PVC and pegboard desk/workbench

Introduction:
My name is Chance, and in this Instructable, I will walk you through the process of making a desk/workbench out of nothing but PVC pipe, pegboard and 550 cord (braided nylon parachute cord). I was given a sort of TV cabinet/3 drawer dresser thingy when I was assigned to my barracks room. I quickly outgrew this and saw the need for something a bit more accommodating for all of my stuff, plus a workspace for my tinkering with electronics. I chose PVC because it is fairly cheap, sturdy and simple. PVC is like a big set of tinker-toys to me! I made it to the dimensions that I did simply because of my needs and the dimensions of my barracks room. You should choose dimensions that best suit your needs. I hope this is helpful to some of you and please keep in mind that this is my first Instructable.

Step 1 Materials and Tools List

What you will need to make it to my specifications:
5  10' lengths of 1.5 PVC pipe
8  1.5 90 degree connectors
6  1.5 T-connectors
1  4' x 8' sheet of ¼ pegboard
1  6' length of angle iron (1/8 thick) with pre-drilled holes
4  Bolts that will fit through the pegboard holes, with 1 washer and 1 nut each.
PVC primer and cement
2 cans of spray paint (if you only want one color) or 2 cans of one color and 1 can of your secondary color (if you want a color scheme similar to the one that I used).
200' of #550 cord. A different type of cord can be substituted, but make sure it will fit through the pegboard holes before you buy it!

Tools:
A tape measure.
A fine tip permanent marker for marking your cuts.
Either a circular power saw.
Or
A hacksaw with a miter-box for cutting the PVC flush (it's really hard to free-hand) and a handsaw for cutting the pegboard.
Either way, you will need a hack-saw for cutting the angle iron unless you have something else to cut it with.
A paper plate to keep the primer and glue from getting on your floor (yes, I learned the hard way...).
A drop-cloth for painting the PVC pipes and connectors.

Comments

[arawn]

Man... that's simply what i've been looking for. Perfect.

[inventorjack]

Good thinking. When I lived in the barracks, I made a workbench out of wood at the base wood hobby shop, and made it all bolt-together so I could disassemble quickly. The only real problem was that wood is really heavy and cumbersome, and I lived on the third deck. Oh well. Anyway, this looks really sharp. Good stuff! (By the way, where did you get Frank? That's one of my favorite movies.)

[redleg8102]

camb00: I really didn't put enough planning into this. It went from my head to reality in 2 days. It really does need bracing in the back. Because it's PVC, you could run a straight brace out of PVC instead of dealing with cross-bracing. I'll have to add a "Things I would've done different" page. Jack: Thanks for the ups. I got Frank at a movie store. I normally despise pop-culture memorabilia, but it was way too cool to pass up. Darko's right up there next to A Clockwork Orange on my list.

[camb00]

I would recommend a back brace at the bottom but i don't know how sturdy it is with out so