lazyman door desk

[farlo]

i mentioned something about this during the raffle the other day and ovride said he was interested in seeing a worklog for it.

heres the materials ill be picking up tonight:


1 80"x30" door blank (http://www.homedepot.com/Doors-Windows-Doors-Interior-Doors-Slab-Doors/JELD-WEN/h_d1/N-5yc1vZaqy1Z2heZ1z141cr/R-202036267/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053)
2-8' 4"x4"s for the legs, will be cut to 30" lengths
16 L brackets
1-8" 1x4 for shelving for pc under desk.

and because
:pics:
ill post some pics tonight when i pic up the lumber and start doing some work.

[blueonblack]

Sweet! I used the same tactic with my new workbench (http://thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22437).

Be interesting to see how you put it together.

[farlo]

yeah your bench turned out awesomely. i just ordered a belkin desk grommet usb hub, and a wire organizer grommet to keep everything clean looking. Since those won't be here till next week, that will be the last part that gets updated.

[x88x]

Nice. My 2 cents, use 2x4's instead of L brackets. Stronger, cheaper, and more contact surface to spread any load on.

[farlo]

i actually altered my plans a little as i walked around home depot tonight. Instead of getting the 4x4's for the legs , i opted for actual precut legs. The legs have a bolt in them for anchoring to a table, but my plan is to back the bolts out with my vice grips. i got some nice longer flat headed bolts to go through the door and into the threads in the table legs. i want to see how strong those will be by themselves before i decide if i need to use some 1x1's to sturdy it up.

i havent been able to figure out what i did with my drill, so i got to buy a new one.
i got a black and decker 12v cordless drill (http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hardware-Power-Tools-Drills/BLACK-DECKER/h_d1/N-5yc1vZaqxhZ2og/R-202516371/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053) for this job it should do fine.

it took longer than i expected at home depot because i wanted to look around, so im not gonna get to do anything tonight. All my new pc parts should be here tomorrow, so i likely wont be getting started until saturday.

[altec]

You are going to want to do more then a single bolt. Even with a larger washer it is going to pull on the door, and the threads will loosen over time when the desk gets pushed in any direction but down. I would get some 2x4's and using either a chop saw, or a miter box to cut a 45* angle on each side of about 12" lengths of the 2x4. Then nail them under the bench. From the underside of the door to the leg. Do one on each side of the leg so each leg has two of the braces total. Plenty strong, and will be cheaper then brackets.

Oh- get a spade bit larger then the bolt head, and washer you want to use. Run the spade bit down into the top surface of the door deep enough so the bolt head is flush. Then you can use caps, or whatever. That way you don't have anything sticking up on your bench to snag your arm, or scratch your project.

[x88x]

I would get some 2x4's and using either a chop saw, or a miter box to cut a 45* angle on each side of about 12" lengths of the 2x4. Then nail them under the bench. From the underside of the door to the leg. Do one on each side of the leg so each leg has two of the braces total. Plenty strong, and will be cheaper then brackets.

If I'm reading this right, this would still leave one degree of freedom unconstrained. I would recommend either putting another one on the side of the leg next to (ie, 90 degrees from) the first side, or following a similar design to most wooden tables with removable legs. Here's a shot of one side of the underside of one of mine, as an example.

http://i428.photobucket.com/albums/qq3/x13931x/table_underside.jpg

[altec]

I'll snap some pictures tomorrow of my Mom's desk. I did pretty much the same idea to it some time back. Just with something a little nicer then 2x4's. Haha.

Here is a terrible MS-Paint of the idea to hold over until tomorrow. I can only pray the final product looks better then my Paint skills...
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a269/Mrjunior/reference/Doorbenchthingahmabob.jpg

Oh- I said nail them in, but I take that back. What I'd do (And did) was use wood screws, and a drill bit slightly larger then the head of the screws. So they are counter sunk, and were clean. Just gotta make sure the screws are short enough not to come up through the door.

[farlo]

yeah, i've planned on the cross bracing on the desk, like x88x said. when i initially drilled the holes i expected there to be a little more meat around the outer edges of door. i'm gonna stop on my way home and pick up some boards for bracing, ill start posting pics when i get a little more into it.

[farlo]

I've actually been putting off doing this desk until I figured out some proper plans, its taken 2 months. I've got everything thought out now, including some proper bracing and a nicer way of putting the legs on the table.

For the legs previously I planned on just putting the bolts into the wood. the test proved that it was too loose and would have been problematic. I've decided on drilling the hole out a little with a 1/2" bit and putting in some lead bolt anchors. This should be nice and secure in comparison. I don't want to go into too much detail, ill get started tonight, and start posting some pictures.