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+-- Thread: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) (/showthread.php?tid=6981644)
A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - Jonny Rocket - 03-25-2015
This project has been done for awhile and the pics I took weren't that great, but I thought I'd share what I do have.
My wife saw these desks/cabinets in a magazine and asked if I could make something like them:
After a few iterations we decided on a partners desk with 4 base cabinets and a large table top. I didn't want to get too fancy with the construction, nor the materials, so it was all plywood and MDF for this project.
I used iron on edge banding for the show faces of the plywood. Then cut a dado a few inches up from the bottom and rabbets at the top edge.
I put in just some 3-4 inches wide plywood strips in the rabbets and dados to set the width, then added the "toe kick" board to the front of the box that would be flush with the drawer fronts (the toe kick being the only solid wood in the project outside of the table top edging).
So after the drawer boxes were assembled and slides installed this is where they were:
Used MDF for the fronts and my oak spacers that I've forgotten where they came from, but I use all the time:
And the finished project all painted with General Finishes milk paint and in a color I thought came pretty darn close to the catalog photos.
I do wish I had opted for a different slide for the drawers as the Menards self closers take a real heavy pull to open and I also wish I had dovetailed the drawers. However the large drawers are nearly 10-11" tall and I felt running the bit through BB ply was going to dull it up pretty quick after a few of those (now that it is complete though, I don't really pay attention).
The backs of the cabinets don't extend to the floor, but only to the bottom of the dado. I then just put in a couple of cleats to join the boxes at the bottom and pocket screws at the top. the file drawers were drilled for 1/4" AL rod spaced for file hangers:
All in all I am pretty happy with it and because its all kind of modular, I can always add to it or reconfigure it later. Ripping the table top in half and making two separate desks out of it wouldn't be terrible at all.
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - barryvabeach - 03-26-2015
Very nice work, nice photos of the desk as well.
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - oakey - 03-26-2015
Very nice work
and those drawers are fine the way you have them
I have a dovetail jig but on plywood I am not real impressed with the results I get so I do just what you did it looks neat and works
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - Jonny Rocket - 03-28-2015
Thanks guys. I've done dovetails on baltic birch before and I liked the results, but it did dull the bit and those drawers were only 4-5" wide. Since I had ten drawers between all the cabinets, I just didn't want to deal with the mess and the setup. I was going for quick too, so that was probably the biggest factor.
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - jteneyck - 03-28-2015
Very nice work, simple and clean lines and well executed. Can you tell us more about the finishing process, please?
John
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - Jonny Rocket - 03-28-2015
jteneyck said:
Very nice work, simple and clean lines and well executed. Can you tell us more about the finishing process, please?
John
I sealed the MDF drawer edges with 2-3 coats of glue size. I wasn't really happy with how that came out and may just smear joint compound around the edges if I have to do it again. Everything was sanded and patched and then I sprayed with my Rockler HVLP using General Finishes Driftwood Milk Paint. I don't do much spraying, but for paint its about all I'll do. I thin the Milk Paint down until it sprays well and sand between coats lightly.
Then I topcoated with GF High Performance Satin, again with the HVLP sanding between coats.
I like that setup because stuff dries really fast and I put all the coats on pretty light. I think I did 2-3 color coats (depending on the part and 3 top coats.
The drawer pulls were bought online and I wish I would have gone a size larger or gone with easier slides. The small hook they provide isn't made to pull on slides as heavy as I have.
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - jteneyck - 03-28-2015
Thanks for the additional info. Much appreciated.
John
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - Big Dave - 03-28-2015
Nice work!
Don't ya just love it when someone hands you a magazine or catalog and says "Can you one of these?"
A friend's wife did that with an entertainment center she saw in a Pottery Barn Catalog... 
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - Herb G - 10-08-2015
I am still up in the air if this is suppose to be a spoof thread or not.
Re: A Partners Desk (cheap and quick) - Zack Butler - 10-08-2015
No Herb, only your posts are tests.