Building a corner desk
Discussion
I'm giving the home office a bit of a refresh and am planning a DIY corner desk. The plan is to use a couple of Ikea chests of drawers at each end, then a custom-cut oak worktop on top, butt-jointed together on the underside with three connector bolts. Each length is 165cm, 40mm thick and 62cm wide. Here was my initial idea and how the joint apertures would look.
The issue I'm having is how to support it to stop the wood sagging. My initial plan was a couple of legs at the back, but the advice from the worktop manufacture is that it needs support every metre in length and 30cm in width, and that the join needs to be fully supported. This would result in way too many legs.
This was second draft but I suspect this also won't be sufficient.
Stipulation from the other half is that there needs to be space for (human) legs and possible stuff underneath and it shouldn't be attached to the wall, which means battens and brackets are out. So how do I do it without obstructions on the inside corner? Some kind of under-desk bracing, perhaps? Any suggestions welcome... Thanks in advance.
The issue I'm having is how to support it to stop the wood sagging. My initial plan was a couple of legs at the back, but the advice from the worktop manufacture is that it needs support every metre in length and 30cm in width, and that the join needs to be fully supported. This would result in way too many legs.
This was second draft but I suspect this also won't be sufficient.
Stipulation from the other half is that there needs to be space for (human) legs and possible stuff underneath and it shouldn't be attached to the wall, which means battens and brackets are out. So how do I do it without obstructions on the inside corner? Some kind of under-desk bracing, perhaps? Any suggestions welcome... Thanks in advance.
Edited by PhillT on Friday 13th November 11:26
I did very similar for my wife with a beech worktop but did battens along the wall. Easy to remove, would just need some filler and paint to put back exactly how it was.
I did it in three sections (two joins) though so there was a curved bit in the middle, and the drawer units are under or near the joins with another open bit on the long side, with a leg on the outer corner. Needed a section of really wide worktop though (which I then cut a bit section out of) to do that though.
Do biscuits as well as the worktop connectors to keep it aligned and it should be OK but I'd still be concerned if someone sat/stood on the desk where the unit on castors is - quite a lot of force on an unsupported join and it might shift.
I did it in three sections (two joins) though so there was a curved bit in the middle, and the drawer units are under or near the joins with another open bit on the long side, with a leg on the outer corner. Needed a section of really wide worktop though (which I then cut a bit section out of) to do that though.
Do biscuits as well as the worktop connectors to keep it aligned and it should be OK but I'd still be concerned if someone sat/stood on the desk where the unit on castors is - quite a lot of force on an unsupported join and it might shift.
You need to fix the far ends down so they can't lift up.
Then you need to either reduce the weight in the unsupported area or increase the torsional stiffness of what's there.
I think if you marked out the connectors and then used a router to remove 80% of the material underneath it would work, but that's a lot of router mess!
Alternatively you could bolt together a steel frame, then cover that with a much thinner veneer or veneered MDF type material and lip the front.
It'll be much easier if you fix it to the wall when the wife is out, whatever way you go.
I think you could make a box section post work with a cantilevered support under the joint welded to it and a angled support to the weld set far enough back that it's not in your way. I think that would just about work even without fixing tot he wall if you get the post height exactly right.
Then you need to either reduce the weight in the unsupported area or increase the torsional stiffness of what's there.
I think if you marked out the connectors and then used a router to remove 80% of the material underneath it would work, but that's a lot of router mess!
Alternatively you could bolt together a steel frame, then cover that with a much thinner veneer or veneered MDF type material and lip the front.
It'll be much easier if you fix it to the wall when the wife is out, whatever way you go.
I think you could make a box section post work with a cantilevered support under the joint welded to it and a angled support to the weld set far enough back that it's not in your way. I think that would just about work even without fixing tot he wall if you get the post height exactly right.
sjg said:
That looks great! My concern with the batten idea is A) getting it past the wife as she's already said she's not keen, and B) no space at the back to drop down cables, attach stands etc. She's also not keen on having cut outs etc...After I'd put it in I used a couple of smart-looking cable grommets to run things up, and an Ikea cable tray underneath so all the power adaptors, external hard disks, etc are out of the way.
edit: it is very nice that it goes right up to the wall, but (like every house) it's not a perfect 90 degrees so needed quite a bit of templating and trimming back to fit nicely. It's great though that nothing can roll off down the back.
edit: it is very nice that it goes right up to the wall, but (like every house) it's not a perfect 90 degrees so needed quite a bit of templating and trimming back to fit nicely. It's great though that nothing can roll off down the back.
paulrockliffe said:
You need to fix the far ends down so they can't lift up.
Then you need to either reduce the weight in the unsupported area or increase the torsional stiffness of what's there.
I think if you marked out the connectors and then used a router to remove 80% of the material underneath it would work, but that's a lot of router mess!
Alternatively you could bolt together a steel frame, then cover that with a much thinner veneer or veneered MDF type material and lip the front.
It'll be much easier if you fix it to the wall when the wife is out, whatever way you go.
I think you could make a box section post work with a cantilevered support under the joint welded to it and a angled support to the weld set far enough back that it's not in your way. I think that would just about work even without fixing tot he wall if you get the post height exactly right.
Thanks for that. It sounds considerably more complicated than my initial plan of "buy drawers, legs and worktop, assemble, relax"... Where would the box section post sit? Apologies, can't quite envisage what you mean.Then you need to either reduce the weight in the unsupported area or increase the torsional stiffness of what's there.
I think if you marked out the connectors and then used a router to remove 80% of the material underneath it would work, but that's a lot of router mess!
Alternatively you could bolt together a steel frame, then cover that with a much thinner veneer or veneered MDF type material and lip the front.
It'll be much easier if you fix it to the wall when the wife is out, whatever way you go.
I think you could make a box section post work with a cantilevered support under the joint welded to it and a angled support to the weld set far enough back that it's not in your way. I think that would just about work even without fixing tot he wall if you get the post height exactly right.
The steel frame idea would work but would require much more fabrication than I have time or talent for; the whole hope was that this would relatively straightforward... grr, stupid physics.
sjg said:
After I'd put it in I used a couple of smart-looking cable grommets to run things up, and an Ikea cable tray underneath so all the power adaptors, external hard disks, etc are out of the way.
Don't suppose you have a shot of it all set up and in use do you? Some visual evidence might prove compelling...Actually, it's a shame you can't get the old Ikea Galant desks any more - might be worth trawling for secondhand and do a fresh new top for it if you like freestanding.
My parents have a great big corner desk from that line, it's unsupported except for the ends and far corner and uses a hefty steel frame underneath to support it.
Not mine but this sort of thing: https://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/08/galant-megades...
My parents have a great big corner desk from that line, it's unsupported except for the ends and far corner and uses a hefty steel frame underneath to support it.
Not mine but this sort of thing: https://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/08/galant-megades...
PhillT said:
Reckon some under-desk bracing would help? Was thinking something like this in a manner loosely like this, or possibly better thought out...
You could always add a back.https://www.furniture-work.co.uk/tully-i-right-han...
PositronicRay said:
You could always add a back.
I've got a corner desk in my office, and it uses this sort of 'modesty panel' back for support to the desk surface
If I was doing one myself, I'd extend it down to a little above the top of the skirting board, 'cos as it is I need to be careful that my feet aren't touching and damaging the wall finishes when I stretch my legs out underneath.
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