How can I shorten this standing desk?

[Mark Hoffman]

I built this about a year ago for a friend. We experimented with the height for him but after prolonged use he feels its too tall. It is made of Brazilian Cherry. Joints are M&T and everything is glued together. The legs are 2 inch square. If you've worked with this wood before you know its dense and doesn't have a lot of give.

One option is to cut each leg in the middle, then cut off the necessary amount and then install a pin in the center of each leg and glue back together. However, i think it would be very difficult to cut, remove material, square each part, and then get back together with each newly shortened leg being exactly the same length.

Another option is to cut the length from the bottom. but then i would need to somehow salvage the lower apparatus, which is M&T (integral M&T) into the legs, cut new mortises in the legs and stretchers (loose M&T this time) and probably use through mortises in the legs to reattach the stretchers.

A third option is to build a stool for him to stand on. something that would mate up to the curvature in the lower cross piece.

Any thoughts?

[Daniel Moore]

Tell him to buy shoes with thicker soles.

Seriously: Not exactly sure of how it's attached/constructed; but, I'd look at the possibility of removing the table top and shortening the stand at the top.

[Mel Fulks]

That's an appealing form ,but I think the trouble might just be standing in one spot. I think that concept works better on a longer desk making you move around some. I would consider a seat made to match. IMO a short desk needs to be tall or it looks like something made for a child.

[mike holden]

You didn't happen to build this with hide glue did you? If so, then steam the joints apart and adjust the legs.
Otherwise, cut the legs in the middle, and hide the new joints with new stretchers on the sides and back.

[Jamie Buxton]

Conceptually, you could do the following.. You could cut off the bottom 8" or so. Then you build a platform which the remaining top part will sit on. The top's legs don't run continuously down to the floor. They just stop on the top surface of the platform. Okay, now you build the platform however you like. It could look a lot like the bottom section you just cut off, but maybe the corners of the platform are larger than the legs from the top. The key is that the legs don't run continuously down to the floor.

[Prashun Patel]

If he wants to make a sitting desk, then I would cut the legs to the appropriate length. The lower assembly may not be appropriate as is, since it will interfere with a chair. Just redo the lower stretcher from scratch. Use half-lap joints to connect the rails to the legs and finally the lower stretcher to the rails.

[Jamie Buxton]

Like this...

The light brown parts are the existing desk. The dark brown parts are the new platform.

282338

[Mark Hoffman]

Thanks for the input so far. the large top box section is just held in place by gravity. It lifts off and as i recall is about 3 inches proud of the top of the rails it rests inside of (4 inches deep overall). Essentially the legs go all the way to the top, but then i put a 1" x 3/4" trim piece around the perimeter that the top sits inside of. the top rails and stretchers are 2 inches thick and that's what the box rests on.

I used titebond III glue.

Jamie - that idea has promise. seems like it would be fairly easy to ensure its still winds up level, versus cutting a length out of the middle. And i could probably salvage the bottom stretchers and cross pieces.

[Pat Barry]

Another option is to cut the length from the bottom. but then i would need to somehow salvage the lower apparatus, which is M&T (integral M&T) into the legs, cut new mortises in the legs and stretchers (loose M&T this time) and probably use through mortises in the legs to reattach the stretchers.



Not sure how much height you need to remove but this is the option I would tend to focus on. My question to you is whether you would consider pocket srews (from the bottom of the stretchers of course) to re-attach the stretcher sub-assembly?

[Matt Schroeder]

How much do you want to shorten it? If it is just an inch or two, to keep it a standing desk but slightly shorter, could you rabbit the bottom of the case or the top of the rails so the case sits lower in the frame, standing only 1-2" proud instead of the current 3"? Not sure how much the piece comes apart, and it would likely be quite a bit of handwork in tight quarters, but that might remove the need to undo-redo any joinery.

Matt

[Mark Hoffman]

My friend said he wanted it 5 inches shorter, but i told him to think about that because that's a lot to be off from the original height, which we tested before hand. I think if i rabbeted the top rails/stretchers i would probably only want to do that 1 inch deep to leave 1 inch of meat left to hold up the box. the frame of the box is 3/4 material so i couldn't also rabbet that because its resting on more than that inside that top frame.

Not sure about pocket screws on the bottom stretchers. while that would work and negate the need for through tenons i'd be concerned about the durability since that's meant to be a foot rest and i'd only get 1 screw per corner. and the pressure would be somewhat linear to the direction the screws would go in.

Worst case - i'm about 4 inches taller than he is. I could always take it back and use it myself....

[Mel Fulks]

I respect what clients want but have found their solutions to problems are almost always wrong. And I have made a number of them miffed at me ,only to have them thank me for a better way later. I would refuse to cut it down. There are tall butt height chairs and stools with slightly down sloping seats that make it easy to go from standing to almost sitting,especially with floor gripping pads on the feet.
If more space would be helpful to him,hinged leaves could be added which would make him walk more and stand less.

[Alan Schwabacher]

If the top simply lifts off, could you work with that? He could try it 3" shorter by taking off the top, and if he likes it that way, perhaps the top box could be converted to a drawer below the top.

[Andrew Joiner]

My friend said he wanted it 5 inches shorter, but i told him to think about that because that's a lot to be off from the original height, which we tested before hand.

I would build a temporary platform for him to stand on. Build it with a couple different heights set by blocking up the bottom. Then you both can be more sure of the best height range before doing major surgery.

[Bill Huber]

I am sure this is not the way it should be done but I shortened a table once and it work on it and is still going after 15 years.

I cut the legs off at the apron, then shortened the legs. Then drilled a 3/4" hole in the center of each leg and the part that was attached to the apron. Then put a 4" long dowel in and glued it all back together, 2" in the leg and 2" in the part attached to the apron.

You can see a line around the top of each leg but it doesn't look that bad and it has held up just fine.