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Modern Craft Table

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Submitted by Ana White on Sun, 09/12/2010 - 21:31
Difficulty
Intermediate
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A beautiful craft table is simply a tabletop supported by bookshelves. Special thanks to Cherish for sharing her beautiful inspiring photos with us.

Collections
Mod Modular Office

And I'm so sad that the sun went down before I could snap some photos of some of my projects from this weekend.  You must stop back by and check them out later this week - I know you are going to love them as much as I do!  In the meantime, I wanted to finish plans for the Mod Modular Office Collection Project Desk.

Dimensions
Overall Dimensions are shown above.

Preparation

Shopping List

1 – Sheet of 3/4″ Plywood or MDF (Can use 1/2 sheet, tabletop will be 6″ narrower)
3- 8′ 1×12 (Tops and Small Shelves/Two Large Shelves and One Bottom)
1 – 12′ 1×12 (Ends, Dividers)
1 – 12′ 1×10 (Small Bookshelf Sides)
7 – 8′ 1×2
2 – 8′ 2×2
2″ Finish Nails
2″ Screws or 1 1/4″ Pocket Hole Screws
Wood Glue
Finishing Supplies

Cut List

Cut List for Project Table (Two Bookshelf Bases and One Top)

2 – 1×12 @ 37 1/4″ (Bookshelf Tops)
2 – 1×12 @ 33 1/2″ (Bookshelf Ends)
2 – 1×12 @ 32″ (Bookshelf Divider)
2 – 1×12 @ 36 1/2″ (Bookshelf Bottom)
4 – 1×12 @ 27″ (Large Shelves)
4 – 1×10 @ 34 1/4″ (Small Bookshelf Sides)
4 – 1×12 @ 8 3/4″ (Small Shelves)
8 – 1×2 @ 27 3/4″ (Large Shelf Side Trim)
8 – 1×2 @ 31 1/4″ (End Trim)
4 – 1×2 @ 13″ (Small Shelf Top and Bottom Trim)
4 – 2×2 @ 36 1/2″ (Floating Base Sides)
4 – 2×2 @ 8 1/2″ (Floating Base Ends)
1 – 3/4″ Plywood or MDF @ 38″ x 54″ (Top) (For 1/2 sheet of plywood, top is 38″ x 48″)
4 – 2×2 @ 10″ (Floating Base Ends)
4 – 1×2 @ 36 1/2″ (Floating Base Sides)

Tools
Tape Measure
Speed Square
Pencil
Hammer
Safety Glasses
Hearing Protection
Drill
Power Sander

Instructions

Step 1

Begin by measuring and cutting all your boards. Mark out all joints before any assembly. If you are using pocket holes, drill all pocket holes. If you are using screws, drill pilot holes. Attach the pieces with 2″ screws and glue or 1 1/4″ pocket holes screws and glue. Keep outside edges flush. You can optionally attach the shelves (orange) with shelf pins to create adjustable shelves

Step 2

This is where that nailer would be handy. Attach with glue and 2″ finish nails the small bookshelf sides. Leave 3/4″ under the bottom and make sure you also attach to the center divider (Back of small bookshelf).

Step 3

You can either place these shelves with shelf pins or use finish nails and glue to secure in place.

Step 4

Attach the large shelf trim to the sides, keeping top edges flush, with 2″ finish nails and glue. If you are using a Kreg Jig™, build a face frame separately, then attach with 2″ finish nails and glue.

Step 5

Step 6

If you are using pocket hole screws, build your face frame separately, then attach with 2″ finish nails and glue. Otherwise, nail the trim on with 2″ finish nails and glue.

Step 7

Attach the small shelf side trim with 2″ finish nails and glue.

Step 8

Use 2″ screws and glue to attach the floating base sides to the bottom of the bookshelves.

Step 9

Attach the floating base ends to the bookshelf with 2″ screws and glue.

Step 10

Use 2″ screws and glue to attach the floating base ends to the underside of the tabletop. See measurements above for placement.

Step 11

Attach the floating base sides to the ends with 2″ finish nails and glue.

Step 12

From the underside of the bookshelves, screw into the floating base with 2″ screws. You may wish to finish the edges of the tabletop with edge banding or nosing for a more finished look. Finish as desired.

Project Type
Desk, Desk Systems and Project Table Plans
Bookshelf and Bookcase Plans
Room
Craftroom
Style
Modern Style Furniture Plans

Comments

wannacraft

Wed, 02/04/2015 - 09:26

I want to build this table and I am so green. How do you get the wood pieces so smooth.

jamiejohnstone

Wed, 02/25/2015 - 11:07

Absolutely LOVE this craft table! How tall of stool would go best with this, Counter Height at 24" or Bar Height at 29-30"?

Apbling

Sun, 03/01/2015 - 12:20

Hi all. Just looking at the plans for this desk. The gf loves it so I sat down with a pen and paper and started to figure some things up. I was very surprised to see the actual cost of this desk to be sort of high. Am I seeing this right, but the only plywood piece is the top, the rest is solid wood. I looked today but at HD a oak 1x12 was about $6.50/ft. That puts the total cost of this desk much higher than the estimate. I was thinking of a way to use plywood, but I'd be adding veneer trim or solid wood trim all day long to make the ends look nice.

Anyway, does anyone have any hot tips on where or when to get cheap wood? I'm considering just getting a planer and ordering the wood and cutting it down to size.

scalpel_shredr

Mon, 03/02/2015 - 06:25

Unfortunately, Home Depot does not carry 1x10 and 1x12 in the cheaper wood in stores. You must go to Lowes. Lowes has 1x12x8 for roughly $8 and the 1x10x12 is the only expensive piece at about $23

Apbling

Mon, 03/02/2015 - 11:12

Ok I will check lowes. I am assuming by cheaper board you are not talking cabinet grade oak but just what is referred to as "common" board? I'm not opposed to common boards, but they usually are not that straight and I worry about how well they will take stain.

sweet-2nd-chance

Tue, 03/24/2015 - 16:52

You could use select pine boards or poplar boards. Both are less expensive than oak and much nicer quality than common boards and are readily available at Lowes or Home Depot. We've made furniture pieces out of common boards and structurally they are fine but they did take a little more work to find the straightest board and correct or work around imperfections in the wood. If you use store bought stain, common boards, select pine and poplar all take it just fine. If you are worried, use wood conditioner first. If you are using homemade stain like vinegar/steel wool stain, 2x4s and common boards turn a lovely grayish brown while nicer wood like select pine, Purebond plywood and maple plywood turn a strange black/gray in my experience.