Plywood desk

JohnBoy

Hi folks.

I'm planning on making a new desk for work from home. current setup is a piece of ikea butcher block worktop, a set of ikea alex drawers and some steel legs. the worktop has been chopped around a few times so I want to start from scratch and make something a little nicer. I could just get a new worktop and go again but I got a track saw in the spring for a camper build and I'd like to try something a little more adventurous than what I have now.

My plan is for two layers of 3/4 birch ply for the top and one end, building in the ikea drawers into the other end and putting birch ply faces on the drawers.

https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/alex-drawer-unit-white-stained-oak-effect-80473547/

It will all come from two sheets of ply and I'm pretty happy with how to do a lot of the work, but the joint at the right hand side concerns me. I want something relatively invisible. I'm thinking I can do pocket holes in the underside of the top which would help but ideally I'd like something more mechanical. is there anything like a trend worktop joining bolt that I could use on the inside of the corner? something re-tightenable down the line.

JohnBoy

wow this thing is broken isnt it..... double posted, then editied and ended up with no post!

https://www.axminstertools.com/ie/zipbolt-handrail-to-half-newel-connector-504433 anyone used zip bolts?

also is this a situation where biscuits might add a bit of strength?

magicbastarder

it only appears like a double post when you create the post, should disappear after a refresh.

awec

2 x 3/4 inch ply is what, about 40mm? That is one seriously thick desk.

recipio

Those corner joints have to be rigid and I'm afraid pocket screws just won't do that. I would lighten the top to 18 mm ( you can glue on a 6mm x 36 mm front edge if you like ) and use biscuits or dowels both of which will be hidden. For the back some 12 mm ply would be enough to prevent racking and lighten the desk. Otherwise you could use confirmat screws which are are designed to screw sheet goods together and would be a bit easier than biscuits. You would have to use wooden plugs to hide them or use the proprietary plastic tops to cover them.

The trick with ply furniture is accurate cutting so assuming you don't have a table saw that's where your track saw will earn its money.

JohnBoy

Is it just for weight reasons you'd reduce the thickness?

two sheets will be 36mm thick, and allowing for the carcass of the ikea drawer unit the desk should weigh about 70-75 kilos

if I dropped down to two 12mm sheets that would be closer to 50kg but leaves me with very little meat for jointing.

Yeah the tracksaw will be doing the heavy lifting here, I'm hoping I learnt enough on the camper build to pull this off with tight lines.

recipio

The whole point of a thick desktop is to prevent sagging and it looks better than an 18 mm top. Glueing two sheets together would definitely work ( if you have lots of clamps ) but its not a very efficient use of materials. I would biscuit and glue on some battens front and back to achieve the same result. I appreciate that you might not have a set of sash clamps so the double 18 mm top might be your only option. A sheet of 18 mm ply is about 27.5 KG so with the drawers installed you are looking at 55 kg + the drawers. You might need to move it somewhere in a few years so some kind of knock down fitting would be a good idea. Even simple metal brackets installed underneath would do the job although might not look very refined.

Effects

What dimensions are you using for the desk top? I used birch ply for a desk a few years ago, and while I wanted the 32mm ply, they only had 24mm in stock. It's 1400mm wide and 610mm deep, and just supported at the sides and back with 15mm ply and there's zero sag on it.

Double Barrel

Think about building a "torsion box" table top.