Jun 25

Jun 25 Mixed softwood pipe desk

I needed a new desk and after browsing lots of sites, I realized that not only were the style of desk I like way too expensive but I also figured we could probably make one of those!

Jesse and I sat down, sketched out some ideas, and agreed that we'd need to find some good wood suppliers to get started as well as all the pipe we'd need for the base.

We took the measurements we needed for the pipes to someone we knew, got them cut and threaded, and prepped the base by lots of cleaning, scrubbing, and a clever combo of a pipe wrench and a level to get everything just right.

Pro tip: for the best work surface height, you're looking at 28-30" from the floor for the average 5'8"-5'10" person in a chair.

The best experience we had looking for wood was at Timeless Materials in Waterloo. We found a great supply of tongue-and-groove mixed softwood hardwood flooring, bought a bundle, and we were off!

Materials for a 46" x 24" desk top

7.67 ft² of 3/4" wood
46 x 24" plywood
Foam brushes
Sandpaper
Stain
Polyurethane
(optional) epoxy
(optional) wood filler

You can see from my render here that it's really pretty easy.

Materials for 3/4" plumbing pipe table frame

3/4" flanges x 8
3/4" tees x 6
3/4" pipe at 38" x 1 (cross brace/foot rest)
3/4" pipe at 20.5" x 4 (top of the legs)
3/4" pipe at 13.5" x 2 (front of the side braces)
3/4" pipe at 4.5" x 6 (four for the bottom of the legs, two for the back of the side braces)
Steel wool (for 'sanding' the pipes and scrubbing off any paint or stamps)
Cleaning supplies (the pipes often come with a bit of oil on them you'll need to clean off)

Tools

Table saw
Router
Sander
Pipe wrench

Step 1: Acquire a base and cut your wood lengths

Once your frame is built, it's time to prep the desk top. Sand if needed, but if you're routing the edges, don't worry too much. Just make sure it's workable.

We did very minimal work to the Russian birch plywood for the base of the desk top. The reason we used a base was because we were going to be using 3/4" tongue-and-groove hardwood flooring for the top and we'd need enough stability and structure for the screws we'd use to secure the top to the (pretty heavy) frame.

The real work was figuring out what pieces would go where on the top, measuring the cuts, and making sure everything lined up nicely.

Step 2: Place the Wood

Proper shout-out to KW Craft Cider for unknowingly supporting my fun desk build!

The tools I was using were a few clamps and some No More Nails, and a hammer for knocking the boards into place when they were getting unruly.

As you place each row, make sure your joints are still nice and tight and you're still flush with the base of your desk top.

And of course always make sure your desk is level!

In addition to gluing each of the planks down, I also flipped the desk over and put two screws into every board from the bottom. It may not have been totally necessary, but we wanted very strong desks that would stand the test of time.

Step 3: Route the Edges and Sand, Sand, Sand

This isn't a totally necessary step, but it does make the edges of the desk very nice to lean your arms against (as I'm currently doing on this desk!). And it looks quite a bit prettier than a sharp edge.

The picture above shows Jesse routing the bottom of the desk top before we flipped it over and did the top as well, so the whole thing had nice round edges. You can also see the gaps from the tongue-and-groove hardwood planks. I didn't choose to fill those or do anything with them, but you could certainly put some wood filler in there mixed with any sawdust you've got so far (you've kept that, right?!), then you'd have some really clean ends.

I just used my little Black and Decker Detail Mouse Sander, and gave the whole thing a few passes until everything was as smooth as I wanted.

Optional Step: Epoxy the Knots

I had this great idea from a few posts I'd seen that I could fill in the pretty substantial knots I had in my desk top with some clear epoxy. Why? Well my theory was that you'd be able to see right into the knots and how cool would that look?!

It turns out that filling knot holes with epoxy is a little tricky when the bottom of the planks you're filling are tongue-and-groove... because there's gaps everywhere for the epoxy to drain right into! So what I did was packed into the bottom of each of the knots a little bit of wood filler mixed with some saw dust from the sanding. Once that was dry, I filled the holes with epoxy and let those set. Once they're set, you can sand them down to flush with the rest of the desk.

Don't worry about scuffing up the epoxy with sanding, when you seal with the polyurethane, they'll polish right up.

I used painters tape around each knot just in case I globbed all over with it.

Step 4: Stain and Seal

This is where the foam brushes come in handy. You may need two coats for the stain, but I only used one and thought it was plenty. I let the stain completely set for about 24 hours, then I went over both the bottom and top of the desk in two coats of satin finish polyurethane.

I didn't want something too glossy and as you can see from the picture below, I got a nice semi-matte finish that came out very smooth and easy on the eyes.