I was thinking about building a desk since I can't seem to find exactly what i want. What I want to do is build a version of this desk http://www.ameriwood.com/index.php?cat=WS&fuseaction=products.details&id=520&encodeKeyURL=%2Fworkspace.html| but to not make it is wide (I was think 40-46" wide) and having the main part of the desk grey instead of wood colored. Has anyone on here tried building furniture before, and if so, how difficult was it?

Ever watch "New Yankee Workshop"?

At $299 I'd just buy it if it was close enough to what I wanted. Otherwise be prepared to spend more building it than you would buying it pre-made. I'm not saying you WILL spend more, just be prepared, because it can happen often. If you don't have experience building things (structural things, things out of wood, etc.), then I wouldn't recommend it at all though.

Agreed. Heck, if you don't have even half the necessary tools, it'll probably cost five times as much just to get the equipment and materials before you start factoring in the value of your time. You're not going to build a desk from scratch with a hammer and a screwdriver.


I have! I watch that and This Old House to relax. I definitely don't watch them to learn anything. Though I think Norm does a good job at teaching the process. The only problem is he has a small warehouse-worth of cool toys

I have had different experience. From building anything from desks to 6ft by 6ff beds, I have found it is always cheaper and better quality to build than buy...If you want something solid!

A basic desk will be fine from Ikea or similar if you just want something that will do. If you want something that will stand up to weird demands (multimonitors, kids climbing on it, use as stage in Guitar Hero etc) you are better off making good friends with a local timber merchant and learning the ropes yourself.

Plus, it is a whole lot more rewarding:)

FWIW, one might be able to rent the appropriate power tools.

"Today, we're going to make a footstool. First, turn on your six million dollar laser-guided CNC lathe..."

Ah but then you'd have your own collection of cool tools for next time you want to build something!

Very true I was just thinking of the short term, in which $229 is almost nothing when it comes to furniture.

You're right, Bitt, you could always rent. I admit, if I could do it (and I had somewhere I could do it - not easy in a condo), I'd love to make my own furniture. At the moment I'm scouring the web for something that will fit my exact needs and I'm coming up short. I'd love to just build it instead.

[ps- anyone know where to look for versatile furniture for small spaces? I'm looking for a coffee table that will serve quadruple-duty as coffee table, ottoman, storage, and additional seating. Any ideas? It's been very hard to find clever products in this category. My parents had to find my new dining room table in an airline magazine. Great table, by the way.]

Oh baby, this is what I need from that catalog:

Full bottle wine glass

They're serving images via ASP otherwise I would have hotlinked one here.

*sigh*

Hamm-Schlem is fun.

It took me 6 hours just to sand and restain a very small table my wife's grandfather made for her many years ago. Of course, since it WAS small, I couldn't use a power sander for most of it. It was back breaking work, but you should have seen her face when she saw it. We built a custom AV stand for our new TV. While it WAS marginally cheaper (just wood and paint, my father in law has ALL the tools), the results are FAR superior to what could be bought. It is exactly built to the specs I needed, it has none of the problems with furniture built for looks, not function, and I'm just plain proud of it. When I sit on the couch, my eyes are level with the exact center of the screen, it has room for my 2 tivos, 2 DVD players, HD DVR, VCR, amp, and PS2/Wii with wireless router ans slingbox hidden behind the PS2 and Wii. All this and the stand is only 3 inches wider than the footprint of the TV.

So yeah, it's better to build if you can, but be prepared to spend a LOT of time designing and figuring out exactly how to do it. Furniture quality wood is expensive. You don't want to change your mind halfway in. Be prepared to spend a LOT of time carefully building. Also, you have to be careful what materials you use. My brother in law painted his AV rack with the wrong paint. He accidentally grabbed pipe paint, which is more like a vinyl coating than actual paint. Everything that sits too long in the same place gets stuck to the paint. It IS shiny though!

A friend of mine used to do rather fine furniture building with just two "power tools" in his cramped townhouse dwelling.

He had an electric drill, and a 16" (throat depth) scroll saw.

That's it. Plus chisels, a couple of hand planes, scrapers, and a pair of japanese style handsaws.

Quite amazing the work he turned out, resawing timbers on the scroll saw..

Now that he has a much larger place, I expect his collection of "tailed apprentices" may have grown more numerous.

Cheers

You aren't the only one who lacks the space at home for a shop, but wants to build furniture. I'd say take a woodworking class at the local community college. All of a sudden, you get access to a shop, plus a teacher who can show you how to use all the tools without cutting your fingers off. It's an easy way to learn about the woodworking resources in your area. If you're lucky, there may be a coop wood shop in your area, though they can be kind of expensive.

Whoever it was (edit: ah... it was lectric) that said the wood isn't cheap is right -- I just spent $70 on a single sheet of A1 grade fir plywood. I would have liked to use the walnut or teak, but with my current skill level and budget, I thought $130 for a sheet was a little steep.

A sheet of plywood over some milk crates.

LOL- I was thinking of an old door and a couple of sawhorses. I am a little bit more accomplished with woodworking than that, but not by much.

Years ago the sheds next to my old house were used to store the barricades used in Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square to control the crowds at New Year.

Anyhow these barricades were made of 8x4 sheets of ply with whitewash thrown on them and some 4x2 nailed into place.

I liberated a few of these and used them in various projects - my favourite required me to clean a couple of sheets, belt sand the paint off them (both sides), sand them to a nice finish.... then start again after Mrs lbt reversed the TVR over *THE ONLY FINISHED* sheet and snapped it.

Eventually I routed the edges, built a frame, varnished, polished and installed them, and, for the last couple of years it's been my study table and side-desk where I'm sitting typing this post...

That's furniture with a heritage

I do some woodworking and have made a few pieces, but I won't build anything unless I know for sure that I can use it for the rest of my life and pass it on to my kids. For me it just isn't worth building a desk that I might not like in a few years because my office has been reconfigured.


"And we'll just tack it in place with a couple brads."

He's addicted to his brad nailer.

I almost said sawhorses, but storage space was one of the requirements, and milkcrates fill that need better than sawhorses.

Besides, 1x12 planks and a few cinder blocks is cheaper!

That's what I used for a while

It's what I used for 4 years in college. Makes great shelves! They can be cut to any length and don't require bookends.