small walnut desk design

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Well, I've been convinced that I should pull back from randomly making bits of wood and hoping they work together and instead make a cogent plan and then execute it. This way maybe I'll have a small walnut desk instead of a bunch of wood pieces glued together. :rofl:

The purpose of this desk is to be a private space where I can use the laptop and maybe even refer to some books while doing so when my wife's mother is here staying with us for a bit of an extended time. Right now I use the laptop on the dining room table. As an ironic aside, my wife urged me to get the laptop so that I wasn't down in the basement office area all the time and now she's giving me the boot again. :rofl:

The tabletop dimensions (16" by 38") are to accommodate the other objects in the room where the desk is going. The two outside drawers need to be able to have manila folders, hanging files or even three ring binders placed inside, thus these drawer may be larger than the center drawer.

I had the chance to receive some Sketchup tutoring from our very own Dave Richards and we came up with this for a revised desktop assembly with three drawers instead of 2 big oddly long drawers.

View attachment 33492

I still don't know how to hold the beast up. My thoughts are to maybe make some sort of pedestal sides (likely a simple 45 degree angle from wide to narrow parts). Maybe add a gentle curve to the bottom of the pedestal to give four feet rather than two bottom sides.

One of the things I'd like to do is hang a bookshelf off the left side. The desk is going in a corner and the top dimensions are limited by a window to the left and a closet accordion door to the front right corner. I had thought to add a french cleat to the left side, but then didn't want to clutter the side in case we move and the desk gets situated differently.

Maybe I should either make a free standing small bookcase or just install some strip shelving above the desk. :dunno: :huh:
 
if you want mark, i'd be more than happy to help you take a whack at this. with the dimensions of the top, we have the width and depth. an over all height of about 29-30 inches is pretty much a comfortable height (granted the user isn't 4' 7" or 7' 4").
 
Dan, I'd be happy to see what you come up with, but I'll be doing this from scratch again at some point to learn Sketchup better (just downloaded it earlier this week), so don't be offended when I reinvent the wheel.

If nothing else, seeing what you come up with will give me ideas for what I want or don't want.

Thanks!
 
cool! :D:thumb: this ought to be fun! i'll figure around hanging files as they are bigger than a manilla file. i don't think that a book shelf below the table would be feasable, as one would still need to get one's knees under the desk.
 
here you go mark, i knocked this together after i got home from work. hope it gives you some ideas. i went with your top size, and that you wanted to go back 2" from the edges. i made the legs 2" square at the top, and tapered them to 1.5" from a point 4" down from the top. the braces all around are 4" high. the dimensions of the drawers are 13" wide, by 10" deep, by 3" high. you could go a little wider, but i thought that this was easier to the eye. i didn't add things like the supports and guides for the drawers. i've included the sketchup file, so you can rotate it around, and check all the angles.
 

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Dan:

That looks nice!

I don't know if I will be able to execute the taper for the legs though. I do have some 8/4 maple in the air-drying pile. Would 1 7/8" or 1 3/4" untapered legs work? Would maple legs work as a bottom to a dark wood top? Should the legs have stretchers near the bottom for the sides and back?

I'm committed to a walnut tabletop, and am thinking to make the apron from walnut with cherry drawer faces. Not sure how well three woods will work together. Trying to do this with materials on hand. :huh: :dunno:

Some things I need to do to refine the design parameters: Measure the protrusion distance of the drawer pull hardware - I want the drawer pulls either flush to the tabletop edge or for the tabletop edge to be proud of the drawer pulls. I'll be using pulls like the one I used for this shop drawer.

I also need to sit down and measure how high I want the bottom of the apron to be so I don't hurt my fragile knees every time I sit at the desk. Is a 3" gap between leg and apron reasonable?

Lastly, I should measure the binders and hanging files I want to put in the drawers. Maybe I could orient them depthwise if I made the apron flush to the tabletop in the rear and squeeze out a middle drawer for pens, staplers and things like that.

Thanks Dan - I do have a lot more to think about, but better to do the thinking now than cussing when I have it built and realize I could've done better. :wave:
 
imho mark, stick with the same material for the aprons and door faces. hmm, if you're worried about banging yer knobby knees, what i suggest is to sit in a chair you'll be using at the desk, and measure up from the floor to the top of your lap, then you can adjust accordingly. if those pulls are more than 2 3/8" from the face, you'll be in trouble, if not, you should be ok. here is the table with straight 1 3/4" legs.
 

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Mark, is there any chance this desk could be cantilevered off the wall?

Do you mean attached to the wall? Just reviewed the wiki for cantilever and I'd feel safer with a more traditional design that supports the front directly too.

I measured the drawer pulls, and they protrude 1 1/4".

A big reason why I'm wanting to use cherry for the drawer faces is that I have a pile of 20" cherry shorts that I'm interested in using. I do have walnut offcuts from the table top that I'd use for the side apron pieces though - I don't like the mixed look in the sketchup pic that Dave made while giving me some instruction.

I went looking for drawer slides today, and the shortest ones I could find locally are 16". I need 12" (I calculated 13 1/4" theoretical maximum drawer slide length: 16" depth - 1 1/4" drawer pull relief - 3/4" back apron - 3/4" drawer face; this assumes an apron flush to the rear of the desk) slides. So I am thinking to just use a traditional wood slide in the middle. Still need to measure the green hanging files - if 13" works, I could place them in depth-wise, which would open up some space for three drawers.

After getting something to eat now, I'm going to sand the tabletop piece some more. After doing that I'll come in and play with Sketchup some more to try and give my ideas form.

Thanks for the help, seeing the new pictures is helping me realize what I want. :thumb:
 
I'm thinking 33" as a total height. I'm 6' tall and my thighs are at about 25 1/2" sitting down. The big assumption here is that I'm using a kitchen chair for this sitting height not the actual chair I'll use at the desk - I'll verify height before beginning leg construction. Then there is 4" of apron, I'm calling the top 3/4" for easy math even though it's closer to 7/8", giving myself 3/4" for a possible under apron (wrestling with sketchup for an idea).

That is 25 1/2" + 4" +3/4" + 3/4" for my thighs to rub the bottom of the under apron. That adds up to 31", so adding 2" for leg clearance gives 33" total height of the top of the desk. My kitchen table is only 29" tall, and I'm realizing that I slouch pretty horribly using the laptop on it, so a higher work surface seems like a good thing.

Are there any ergonomically inclined folks who'd like to chime in on the proposed desk height?

Thanks!
 
Made some progress with Sketchup. Still need to do the drawers and joinery.

This is more what I'm thinking. Feel free to offer comments and criticism. Do bear in mind though, that this is my first fine furniture project. Underlying the design is the thought of, "Am I confident that I can execute this plan at my current level of inability?" In other words, I'm following the long established KISS principle.

As an aside, if this reminds someone of a particular period of furniture design, I'd love to know about it.

laptop_desk_design004.jpg

I've also attached the sketchup file in case anyone wants to play. I somehow got confused about how to reverse axes and may have flipped some in error.

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Just realized a possible contradiction to my original design parameters. Building the drawer with 3/4" front and back may be insufficient depth to accommadate a hanging file with the hanger. I'm warming to the idea of this design, so I'm willing to pull the hangers and store them somewhere if needed.
 
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keep going mark, don't let any design or idea hold you back, if it needs to evolve, it will evolve. i'm including a prime example of project evolution. what my grandfather clock started as, and what it turned out to be.
 

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This is kind of what I had in mind at the beginning of thinking about the project.

laptop_desk_design005.jpg

Not sure if I'd want to do this as illustrated with two subassemblies - the tabletop with drawers and the "holder-upper" part or just extend the side panels to the tabletop and make it one unit.

I'm starting to suffer from Chinese restaurant menu syndrome here. :eek: :huh: :rofl:
 
this is what your old idea looks similar too, this is maple with cherry trim.there are no drawers, the top opens up with a piano hinge.
 

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Well, LOML liked the first one better than the second. She also made the comment that she liked Mission. Thinking that she meant something other than operational units of fire and maneuver, I did a quick google. Then some more sketchup and I think I have a winner.

laptop_desk_design006.jpg

I'm not sure if those slats (is there a proper name for those things?) are centered quite right. I'll double check before starting to built. Also, it looks like I now have an excuse to buy a mortising machine. :wave:

Joinery and drawers still needs to be done. I need to decide how important it is to hide endgrain with fancy joinery. Don't want to lummox things up with too much fanciness.

Attaching the sketchup file this time too.

View attachment laptop_desk_design006.skp

Thanks for the comments, help and generally putting up with me while I flounder around!
 
now you have an excuse to buy >both< a mortising machine (i recommend jet), and a tenoning jig (i recommend delta)!! :D:thumb::thumb:

i'll take a look at your plan, and see about working up the joinery. keep up the good work mark! :thumb:
 
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