Knock off Besta Burs Desk and benches

Submitted by c-e-fogus on Thu, 09/26/2013 - 06:05

My husband asked me to make a desk or table for a new co-worker at his office. Of course I started browsing Ana's plans. I came across this Ikea knock off table and thought the design was simple. He also wanted me to make a bench seat. But really, how many adults like to sit together on one bench? So I made two little benches of the same design as the table. I changed the plans up a bit to make it smaller and did not put in a drawer. But overall I was very happy with how it turned out. One major thing I learned on this project is that you have to be careful with products that claim they are stainable which really are not. I used some Elmer's wood filler on the first version of the table top to fix up the knots in the wood. I sanded it down and then applied the stain. Huge mistake. The wood filler did not take the stain even though the tube and the elmer's website claim it will. So I had to scrap that top and start over. Second time I decided to leave the knots as they were hoping the poly would fill them in a bit. It did fine.

I ripped down my 2x4's to 3 inches to get the squared corner look of the design. I used 1x4's for the apron and 1x6's for the top. Final measurement was 48 inches long, 22 inches wide and about 31 inches high. Bench was 18 inches long, 14.5 inches wide and just over 17 inches tall. Bench seat was 2 pieces of 1x6 with a 1x4 in the middle. I used only pocket hole screws and wood glue for the table (2.5 inch on legs 1.25 inch on apron and top, holes under the short bottom 2x4 piece and to attach the apron to legs and top to apron) For the bench I used pocket holes and screws for the frame but had to use finishing nails and glue to secure the top to the bench. (again, had to play with the wood filler mess.)

Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Dark Walnut stain and Minwax Satin Quick Drying Poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner