Danny
Established Member
Earlier this year I was in need of a corner desk for my computer, in all honesty I intended to just pick up something cheap and nasty from the likes of Ikea or Staples etc. However every desk I looked at was a couple of inches too big to fit in the space I had for it, this left me no choice but to build one to fit.
When I originally built this back in march the thought of doing a build log for it hadn't even crossed my mind so the pictures are rather lacking unfortunately. However I decided to post this perhaps just to inspire anybody that think's they don't have the tools or the space to build large projects such as this. This project was built in an extremely crowded cellar with a usable space of approximately 2.5m by 2.5m which still had things in the way, you can get an idea from the first photo.
Tools Used
Tape Measure & Pencil
Roofers Square & Framers Square
Cordless Drill & Screwdriver
3, 5, 7, 8.5 & 11.5mm HSS Drills
HSS Countersink, 4mm Hex, 8mm Hex & PZ2 Screwdriver Bits
Trend Clamp Guide
Circular Saw
Jigsaw
Biscuit Joiner (Borrowed)
Rotozip (Borrowed)
125mm Random Orbit Sander
4" Paint Roller
25 & 75mm Paint Brushes
Materials Used:
[2] 2440x1220x18mm MDF
[1] 2.4m 47x75mm PAR
[10] M7 70mm Black Confirmat Screws
[~30] 4x30mm Woodscrews
[5] M8 25mm Threaded Inserts
[5] M8 Feet
~1L Rustins MDF Sealer
~1L Undercoat
~2.5L Topcoat
The first thing I did was to make a quick scale drawing in Visio to figure out some layout as well as minimise wastage. Sorry there are no dimensions listed, I just used the dimensions listed in the software while I built it, the red markings are how I figured out the pivot points for marking the radius.
The next thing I did was mark out both sheets of MDF and then because it was raining outside I had to "rough" cut all the parts out with the Jigsaw with the sheets of MDF standing on edge as I didn't have the room to lay them flat. Now that the pieces were a bit more manageable they were then trimmed to final size using a trend clamp guide and circular saw. Normally I would of just cut them to their final size straight from the sheets outside using the circular saw but it rained all week!
The next thing was to install the threaded inserts for the feet, this was done by first drilling an 8.5mm hole for the threaded part of the feet to recess into and then enlarging the first 25mm of the hole with an 11.5mm drill for the threaded insert to screw into. I was a little bit concerned about the MDF just splitting when the threaded insert was screwed into the edge but It went fine.
Next up I clamped up the backs and sides so that the hole's could be drilled for the Confirmat screws, because I'm too cheap to buy the correct drill I first drilled 70mm deep with a 5mm drill and then enlarged the first 18mm of the hole with a 7mm drill.
Because the desk top dimensions are W1350xL1800 I had cut the desktop out to 1200x1350mm and then joined a 600mm extension to the 1200mm side using 3 biscuits. A little bit of extra hassle but I couldn't be bothered sourcing larger sheets of MDF. The next job was to add some 50mm strips to the bottom of the desk top for securing the back and sides, this was fastened with some polyurethane wood glue and some 30mm wood screws. And I finally started taking a few pictures at this stage!
Next up I assembled the backs and sides again so that they can be pre-drilled for securing them to the 50mm strips.
Next up I took it apart again and glued a length of 47x75mm PAR to the bottom of the longest side of the desk top, it's about 100mm from the front edge so that it's out of sight but it does add a lot of rigidity. I didn't get a photo of this though :?
The final task before finishing it was to ease the top edge of the desk top using a small round-over bit in a Rotozip. After that I gave it a good sanding, and a coat of Rustins MDF Sealer, all the edges got 2 coats. I then gave it a coat of undercoat and then 2 coats of a hard wearing top coat (sorry can't remember what!) and then assembled it into it's final position.
I also couln't resist sharing this photo
When I originally built this back in march the thought of doing a build log for it hadn't even crossed my mind so the pictures are rather lacking unfortunately. However I decided to post this perhaps just to inspire anybody that think's they don't have the tools or the space to build large projects such as this. This project was built in an extremely crowded cellar with a usable space of approximately 2.5m by 2.5m which still had things in the way, you can get an idea from the first photo.
Tools Used
Tape Measure & Pencil
Roofers Square & Framers Square
Cordless Drill & Screwdriver
3, 5, 7, 8.5 & 11.5mm HSS Drills
HSS Countersink, 4mm Hex, 8mm Hex & PZ2 Screwdriver Bits
Trend Clamp Guide
Circular Saw
Jigsaw
Biscuit Joiner (Borrowed)
Rotozip (Borrowed)
125mm Random Orbit Sander
4" Paint Roller
25 & 75mm Paint Brushes
Materials Used:
[2] 2440x1220x18mm MDF
[1] 2.4m 47x75mm PAR
[10] M7 70mm Black Confirmat Screws
[~30] 4x30mm Woodscrews
[5] M8 25mm Threaded Inserts
[5] M8 Feet
~1L Rustins MDF Sealer
~1L Undercoat
~2.5L Topcoat
The first thing I did was to make a quick scale drawing in Visio to figure out some layout as well as minimise wastage. Sorry there are no dimensions listed, I just used the dimensions listed in the software while I built it, the red markings are how I figured out the pivot points for marking the radius.
The next thing I did was mark out both sheets of MDF and then because it was raining outside I had to "rough" cut all the parts out with the Jigsaw with the sheets of MDF standing on edge as I didn't have the room to lay them flat. Now that the pieces were a bit more manageable they were then trimmed to final size using a trend clamp guide and circular saw. Normally I would of just cut them to their final size straight from the sheets outside using the circular saw but it rained all week!
The next thing was to install the threaded inserts for the feet, this was done by first drilling an 8.5mm hole for the threaded part of the feet to recess into and then enlarging the first 25mm of the hole with an 11.5mm drill for the threaded insert to screw into. I was a little bit concerned about the MDF just splitting when the threaded insert was screwed into the edge but It went fine.
Next up I clamped up the backs and sides so that the hole's could be drilled for the Confirmat screws, because I'm too cheap to buy the correct drill I first drilled 70mm deep with a 5mm drill and then enlarged the first 18mm of the hole with a 7mm drill.
Because the desk top dimensions are W1350xL1800 I had cut the desktop out to 1200x1350mm and then joined a 600mm extension to the 1200mm side using 3 biscuits. A little bit of extra hassle but I couldn't be bothered sourcing larger sheets of MDF. The next job was to add some 50mm strips to the bottom of the desk top for securing the back and sides, this was fastened with some polyurethane wood glue and some 30mm wood screws. And I finally started taking a few pictures at this stage!
Next up I assembled the backs and sides again so that they can be pre-drilled for securing them to the 50mm strips.
Next up I took it apart again and glued a length of 47x75mm PAR to the bottom of the longest side of the desk top, it's about 100mm from the front edge so that it's out of sight but it does add a lot of rigidity. I didn't get a photo of this though :?
The final task before finishing it was to ease the top edge of the desk top using a small round-over bit in a Rotozip. After that I gave it a good sanding, and a coat of Rustins MDF Sealer, all the edges got 2 coats. I then gave it a coat of undercoat and then 2 coats of a hard wearing top coat (sorry can't remember what!) and then assembled it into it's final position.
I also couln't resist sharing this photo
