So a friend, former neighbor, now has a small house about 6 miles away, just a little 1/1, and of course, space is tight.  and with the recent Covid mess, now she largely is able to work from her home, so of course, you need a space to do that.  I guess she's been trying to use her dining room table area, but that's double purposing a space, and doesn't work well long term.  So she stops by yesterday, we wander down to the shop, and she shows me a little sketch of her house and where she would like to put a corner desk.  yes, a 45/45/90 triangle stuffed into a corner.  ok, so far, so good.

 

and then she mentions that she would like a pull out drawer for her keyboard.  well, how big is a keyboard? we go back to the house and measure one (about 18x5), and maybe a pull out for the printer (we also measure a printer that is close to her printer's size.

 

back to the shop, and pull out the Rosin paper and start drawing things to full scale.  well, here is where your keyboard would go, but there is no space for the printer.

 

Oh.

 

I knew it wouldn't work, but I had to go thru the exercise of drawing it full scale so she could see that this was not doable as she envisioned.

 

Ok, how about a rectangular desk, and a smaller printer table next to it?

 

we draw those out full size.  and we have space for a pull out drawer under the desk top (yay!!), and we'll also put a shelf under the printer table top to hold spare paper and ink and junk.

 

we dimension those out and then figure how much lumber is need for everything.  at least 17 BF, i advise that i'd get at least 20, maybe 25 BF, as some is lost to trimming and squaring things up, as well as defects you need to work around.

 

got her the name and number of the lumber yard that has the lumber she wants (Wormy Maple, same wood we used in our kitchen long ago).  well, her homework is to call them and determine if they have any and how much it is.  buy some 14" full extension glides, measure her shredder (so see if it will fit under the printer table), and then we'll go fetch lumber some day and get to cutting, drilling, gluing, and finishing.

 

pics when i have something to show off, may be a few days.

 

and lastly, she asked, "how much should I pay you for this?"  "nothing, just buy your own lumber", i have everything else we'll need.

Been there done that. 

Dab, I'm sure you considered this, but that tray will need space for a mouse (or alternative) as well. I built 2 desks last year with keyboard trays, the first one was a little tight with a full width keyboard (the kind with a number pad), so I built the second one quite a bit wider. Anyway, just a thought.

Laptop or tower?

Laptop has mouse pad & screen built in.

Tower needs room for tower, screen, mouse, mouse pad, key board.

Screen--14", 20", 24", etc.?

 

Just saying, it might be cheaper in the long run just to buy a small new laptop.

There are a bunch of different ways to go with everything (nearly) being wifi today.  But it sounds like you have a plan and will soon be moving forward with it.  Please post up a few PIPs.  Should be a great looking piece when you have finished.

I found that (with a PC), mounting the monitor on the wall allowed a lot of storage under it, and opened up a corner of the desk normally blocked by the screen.

good news, i guess, road trip to pick up lumber averted, she's having someone else, who will be in that area today on other errands, pick up the lumber needed.  hope he chooses well.  if not, we'll use what he brings back.

did someone ask for pictures?

 

ok, phase 1 under way, gluing up the desk top, the printer table top, and the printer table shelf:

 

more later (need to glue up the legs next, create some 2x2s.

 

 

tops and shelf cut to size.  legs glued up, planed to dimension, and cut to length.  skirts cut to size, took a break, just started drilling pocket holes for the skirt to leg connection and skirt to top connection.

 

pics later.

making progress.  snapped off a pocket screw trying to close a gap.  sigh.  guess i'll undo things and fix it.

 

need to cut the drawer bottom to size, and need to cut the printer table shelf to size (shorter table).

 

should be wrapped up by lunch.

 

 

Looks like it'll work for her. Nice job, too. 

Looking forward to seeing this as it progresses.

wrapped up the build this morning, the small table (for a printer) even nests under the computer desk's drawer.

 

little insert for the drawer, so if you want, you can set your keyboard there, or on the desk top.  it's good to have options.

 

i'm low on Tung oil, so i'll have to get some this PM from homey depot.

finish applied, nice rich color now.

 

went looking for Tung Oil, which i've used before on this type wood, but homey depot didn't have any, so got Teak Oil instead.  very similar application, i'm happy with it.  nice part is that it soaks in, it doesn't lay on top (like Polyurethane), so you can put it on generously, and just wipe away any excess, or apply more to areas that soak it up well.  another coat tomorrow.  delivery Saturday afternoon.

Very Nice! 

Beautiful!!  

Great job Dab, and thanks for the pics!

Excellent work and a great solution for the tricky space problem. 

second coat of finish on this morning, i'll check it later today, it should be good to go.

when we drew the plans up and estimated the lumber needed, we (I) figured 17 BF.  told her to get at least 20 BF.  she got 20 BF.  leftovers include one piece 2-1/2"x36, one 5"x8", and one 4"x6" (these are estimated, based on last time i looked at the pile).  pretty good guessing.