Custom Worktop Desk

Delta3D

Delta3D

Delta3D

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16 Apr 2014
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North East, UK
Hi - Never done this sort of stuff before so here it goes,

I'm planning on making my own desk out of a length of wooden kitchen worktop (Roughly 256cm and ideally oak (Could just get 2.5m)).

However, I've got a few questions:

1) The worktop will be about 15cm above a radiator, will the heat from this effect the wood in any way? (Warping? Dry it out?)

2) Would I have to oil the desk?

3) Is there any other sort of wood that would be more suited than Oak?

4) Any pictures of your custom desks?
 
Thanks for the replies guys - Those desks look great too.

I'm looking at the Kitchen Express worktops to be the "most likely buy". Quite possibly a 3M X 620mm X 27mm and chopping the end off to fit (It's between two walls spanning from one side to the other).
Is this where you got yours from Street?
 
Street said:
I used Chippy Shop and Worktop Express for a few lengths, depending on who had the cheapest price on eBay at the time. Excellent service and quick delivery from both. I went with a 38mm worktop over the 27 as I thought the 27 looked a bit too thin. Getting the 3m length up a flight of stairs and round a corner was interesting though, it weighed an absolute ton!
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I can imagine the struggle to get it up the stairs already haha - I'm tempted to use their bespoke service to get it cut and pre-oiled for an extra £40.50, would be nice if I could get a long rectangular cutout around the back to let heat up from the radiator and wires go down rather than a circular cutout however it doesn't seem like I'd be able to do that there.

Something like this: (Black being the walls and brown being the desk)
 
I'm not too sure about depth, my current desk is roughly 50cm deep which has done up until now, I'd like a little bit more but 72cm (The next size up offered by Kitchen Express) may be a bit too much.

I could always add a couple of metal bars beneath the desk to support it a bit more - planning on using two Ikea Gerton Adjustable Legs spread 1m in from either side to support it a bit too.
 
Looking around at some different oak worktops currently - next question, what would you lot prefer? 27mm thick but with 40mm staves or 40mm thick with 20mm staves.

Also, does oiling the oak make it much darker?
 
I'm not too keen on the colours of Maple and Beech, I believe my dad has a beech wood desk, I'd like something a touch darker (I've seen oak the perfect colour) as I am going to be painting the room a blueish grey colour.

As for Kitchen Express I sent them the design and they returned to me with a whopping quote of £305 for the cuts and oiling. Looks like I'll be ordering the wood and cutting it myself really although I'm still unsure whether to get a thicker desk or a thinner one with wider staves.
 
Mark A said:
I tried getting some pics for a friend when he was making a desk and couldn't seem get the picture to look anything like the actual colour. If you have ever seen rustic oak furniture, its very close to that, which is great for me as it matches in with the furniture in the room. I tried Rustins Danish oil to start with and it went too yellow for my liking, so i sanded it back to bare wood and used the acacia Osmo oil. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rustic-Oa...eboard-RS37-/292082962591?hash=item440180509f

One other benefit of finishing it yourself is you can add a rounded edge to the front and use a finer sandpaper on top. My friend ended up paying the extra for a cut to size/oiled top and it just had a sharp square edge, which isn't ideal for a desk.
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Ooh, that is a nice kind of look to be fair - I'm most likely going to round it off or add a 45 degree bezel to it.

Street said:
Yarp, with three coats of Danish oil!
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The one from Kitchen Express by any chance?
 
Bluecube said:
One thing that's not been mentioned is just how damn heavy these oak worktops are. I use a 6 foot(ish) length for my desk and nearly crippled myself moving it about. Just something to be aware of!
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Yep! This thing weighs a ton, should be interesting getting it up and around the banister.
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Worktops mounted on the brackets now, next up is to oil it - Did a little more research and it seems Danish Oil is the easiest and gives a nice finish.
(Ignore the wooden legs to keep it up, they will be changed to two Ikea metal legs on Tuesday! - Also ignore the cables etc, that'll all be rearranged soon.)

Using a towel to stop the keyboard rubbing on the wood too.
 
Adam said:
How did you cut the worktop? Have you scribed it to the wall?
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Just measured in the corners of the wall along the same height it was going to be sitting and chopped the end off with a hand-saw. Didn't bother scribing it to the wall because they're surprisingly quite a square fit already.
 
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