNUM cable trough behind the tabletop makes it clean as possible.<p>[0] <a href="http://adam.pra.to/content/jerker/" rel="nofollow">http://adam.pra.to/content/jerker/</a>
[1] <a href="https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&safe=&tbm=isch&q=ikea+jerker" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&safe=&tbm=isch&q=i...</a>
My favorite setup (for the ones that move regularly) is a pair of trestles and a wood table from the nearest Brico Depot. Not as sturdy as the OP, but enough for at least a year.<p>The total cost should go around 30USD + one hour to sand both the table and the trestles for a safe and good looking end result.
I made a two person desk with my co-founder by buying a 8ft long counter top at ikea and 5 metal legs. Looks pretty slick and has held up for a year now.<p>Ikea countertops (i believe we have numerar) : <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/kitchen/10472/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/kit...</a><p>Legs (we chose the Vika Byske which were on sale half off):
<a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=leg" rel="nofollow">http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=leg</a><p>We sanded the surface and used mineral oil to finish it.<p>We'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good yet cheap desk!
<i>there's no replacement for a joiner and planer</i><p>Yes there is. They are affectionately known as the #4 and #7 (or #8) and Stanley made a fortune selling them since the late 1800s.
This is called "Out of the box" job. We always cry and blame that we are not in this company, not in this field, not in that area if i be there i make some changes.But the truth is we only know how to talk.
You prove yourself with your work. Nothing is small and nothing is Big. Matter is how we done our job, passion and work with awesomeness. I am 100% sure if we give this work to any other he will definitely say "i can't do such type silly and small work for this i ll hire workers and carpenters " the main reason is, that person feeling guilt and think it's a small job.
we can't change others mind but must have to learn from that type of work. Thanks sir to give me a positive hope. Respect from heart
Nice build quality<p>I went through a similar process of looking for a sit-stand desk, scoffing at the price and deciding to build my own. Though my end result is a bit different: <a href="http://i.imgur.com/M2ZlkaM.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://i.imgur.com/M2ZlkaM.jpg</a>
Can the armrests of your chair slide under the desk easily while keeping the top surface of the arms rests almost parallel with the desk surface? The cross section bar right below the actual desk surface could prevent this.
The table top should have been done with plywood.<p>There is this persistent myth that
plywood == cheap
which is absolutely wrong.<p>You can get very nice expensive plywood that will be stronger, prettier, cheaper, and longer lasting than a solid piece of wood.
I have several 8 foot folding tables that I tetris together. I never saw the value in spending an excessive amount of time or money on something fancy.
Building your own furniture is the best! The only thing that you can't do (easily) are chairs and couches.<p>Also, is that polyurethane varnish for the second coat?
What are our options when it comes to desktop ergonomics. I'm familiar with where my elbows should line up with the desktop, and where my eyes should line up with the monitor, and I'm familiar with the discussions about sitting and standing, but what about monitor angle?<p>I've wondered about embedding the monitor in the desktop, angling the monitor back around 30 degrees like drafting table.
I really like Jacob Bijani's (ex-Tumblr) new desk. Looks simple but it's very spacious.<p><a href="http://jacobbijani.com/post/63757715317/me-and-tidas-desk-built-by-stephen-and-daniel" rel="nofollow">http://jacobbijani.com/post/63757715317/me-and-tidas-desk-bu...</a>
I didn't build my own desk, but I did modify it with a home made cable management system for less than U.S. $12: <a href="http://boston.conman.org/2011/07/11.1" rel="nofollow">http://boston.conman.org/2011/07/11.1</a>
I think maybe part of the long difficulty in getting satisfaction was thinking desk when you wanted table. It could be that modern work habits have all but obsoleted the desk, but our consciousness hasn't quite caught up.