OfficeDeskAndShelf

OBJECTIVES: Make a table for my home office that can support a reasonable amount of weight on the bottom shelf. Have outlet built into table top. Only use existing materials, no additionally purchased wood or Home Depot trips.

I imagined carving out a half-lap joint from the 2x4 pillars similar to my other table with shelves. This could not be accomplished with a jigsaw, but rather I utilized a table saw to make these cuts, and then used a chisel to take the wood to the uniform depth of the cuts. It was fun and my first real practical use of a chisel to make part of a structure.

I tried this method of chiseling to the line i drew around the outside of the board before i used the table saw to make cuts as guides to keep my chisel work mostly consistent with the depth. This board was scrapped because the cut was so lopsided and uneven. Maybe some have the skill and eye to do this kind of work -- clearly not me.

Does this look familiar? I recreated the apron and three board support system from my workbench -- except I used thinner boards since I wasn't planning on banging on this table and throwing tons of weight on it other than my 3D printer, lunch dishes, and laptops.

I laid the top sideways, and then placed the 2x4s on the inside of the aprons since they were carved with the half-lap and ready to fit

Different angle.

Since this fits easily through a doorway, and I have no intentions of ever tearing it down, I added glue and fasteners -- each post got 4 screws at the top.

And here we are -- It looked very funny like this. Also I measured the post half-lap carving incorrectly which made each of the posts have 1/2 inch extra wood exposed which I eventually got rid of.

I added 2x4s between the legs and then ran some pine runners between the 2x4s. This was topped with some plywood I already had cut to that length and width from another project. I was OK with the width not being the entire width of the base. Thought it added character to the piece overall.

Here we are sanded and fastened, and waiting for a stain job.

I believe making the leg posts a darker stain enhances the visual effect of the half-lap joint.

The legs were "black walnut" and the rest of the body was "gunstock" stain adjectives.

I traced the outline of a "conference table outlet" that I picked up for $10 and fit snugly into the table after using my router to carve it out.

It even has USB outlets...