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Cantilever Leg Desk

 

Call it a desk, a Sewing Table, a Craft Table, or whatever you want. The way you build it is all the same. This is going to be a sewing desk for my wife's craft room. I decided that I wanted to build the top out of white oak, just because I hadn't used White Oak in a while, and wanted to do something different.

As a side note, regulars know that I work a lot in Cherry. Cherry is gorgeous wood, but it is on the softer side of the domestic hardwoods. For a desk or work table I would usually choose something harder, like Maple, Oak, Walnut or something like that. But to be fair, you could also make the top out of plywood. But the cost of plywood is getting pretty expensive, and I still know of a lumber mill an hour out of town that sells locally sourced hardwood at a fair price.

In contrast, for the legs I went with common 2x10 Construction Lumber from the local Building Supply store. Around here those are Spruce, and I thought the pale colour would nicely contrast the White Oak top. They're also fairly inexpensive and easy to find and easy to work with. I find that 2x10 and 2x12 lumber is of FAR greater quality wood than buying 2x4 and 2x6 boards.

 

Some of the Tools/Supplies Used In This Project: (Affiliate Links)

Stanley Leverlocks -- love these tape measures
Other auto-locking tape measures
Irwin Quick Grip XP600 Clamps
Painter's Pyramids
Dowelmax Company
NOTE: at the time of publishing (May 2023) Dowelmax is not currently available on amazon. It has been in the past, so I am keeping the following links, but right now only the link above to "dowelmax.com" is known to work.
Dowelmax Dowel Joinery Kit
Dowelmax Drill Guides for 1/4" Dowels
Dowelmax Dowels

West System Epoxy Kits
Minwax Oil-Modified Polyurethane
3M Finishing Pads / Scotch Brite
Freud Glue Line Ripping Blade
Freud Blox Joint Cutting Blade
Grizzly G0513ANV 2HP Bandsaw (similar model, not an exact match!)

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See Also:


Sit-Stand Desk with Wings


Bed From Construction Lumber