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Step 7Drill holes and install the steel rods
Drill two holes in each leg so that the rod can be installed. I put the holes about halfway between the top and bottom of the leg and about one inch in from the back.
The rod I used was 3/8" in diameter.
The rod I used was 3/8" in diameter.
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1) Instead of using a nut and washer on the threaded rod in between the legs to hold the legs apart, carefully measure the distance between the legs for each rod and cut a piece of 1½" (or thereabouts) PVC plumbing pipe. It is important to cut the ends squarely so you might want to buy an inexpensive miter box. (That will also help you practice with your Japanese hand saw.) Another related trick is to wrap a piece of stiff paper around the pipe until the edge of paper is straight and then you are guaranteed to draw a perfectly square line around the pipe.
After you have the pipe cut to length, slide the rod through the leg, the pipe, and through the other leg. Instead of using the washers and wingnuts, use the washers and regular nuts.
Make sure that the pipe is absolutely square to both of the legs (using your speedsquare) before tightening with a wrench. With 3/8 threaded rod you should be able to really tighten those suckers good.
I recommend that you place one of your PVC encased rods half-way up from the floor along the back of the desk (which I see you have done). A second PVC encased rod can/should be placed much lower and a bit more toward the front (like 6-12" from the back) so, in addition to stability, it can also act as a footrest. (Having the second rod right under the desktop doesn't make the desk very much more stable. By taking it out of the same plane of the rod on the back, you minimize the parallelogram racking stresses. It will also make the desk much more comfortable to use. You might need to do some trial and error to find the most comfortable footrest position but I'm guessing that 5-6" off the ground will be best.
2) You were left with four squares of scrap plywood from when you cut the tongues for the legs. Take one (you actually may need two depending on how straight you saw) of those squares and cut it on the diagonal (make sure one triangular piece has 2 factory edges - not 2 triangular pieces with 1 factory edge each). These will become gussets to strengthen the joint where the leg meets the bottom of the table top. Use the factory edge whenever possible. If the sides of the waste piece you cut (to make the tongues) are not square, don't sweat it. Just get another square waste piece, cut on the diagonal (as above) and use the factory
Pre-drill all holes and screw the gussets about 2-4 inches in from the back of the desk. Why? Two reasons - 1) having the gussets in more means you are stabilizing more of the leg. 2) You might want to put a clamp on the corner and you'll need the overhang so the clamp can grab.