Fitted Desk

[Chems]

Need a new desk for my new place, and I needed it quick. No major fine work here, picked up three 2.4m beech worktops from Ikea for £60 a piece. Then a board of beech veneered MDF from EcoPanels in Northampton for £48. I bought the drawer units from ikea as well, £7 a drawer.

Nothing to fancy, ripped the 8x4 on the SIPsaw, then crosscut etc, the sliding table is excellent for this sort of panel work.

Got some real beech for the lippings. I just plain glued and clamped them on, then after a 45min in the clamps made a "BradNaylor lipping jig" which is detailed on the forum here. Used the fine height adjustment on the router and was able to take them flush in a single pass an a swipe with the card scraper to remove the marks and it looked as if they were a continuous panel so I was happy with that.

Installed the drawers aiming for 23mm fronts. Back of the carcass is 6mm mdf and the cross bearers are MDF.

Transport it up and start fitting it, dominoed at the moment but have a set of butterfly worktop clamps to fit:

Didn't get such good colour match in the drawer fronts, but I kinda like it.

Scribed the units to the wall, also cut the worktops to size with the PS400, it really is worth every penny, its like a small TS55! Still got to fit the other side out yet but that's a job for Monday.

Bargain of the week, a pair of nice saw horses from Argos for £9.99!

Made these last weekend, a local builder needed some doors for a job, I said fine as long as he provided the timber as I didn't have time to get it. He turned up with tantalized stuff! So made them anyway, hope they look ok painted!

(Fitted beading into all the panels on these, but never got a picture, looked much nicer with it)

 

[OPJ]

Nice work, Chems. Glad to see you didn't try to mitre the joint between the two worktops! :wink:

Now that you've made the move, when does the workshop move - and how?!? It'll need a van (or two!) all of its own!

EDIT to add - I have mixed opinions over the use of treated timber but, in your situation, you've definitely broken the seal of the chemicals, as it rarely penetrates more than 6mm deep, in most situations. It doesn't make the timber "rot proof" and I just think that it gives a lot of people the false conception that they can live the treated softwood outdoors without it requiring any further maintenance... All timber (soft and hard woods) need to be looked after. The greatest risks are where the timber is within 6in of the ground level and is subjected to rising damp. Or, where there are flat spots which are likely to catch and trap rain water. [/rant over]

 

[Chems]

I did think about it, I made a lovely mitre on the last fitted desk I did, but took me hours to get it right.

The workshop won't be moving its staying back home with the parents. Got a weekend of work there this weekend so it will see good use.

Regarding the treated stuff, its internal doors, that will be painted did you read that bit? Do you think they will remain stable given the nature of the wood?

 

[OPJ]

I...that will be painted did you read that bit? Do you think they will remain stable given the nature of the wood?

Sorry - while you did say they would be painted, you neglected to mention that they were going indoors. :wink: (Although, looking at the design and possible intended applications, I now see it's quite obvious that these are going under a set of stairs... ) In which case, you (well, the builder who's fitting them!) may run in to some trouble as the moisture content is likely to be slightly higher than standard kiln-dried wood.

If the stuff he gave you was planed all round with rounded arrises then, it would've been kilned before treating so, it shouldn't be too far off... If it was just sawn though, the moisture content could've been much higher! :shock: Only you can know, really.

With regards to mitred worktop joints, you only have to look at any worktop that's been jointed in this way, several months down the line... As the timber expands and contracts, the joint will open up. Even when you're using a 'composite' material, gaps can appear over - we've got one in our kitchen. It's not level and, if you push down hard enough, it creaks! Then again, there are a lot of things that the previous owner did to this house that I don't like...

 

[Chems]

Yeah it was the par stuff with rounded edges just over size. I ripped then thicknessed off the worst of it to get final size. It actually felt a little damp to the touch to be honest. I think he'll have fun hanging them as they are real heavy!

 

[OPJ]

Oh, well. At least he can't complain if the doors do shrink or warp dramatically once the central heating comes on - he supplied the timber, after all!! :wink: