Building a desk - how to buy the wood?

[Anchundan]

I want to have a desk built, to a certain design, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I have already designed it, in AutoCAD (well, my first stab at using the 3D part of AutoCAD so needs a little tidying up), so I know how much wood I need to buy.

I presume most desks are made from MDF with a laminate surface/veneer? So if I wanted a, say, rosewood desk, do I first try to buy the mdf, then the rosewood veneer? Or should I look for sections of rosewood veneer MDF (i.e. a sheet of MDF which already has the veneer)? Also, surely when you cut it, it will look bad, since you will see the MDF?

 

[Makunouchi]

If your going to go through all the effort of designing your own "dream" desk, you might as well forgo the extra expense and make it out of hardwood tbh.

 

[GarethDW]

I presume most desks sold at Argos are made from MDF with a laminate surface/veneer?

fixed

 

[wez130]

if i were making a desk, i'd go for a real wood option.

 

[rah^]

as the man said

 

[Haggisman]

If your going to go through all the effort of designing your own "dream" desk, you might as well forgo the extra expense and make it out of hardwood tbh.

Agreed, plus, if you're doing all the work yourself it doesn't actually cost <that> much more than buying one. (my ex and I designed and almost built a dining table out of cherry and some wierd exotic wood that I can't remember the name of, end price would have been around £60)

 

[Anchundan]

Great information, thanks! Also, out here, I don't think real wood will cost too much.

 

[Wolf11]

I would go the real wood option , potentially less work involved as well.

 

[Sukh]

There is a thread on here of the ultimate desk ever or something, made of MDF and it had everyone wowing, if laminated properly you can hardly tell the difference in my opinion and save the earth and all that, why waste hardwood on a desk when you can get the look using less trees.

 

[salami1212]

choose diy shop
open shop door
enter shop
buy wood
leave shop

 

[Ricochet J]

buy wood

No, but, how does he buy the wood?



Dovetail joints all the way if you're going to use hardwood and a classic design. You'll be proud of the end result.

 

[Malc]

Hardwood and softwood will look better (with less finishing needed to get a decent look) but what you have to remember is that it comes in planks and a table is x planks wide.

Manufactured woods i.e. MDF, Plywood comes in sheets if you need it to and therefore negates the need to join the planks which takes extra time and needs extra tools (clamps etc).

 

[Anchundan]

There is a thread on here of the ultimate desk ever or something, made of MDF and it had everyone wowing, if laminated properly you can hardly tell the difference in my opinion and save the earth and all that, why waste hardwood on a desk when you can get the look using less trees.

Was it this one?
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17742972&highlight=desk

This was the post that inspired me into thinking of making the exact kind of desk I want.

Hardwood and softwood will look better (with less finishing needed to get a decent look) but what you have to remember is that it comes in planks and a table is x planks wide.

Manufactured woods i.e. MDF, Plywood comes in sheets if you need it to and therefore negates the need to join the planks which takes extra time and needs extra tools (clamps etc).

The size of the top surface (at the maximum points) will be 2 metres by 1 metre.

I've made some screenshots from my rather rubbish AutoCAD drawing.

This is the basic desk, when I want to save space.


This is the basic desk plus a semi-circular shelf.


This is fully extended, with a panel inserted at the top. I would only use this when I need to spread drawings out (I work from home). The panel rests on two wooden extending beams. I might need a beam or two at the bottom for stability.


As you can see, I would also need help from someone with a little CAD experience to help tidy this drawing up a bit!