60″ × 48″ l-shaped desk plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw and a straight edge (or have the store cut the sheets)
• Miter saw, or circular saw in two passes, for 4×4 posts
• Stud finder
• Level
• Long level (4′) or a straight board
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part. Cut sheets with the good face down when using a circular saw: the blade splinters the top face.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Mark the cleat line on the walls

   Clear the corner. Measure 60″ along the back wall and 48″ along the left wall from the corner, and mark both.

   Make a pencil mark 28 13/16″ above the floor near the corner. Draw a level line through it along both walls: the tops of the cleats go on this line, so the desk top sits at 29 1/2″.

   If the floor slopes, measure at both ends of each line. The line must be level even if the floor is not; the legs are trimmed to match later.

   • Tip A long level or a straight board with a short level on top draws a straighter line than a short level moved along.

   ✓ The level line is 28 13/16″ above the floor within 1/4″ everywhere, and the bubble is centred along its whole length.

4. 4Screw the cleats to the studs

   Slide a stud finder along the wall and mark every stud with a pencil. Studs are usually 16″ apart, measured center to center. Confirm one by drilling a tiny test hole where the trim will hide it: you'll feel the drill bite into wood.

   Hold the piece at the height you want and draw a level line along its top with a level.

   Drill pilot holes through the back or hanging rail where it crosses a stud, then drive #10 × 3″ screws into the studs: 14 in all.

   The back wall cleat (G) runs the full 60″. The side wall cleat (H) butts against its face in the corner. Both are 1×4s standing on edge, their top edges on the line.

   • Tip Before drilling, check the wall for pipes and wires: avoid drilling directly above or below outlets and switches, and behind sinks.
   • Tip Drill a pilot hole for every screw within 2″ of a board end. Without it the board splits.

   ✓ Every screw went into wood (they pull tight, not spin). The piece doesn't move when you pull on it firmly.

   STOP. Drywall alone won't hold it. Never hang this with only drywall anchors. Keep the load under about 150 lb, and never hang it over a bed or crib.

5. 5Build the front frame

   Glue the apron end and screw 2 L-brackets inside the corner, one high and one low.

   Join the corner leg to the end leg of the main desk with the main front apron (D), and to the end leg of the return with the return front apron (E). Set each apron 1/2″ in from the outside face of the legs, flush with the leg tops.

   Work on the floor with the aprons on edge, then stand the frame up. It is an L of three legs.

   • Tip Put a scrap of wood under each clamp jaw so it doesn't dent the parts.
   • Tip Measure both diagonals of a frame corner to corner. When they match, the frame is square. If not, push the long diagonal's corners toward each other.

   ✓ The corner between the two aprons is square: measure 3′ along one and 4′ along the other; the diagonal between the marks is 5′.

6. 6Add the end aprons

   Fix an end apron (F) to the inside of each end leg, running back toward the wall, flush with the leg tops. Its back end stops 1/4″ short of the cleat.

   Stand the frame in the corner. The end aprons rest against nothing yet; they hold the leg upright and stiffen the edge of the top.

   • Tip Trim a long leg with a handsaw a little at a time rather than shimming: shims slide out.

   ✓ All three legs stand plumb and the apron tops are level with the cleat tops. Shim under a leg or trim it if not.

7. 7Join the two tops

   Edge-band every edge of both tops that will show: the fronts and the free ends. Leave the edges against the walls and the seam bare.

   Lay both tops good face down on a clean floor, butted at the seam, outer edges lined up.

   Glue the seam plate (I) across the joint, centred on it, and screw it to both tops with 1 1/4″ screws, six on each side of the seam.

   • Tip Clamp a straight board across the seam on the good face while the screws go in. It holds the two faces flush.

   ✓ Run your hand across the seam on the good face: the two tops are flush with no step.

   STOP. Use 1 1/4″ screws only. The two layers are 1 3/8″ thick together; a 1 5/8″ screw comes through the desk top.

8. 8Set and fasten the top

   With a helper, lift the joined top onto the frame and the cleats, back edges against the walls.

   Screw down through the top into the cleat edges, 1 5/8″ screws every 8″, 3/8″ from the wall.

   Fix the top to the aprons with figure-8 fasteners, about every 12″ (9 in all), in shallow recesses on the apron tops, with 5/8″ screws into the top.

   • Tip Drill a 2″ hole near the wall with a hole saw for cables before the top goes on, and fit a cable grommet.

   ✓ Lean on the front edge at the corner and at each end: nothing moves or creaks.

   STOP. Do not stand or sit on the desk. Its back edges hang on screws in the studs.

9. 9Finish

   Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

   Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

   Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

   Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.

   Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

   • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.