48″ wide writing 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)
• Hammer
• 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. 3Build the side frames

   Each side frame is a front leg and a back leg (B) joined by a side apron (C). The legs stand with their wide face to the front, so the apron meets the narrow edge.

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

   Set the apron 1/2″ in from the outside face of the legs, flush with the leg tops. Build a left and a right frame.

   • Tip Sight down each board before you cut it. Put any curve (the crown) up on rails and aprons, so a load straightens it.
   • Tip Drill a pilot hole for every screw within 2″ of a board end. Without it the board splits.

   ✓ Each frame lies flat and its diagonals match within 1/16″.

4. 4Add the back apron and the drawer rail

   Join the two back legs with the back apron (D), flush with the leg tops and the back face of the legs.

   Join the two front legs with the drawer rail (E), a 2×2, flush with the front face of the legs and its top 25 5/16″ above the floor. The opening above it, up to the top, is 39″ wide and 4″ tall.

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

   • 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.
   • Tip Check the rail is level before the glue sets. A tilted rail makes the drawer front gap uneven.

   ✓ Measure the opening at both ends and in the middle: 4″ tall everywhere. Its diagonals match within 1/16″.

5. 5Fit the drawer runners

   Glue a drawer runner (F) to the inside of each side apron. Its inside face must be flush with the inside face of the legs, so the slide runs straight from the opening to the back.

   Screw through the runner into the apron with four 2 1/2″ screws, kept low and high so they miss where the slide screws go.

   • Tip If a runner sits proud of the leg, plane or sand it. If it is shy, glue a strip of veneer or card behind the slide later.

   ✓ Hold a straightedge across the inside of the front leg and the runner: no gap and no step. Measure across between the runners at the front and back: the same as the opening.

6. 6Build the drawer box

   The box is 38″ wide, 3″ tall and 16″ deep: 1″ narrower than the opening, for the slides.

   Glue the box front and back (H) between the sides (G) and fix each joint with three 1″ brads or nails. Stand it on a flat surface.

   Glue and brad the bottom (I) underneath, every 4″. Square the box to the bottom as you go: line up one corner and its edges first, then push the box to match the rest.

   • Tip The bottom squares the box. If the box is out of square before the bottom goes on, push the long diagonal until both match, then nail.
   • Tip Wipe glue squeeze-out with a damp rag right away on surfaces you will stain, or let it go rubbery and scrape it off.

   ✓ The box diagonals match within 1/32″, and it sits flat without rocking.

7. 7Mount the slides

   Pull each 16″ slide apart into its two members (press the release lever). Screw the drawer member to each box side, its front end flush with the box front, centred on the box height, with 5/8″ screws.

   Screw the cabinet member to each runner, 3/4″ back from the front face of the legs (the drawer front's thickness plus a hair), and level, with its centre 27 5/16″ above the floor.

   Slide the box in. It should run smoothly and close with its front edge set back the same amount on both sides.

   • Tip Rest the cabinet member on a spacer block cut to the right height while you screw it. Both sides then match.
   • Tip Drive only the screws in the slotted holes first. Test, adjust, then add the rest.

   ✓ The box opens and closes with one finger and does not bind anywhere along its travel.

8. 8Fit the drawer front

   The front (J) is inset: it sits inside the opening, flush with the legs. It is 38 7/8″ × 3 7/8″: the opening less 1/16″ on every side. Iron edge banding on all four edges.

   Stick two pieces of double-sided tape on the box front. Set the drawer front in the opening on spacers (a stack of two playing cards at the bottom and sides), and press it hard against the tape.

   Pull the drawer open gently and drive four 1″ screws from inside the box into the front. Drill for the pull, from the front, through both.

   • Tip If the gap is uneven, loosen the screws and shift the front: the clearance holes in the box allow a little movement.

   ✓ The gap around the closed drawer front is 1/16″, even on all four sides, and the front sits flush with the legs.

9. 9Attach the top

   Iron edge banding around the top edge, trim and sand it.

   Lay the top good face down on a blanket. Set the base upside down on it, 1″ in from the back and both sides.

   Fix 7 figure-8 fasteners, two on each side apron and three on the back, in recesses on the apron tops, with 5/8″ screws into the top. Take the drawer out first.

   • Tip Put a scrap of wood under each clamp jaw so it doesn't dent the parts.

   ✓ The drawer still runs freely with the top on, and nothing pokes through the top.

   STOP. Use only 5/8″ screws into the top: longer ones come through the 3/4″ plywood.

10. 10Finish

    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.