Need help with office desktop design

[scott vroom]

I'm debating wood vs composite for a 12' x 30" office desk top. It's an alcove and will have 36" wide base cabinets at either end with a 6' span in the middle that will serve as a desk/computer workstation. The entire 12' will be covered with a monolithic top. I was thinking of a 12' glueup with 5/4 oak, but I'm wondering if a composite top would be better. Any thoughts on this? Is there a preferred composite material for desks? Where would I purchase it? It would need to come with either a bull nosed or wood edge banded front.

[Jamie Buxton]

When you "composite" do you mean formica? If so, yes, you can make a desk top with formica over plywood or particle board. If you were willing to use a desk depth of 25" (good enough, IMHO, in these days of flatscreen monitors), you could use prefab kitchen counter material. It is formica already bonded to particle board, and is very cost-effective. If you really want 30", you'll need to make up your own substrate and glue down the formica. You'll also need to do some sort of edge treatment at the front.

Of course, formica is formica. It is completely waterproof and easy to clean, but it looks like formica. Oak looks a lot nicer.

[scott vroom]

Laminate was a poor word choice. I'm thinking more along the lines of Corian. It looks OK, is hard and smooth. I'd prefer the look of solid oak but am concerned about how it would wear. Also, oak has an open grain that would require filling to make it smooth enough for writing. I've never done a 12' long glueup and wonder how difficult that might be. I don't have a worktable that long, any my shop floor isn't perfectly flat.

[Will Overton]

I was going to make a continuous top for a nine foot unit. In the end I decided to break it up by raising the center portion just a bit.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/Bill_de/desk-finis.jpg

It's not an alcove, just a small room. You can see the corner of a 6' wide bookcase on the left. I just started a 30" x 20" drop front desk which will go on the wall to the right, to the right of the heater vent.

[Jamie Buxton]

Corian turns out to be surprisingly expensive. It will cost you more than good hardwood. It is waterproof, which is good for kitchens, but perhaps not so valuable for an office. It is also difficult for a DIYer to buy. The whole solid-surface industry is set up so that fabricators make and install the counters, and there's no equivalent of the retail lumberyard. Of course, if you're willing to hire a fabricator to make and install the counter, you take that task off your plate.

Oak does have fairly large pores, but there are lots of other hardwoods you could use that have finer grain -- for instance maple or cherry.

[David Thompson 27577]

...........Also, oak has an open grain that would require filling to make it smooth enough for writing.......

Yes, red oak as that problem.

White oak not is not nearly as open-grained. IMO, you could finish white oak without a filler, and have a good writing surface.

[scott vroom]

I was going to make a continuous top for a nine foot unit. In the end I decided to break it up by raising the center portion just a bit.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/Bill_de/desk-finis.jpg

It's not an alcove, just a small room. You can see the corner of a 6' wide bookcase on the left. I just started a 2' wide drop front desk which will go on the wall to the right, to the right of the heater vent.

Will, great looking desk. I was wondering if the dark inlays are purely a design choice or are they also covering attachment hardware? Also, what's behind the 2 cabinet doors on either side of the workststion? Slide out shelving? Did you glue on the bull nose or is it integral to the top?

Thanks

[John Williamson]

Here is one I completed a couple of years ago. MDF with oak edge banding and black laminate top.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n274/jwpwaw/Corner%20Computer%20Desk/P1000127.jpg

[Will Overton]

Scott,

There are no shelves or drawers behind the doors. The left door conceals the computer, cable modem and power strips. The right compartment is for bulk storage of printer paper, ink, boxes of cables etc.

The bullnose is glued on. It is 1 1/4 thick while the rest of the top is 3/4". The walnut strips are a full 3/4" thick and attached with glued and non-glued loose tenons, via a Domino. They are a design element to match the bookcase. For the bookcase they were 'board stretchers'. I didn't have a board quite long enough for the top, so instead of going to the lumber yard, I made the board I had longer by inserting the strips of walnut. Unconventional maybe, but that's the fun of 'do it yourself'.



http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd75/Bill_de/bc-finished.jpg?t=1278206587