Stand up Computer Desk

Last weekend we decided to build a stand up computer desk using scrap wood. I scrounged up some 3/4" by 9" knotty pine tongue and groove planks and some used construction grade 2X4, probably hemlock. Then I found a good looking used fir 2X2 that didn't have a home either. We sorted through the pine planks and found enough to make a table top plus a shelf below the table.

We screwed the table top planks to a pair of 2X2 to form a stiff table top. Then I had to take the end planks off again so I could cut some dovetail ends on the 2X2 to join with the 2X4 legs. Then I cut the dovetail mortices out of the ends of the 2X4 legs. I clamped two of them together at a time and sawed through them both with a back saw to form the sides of the mortice. I inserted a coping saw to cut out the bulk of the wood, then finished cleaning the bottom with the 3/4" wood chisel and mallet in the photo.

We needed "spreader" rails and a way to stiffen up the legs, and that would be a good job for the 2X2 fir. I decided to make them long enough to have the tenons pass all the way through the 3-1/2" leg. I took off the tenon cheeks with a dado set mounted on the table saw.

The tenons were 1/2" thick so I needed 1/2" mortices in the 2X4 legs. In an effort to make an accurate fit, I used a drill press with a 1/2" Forstner bit to drill between the mortice markings. The bit could only reach 2-1/2" deep but a mechanical engineer I know advised me that 2 inches would provide plenty of strength. The problem became a non-issue. I just revised the rail tenon length to be only 2-3/8" long.

After the mortice holes were drilled I squared up the holes with wood chisels.

NOTE TO SELF: In the future use only good quality wood chisels that will not bend or break when cutting hemlock. My Stanley chisels were fine but the Master Craft and the "ToughTest" brand were not.

This photo shows the dovetail joint in the top of a leg that will join to the 2X2 screwed to the bottom of the table planks. The rails must be attached to the legs before the legs can be attached to the table top, as seen in the next photo.

The fit was tight enough that we had to tap it together with a the wooden mallet.

I didn't like that precarious assembly so I added the back two legs as seen in the next photo. Having them in place allowed me to double check the measurement for the rail. Surprisingly it was exactly the same length as the front rail.

We wanted a shelf below the table top, so we needed to attach rails in the long direction too. I decided to use another 9 inch pine plank to provide some stiffness in that direction.

I had to notch the shelf planks in four places to allow them to fit around the legs. I set the table upside down and laid the planks on it for measuring and fitting. Then I measured, cut, and attached the 9 inch planks as side rails while the table was upside down and the bottom shelf was laying on the top shelf. When I turned the table right side up the bottom shelf dropped into place.

The only fasteners we used were screws. Each plank on the table top has four screws in it. The 9 inch rails each have six screws in them. If the table becomes wobbly we can take the screws out, disassemble all the joints and re-fit them with glue. First we need to let the table experience some swelling and shrinking, and some aging and see how it fares.