Introduction: Modern Classic Desk With Metal Legs for Home Office

About: I am a student in University of Oulu, Finland, studying education and technology. My interest is digital fabrication in education.

This is the procedure of how we made the home office desk.

Since the remote work recommendation started in March 2020, I have been using the dining table as my temporary home office desk. As remote work recommendation continues, I decided to get a proper desk. We searched one in furniture shops or online, but did not find the desk which would be perfectly suitable for us. So we decided to make one by ourselves.

I wanted to have modern classic like desk with dark coloured wooden top and the black metal legs. With help from the family members in metal work, we managed to make the perfect work desk! It turned out exactly what I had imagined!

Final dimensions: width 1400 mm X depth 635 mm X height 740 mm

Supplies

Wooden board (acacia, 26 X 635 X 2000 mm)

Flat metal (steel, 10 X 60 mm)

Tools for welding

Liquid metal filler

Sandpapers

Oil for woods

Screws (6.3 X 30 mm ) and washers

Paint for metal (matt black)

Step 1: Cut and Weld the Flat Metal

We made the legs of the desk with two rectangles made of four metal bars welded together.

We asked the provider to cut the metal when we bought it. Actually the price for cutting was as expensive as the material cost.. We didn't have much experience and knowledge of how hard to cut the metals, so we asked the shop to make sure that we got the metal bars cut with the exact lengths.

Metal bars dimensions and amount: 714 mm X 4 (vertical parts of the legs), 615 mm X 4 (horizontal parts of the legs)

We got help from our family members in welding the metal parts.

After the metal bars were welded, we made the five holes on each leg for screws. We used the power drills to make the holes.

We added small amount of the liquid metal filler on the welded parts and removed the extra with the sandpapers to smoothen the joints.

Step 2: Paint the Metal Legs

We painted the metal legs with matt black paint.

Because it was too cold to use spray paint outdoor and we did not have a good indoor space, we used liquid paint. After degreasing, we painted the metal legs using a brush and a small paint roller. We only painted once because we wanted the desk to be ready soon, but we noticed that some parts were not painted enough. If we make another desk, we will paint twice.

Step 3: Assemble

We assembled the legs and the wooden top with 10 screws. Legs were placed on the very edge of the wooden top. We used the power drills to assemble the legs.

After assembling the legs, we put oil for finishing the wooden top. We used masking tape to protect the legs and other faces of the wooden board.

Step 4: Finish!

We are very happy with the result and how it looks!

The total cost was about 150 euros: about 70 euros for the wood (include cutting), about 70 euros for the metal (include cutting).

Enjoy remote working with your favourite home office desk and stay safe :)