The Confidential Resource

Previous article

Putting it together

Drilling holes

Use a ⅜″ brad-point drill to make the clearance holes for the leg bolts. With only a hand-held power drill the bolt holes will never be straight. This is not a problem with a couple of bolts in place just re-drill  the holes that are crooked - problem solved.

To ensure that the leg does not protrude beyond the foot use a  shim under leg when you drill the holes. Use a square and level to make sure the leg and foot will be perpendicular when they are assembled.

The 1/4″ lag screws will require a 1/4″ clearance hole through the stringer and 3/16″ pilot holes in the legs. Drill the pilot holes first then the clearance hole. I suggest drilling these holes as you assemble the desk in place.

Dado & Rabbet Joint

The dado and rabbet joint may be made on a table saw or radial arm saw, but if you lack them use a simple hand powered mitre saw.  Use a sharp chisel to clean-up the joint surfaces.

Finish

I chose polyurethane varnish with an included oak stain. This required 5 coats to get a good finish. To apply this finish buy a 3″ and 1.5″ brushes designed for this type of varnish or the finish will be full of streaks and bubbles. Those cheap foam applicators won’t do the job.

Keyboard tray

I purchased a keyboard tray runners from Lee Valley Tools and a simple 16″ x 36″ pine panel from Home Depot.  Some sanding and varnish and it was ready. Only one thing - the Microsoft ergonomic keyboard was too high to slide under the desktop. I installed 3/4″ plywood spacers to drop the keyboard shelf and all was well again in my world.

Not enough room for the keyboard

3/4″ spacers added

Assemble in place

To assemble the desk,  I took the assembled legs into my office and then added the stringers. Using a square, I aligned the legs carefully and first drilled the pilot holes then the clearance holes in the stringers. With the 1/4″ lag bolts installed the base was ready.

I installed the keyboard tray on the underside of the desktop, then I aligned the desktop on the base. The top was secured using simple angle brackets and screws.

The finished desk