Building the Big Desk with Beech and Knockdown Joinery

Since I work from home, my old setup was two different cheap desks at two different heights — one for work, one for personal. They sat in an L shape in the middle of the room, which split the room awkwardly and wasted a lot of space.

The new setup puts it all on one desk. I added a KVM switch so I can switch my monitors and keyboard between my personal computer and the dock for my work laptop. And I was able to hide most of the cables, which I couldn't do before.

Here's a quick walk-through of how it came together. If you want to build one, the Big Desk plans have everything I used.

The finished desk, up against the wall in my office.

Why build a desk this big

The 96" length gives me about the same desk space I had across the two old desks. My work laptop sits on the right side by the dock, and there's still plenty of open space. Now the desk is up against the wall, and the room feels much more open and less cramped.

For reference, the top is 96 × 27 × 2", set edge grain up, and it weighs about 135 lb. Finished height is 28-1/2", and you can adjust that through the legs.

The Fusion 360 model

The plans come with a Fusion 360 model of the desk. It's mostly parametric. I'm not a Fusion expert, though, so if you tweak it, you may get unexpected results. Check the model before you cut. 

Working with European beech

I knew going in it was going to take over 100 board feet of lumber. The plans call for about 110 bd ft of 8/4 skip-planed stock with waste, in boards at least 9′ long. I originally looked at maple or walnut, but at that amount of wood they would have run $9–$14+ per board foot in my area at the time. I was able to get European beech from my local hardwood dealer for barely more than $3/BF. That's a significant savings at 110 board feet. (Those were my local prices when I bought — yours will vary.)

The beech the day it showed up. That's over 300 board feet, enough for this desk and other projects.

The hardest part of this build was milling 8/4 lumber that was over 9 ft long in my shop. Thankfully, everything in my shop except the workbench is on a mobile base, so I was able to rearrange things to make it work.

For milling you'll want a jointer and a planer — under 13" wide is fine — plus a table saw with a dado stack and a bandsaw.

Milling one of the three top sections. Each one stays under 13" wide so it fits the planer.

Loose tenon and knockdown connector joinery

The top is aligned with 8×40 loose tenons. The aprons connect with four knockdown connectors. The base bolts to the top with 3/8"-24 × 2" stainless bolts into brass inserts, and tabletop fasteners hold the top down.

Just because I had a loose-tenon joiner on hand doesn't mean you need one. The plans cover alternatives in steps 2, 3, 5, 11 and 12, and dowels work too.

I am what some would call particular. I could have used a plunge router and some jigs to do the work the CNC did, but I already have a CNC from kumiko jig production work, so I figured I'd use it. I found the center point of the job and let it loose on the bolt slots in the base and the cable management slots in the top.

I totally understand most folks don't have a CNC. I made sure everything it did can still be done with a normal plunge router and some patience. If you do have one, the plans include the VCarve .crv file and 1:1 DXFs for the cable and mounting slots.

The three cable slots, cut on the CNC before the waste came out. The test piece is on the left.

The slot covers

The cable slots get 3D-printed covers, at least for me for the time being. The plans include the Fusion 360 file for the covers, plus STL, 3MF and STEP files for them. I might CNC some out of wood later and match the finish.

Assembly

I built the base completely before I started the top.

Upside down, working out the alignment and where the inserts go in the top.

I sprayed the dye on the base parts, so it went on thicker and basically hides the grain pattern of the legs in the finished desk. I spent time picking those pieces for their grain, and it didn't matter.

Base parts hanging to dry after I sprayed the dye.

Funny enough, I'd forgotten that by the time I got to finishing the top. That took a couple of months — I changed jobs during the build, and life slowed me down.

I started on the underside of the top. Somehow I didn't fully tighten the reservoir on the sprayer, and it dropped and spilled dye stain on the wood. I reacted quickly and wiped it off — and that reminded me that I'd wanted to wipe the dye on, like I did on the test piece that sold me on this finish in the first place. You can somewhat tell where it spilled if you look hard and know where to look, and it's on the underside, hidden away.

But that spill was a gift. I think the wiped-on dye looks hands down better than it would have sprayed. To be clear, I did spray all of the other coats of the finish. I used an HVLP sprayer.

Why lacquer? If something ever happens and I need to repair the finish, I can do a spot repair on lacquer. That's not something you can do with polyurethane. The full finish schedule is on p. 23 of the plans.

The top, with the dye wiped on. The grain still shows through, unlike on the base.

I use it daily, and it's been holding up well.

Get the plans

This isn't a beginner project, and it isn't for someone's first try at any kind of furniture making. But if you know how to mill your own lumber and have some decent tools — table saw, bandsaw, jointer, planer, plunge router, sander — you can build it. Having a CNC and a loose-tenon joiner helped me, but you don't need either one.

The Big Desk plans are available now: one zip with the 35-page, 15-step guide (cut list, finish schedule, larger drawings), the Fusion 360 model, the CNC files, and the slot cover print files. 

Be safe. Only you are responsible for your actions.