Computer Desk
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The motivation behind the project is obvious: I needed a new computer desk. But under the circumstances (it's a rental house), I didn't feel like building something too customized, so this is quick and dirty by my standards.
The desk and legs are made from hollow interior doors. This is a prototype layout.
The doors aren't structurally sound once cut because they're "inflated" by cardboard strips.
The first task was to reinforce the new open ends.
Next was to glue on and route the trim strips because the door edges are hardly attractive.
This is the initial layout for the leg supports. Since they're hollow, there's no direct way to secure them to the underside of the desk.
The solution was to build huge wooden pads to help distribute the loads, especially the bending moments from sideways forces.
The slotted pads mate with the leg uprights. The unslotted pads are glued to the underside of the desk surface.
And this is the unfinished result so far.
Next was to miter more cosmetic trim.
This is the old masking-tape trick to prevent splitting.
The short distance (three feet) across the desk was clamped by lots of these guys.
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