I started working on this desk with a goal as a budding woodworker, to replace my entire bedroom with new homemade furniture. I decided my new desk needed three smaller drawers. The top was simple 3/4″ plywood laminated with plastic trimmed by router with a flush trim bit. The edge banding is maple mitered treated with a 45 degree bevel on the top edges and 1/8″ roundover on the bottom edges. The bottom of the table top was sealed off only with dewaxed shellac. The legs are tapered on two sides, long tapers on one side of the desk and short tapers for where the drawers where planned. Most of the carcass is joined using dowels and pocket screws cleaning up the pockets with oak plugs. The top was mounted using metal clips that look like the number 8. The body is all oak, the legs are two face glued 1.5″ x 3/4″ to make the 1.5″x1.5″ legs. The legs were connected to make the leg assemblies first then those came together using 1.5″x 3/4″ stretchers to make the basic frame. The basic draw up gave me the width of my drawers so I made an L shaped piece to glue and screw into the left side with the short tapers. Once in place, it made the space where the drawers would be placed. I made wooden slides out of poplar and cut walnut to the dimensions of the three drawer openings. With that I made three identical pieces of poplar for the drawer backs. Less 1.5″ the length of the drawer space used a half-blind dovetail jig to join the drawer fronts to the sides. I wanted to do something different with the keyboard tray, so instead of edge gluing an extra piece of oak, so I added a strip of walnut then edge glued a narrower piece of oak to fill out the dimensions of the tray. To finish off the keyboard tray, I used a pair of drawer slides from Rockler that have tilt able brackets on the end so I could attach a piece of walnut to act as a false front for the tray.
My computer sits on a box I made (my very first project). So my desk’s top was set during the draw up at the height of the box and computer case so that the bottom of the desk’s top will clear the case by 2+ inches. The tower’s extra USB ports are located on top of the case, so I need a way to hook up my USB devices to the computer through the desk.
The one feature I didn’t find in any desk is the maple USB box I made for the corner of the desk. I didn’t want to reach behind the computer to connect any thumb drives, cameras, or even to recharge my wireless mouse. The holes were measured for the USB female connectors and drilled a little undersized then filed to final size before epoxying the connectors in place. The box has an open bottom so I used a spade bit to open a channel for the cables, then screwed the box in place flush with the desk’s top.
The oak and maple were stained with Minwax’s Golden Oak; the walnut was stained Minwax’s Dark Walnut. The entire desk was finished with Minwax’s water based semi-gloss poly.
I am impressed with the box for the USBs. I will be converting a cabinet in an alcove in my house into a computer desk soon. I was looking at the pop-up connections for drives, cards, and plugs but you have a great idea here. I plan on building up the finish on mine to a glass-like surface. How any coats of finish did you apply?
I really appreciate your willingness to try new things. A lot of people would just through some wood together and call it a desk. I mean, there are easier ways to build drawers. The dovetail is a nice feature. I’m glad you took the time to make it nice. Good Work! Thanks for sharing!
Really nice desk! I especially like the dovetail drawers. Keep building!
That’s a really nice computer desk! I like the construction.. It’s simple, solid, built to last. I really like the wood contrast as well. Thanks for sharing!
That’s true and I do like what I see in the Rockler offering, but I can’t see spending $55 on it. This was made from scraps and a couple of spare cables. The way I sit at my desk in a Morris chair wouldn’t allow for a flush mounting into the desk and be convenient to use. After seeing the project uploaded onto the site, I was thinking of what I can do to make it better and possibly include a memory card reader with a third port would be nice.
I’ve built my own computers since ’96 and when I started doing this three years ago I wanted to combine the two, so I thought making my own solution to the USB ports was the right way to go. The box is only held onto the desk with four screws over a hole for the cables, so I can make an upgrade pretty easily.
Nice, I may have to borrow a couple idea’s from this when I build my computer desk.
Great work.
Very nice!! Thanks for sharing it!
One quick thought for family member that say “I want one!!” about USB – Rockler makes some ports that can be installed and pushed down flush with top when not needed, or that mount flush to begin with.