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Old 05-06-2008, 02:57 PM   #35 (permalink)
vanblah
Junkie
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shauk
attatch the word "studio" to a few pieces of wood and metal slapped together and you have a license to charge out the ass, apparently.
You speak the truth. However, you are asking about a fairly specialized piece of furniture. It's really not just a desk with a credenza ... it's supposed to be a certain height and be able to support a certain amount of weight.

You can always modify something you get at a thrift shop ... but you still have to learn to work with tools.

No one is born with the ability ... sure there are certain people who may be better at it but anyone and I MEAN ANYONE can slap together a desk.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shauk
perhaps I should learn to use a hammer and nails, and wood, and a sander, and... oh right, I guess i'd have to do it in the back yard.

You just need to find a friend who has a back yard ... or someone with an art studio.

You don't need a LOT of space to build this stuff. Lowe's and Home Depot will cut the wood to your specifications (within reason).

You don't need a hammer or nails. Just a good drill (you can borrow that) and a ratchet set ... you need one of them anyway.

List of materials for my desk:

1 sheet of 3/4" birch plywood cut to about 4'x6' at Home Depot (you could leave it 4'x8' if you want)
1 sheet of 1/2" birch plywood cut into two pieces of about 28" x 22" (your height may vary, you may want it higher or lower depending on your needs. Mine are 28" high)
1 pre-fab shelf about 18" deep by 5' long
2 pieces of 48" x 3/4" black pipe
2 pieces of 18" black pipe x 3/4" black pipe
8 floor flanges
16 3/4" carriage bolts (I think they were #8; but I'm not sure. They need to fit THROUGH the holes in the floor flanges).
16 1 and 1/4" carriage bolts (same size as above).
32 nuts to fit the carriage bolts

The 1/2" birch sheets (28"=height x 22"=depth) get attached by the 48" black pipe to make "legs" or a base if you will. Drill holes for the flanges using the flanges as a template. Here is a very crude illustration:



The 3/4" birch slab just sits on the base as a desktop. You can attach it if you want. I've never had a problem with slippage. It overhangs each side about 2 feet (8' wide desk) or 1.5 feet (6' wide desk).

The pre-fab shelf get's bolted on to the desktop ... or you can drill holes through the desktop and attach the shelf to a 2x4 underneath ... or whatever.

The world is your oyster.

You didn't even need a saw. You don't really need a sander if you take the time to sand the cuts down a little bit at the store.

Most expensive thing is the plywood ($50-$75 for a 4x8 depending on your area and the market). It's not a bad looking piece of wood so you don't need to paint it or stain it. You can clearcoat if you want to.

Last edited by vanblah; 05-06-2008 at 03:02 PM..
vanblah is offline  
 

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