Maple Corner Desk

Maple Corner Desk

Materials 

• 4x8 Maple Plywood 3/4" 
• 1x18 x 10' maple board
• 1x18 x 4' maple board
• 2 4x4 x 8' douglas fir
• 1x2" clear pine (for trim)
• 2" screws
• 4" metal braces
• 4" Angle Brackets
• 2" double wide angle brackets
• 1 quart Solarez UV Resin 
• TimBor Professional Wood Insecticide and Fungicide
• Varathane Carbon Gray Wood Stain

Tools

• Cordless drill
• Miter Saw
• Circular Saw

ADHDiY labor

Planning: 3 Hrs

Cutting: 2 Hrs

Sanding: 2 Hrs

Staining: 2 hrs

Assembly:  6 Hrs

Cost: $200

I used 2 of my wide cut 1" thick boards to make a single-board topped desk for my wife.

She wanted to keep as much of the rough-cut wood and maintain a single piece.  This did result in some cupping, which was unavoidable with boards this wide.  However the cupping was taken up a bit with the resin finish.

I left a gap in the back of the corner to allow for cords, stands, and other items to come out.  This left about 10 inches in the corner, and anything smaller would have resulted in using additional boards or a sheet of plywood.

The boards did have residual wood boring bug holes from when it sat on the ground.  This adds depth to the wood, however it also introduced the risk of larva still alive in the wood.  I used the TimBor Professional Wood Insecticide and Fungicide, mixed with a 1-pound per gallon ratio, to treat the wood.

The wood was also "spalted", meaning it had fungus growth, and staining.  The TimBor also treats fungus, and kills any remaining spores in the wood.  This ensures that the wood will not bring any other wood destroying organisms into the house. 

Make sure you wear heavy protective gloves when working with this type of pesticide/fungicide, as with all poisons.  Making sure you are in a well-ventilated area or outside.  Here i was on my covered porch.

Total treatment time is about 4 hours for drying.  After that, you can continue finishing and sanding without the need for a respirator. 

Next was the plywood boxes, and this required 2 sheets of plywood.  Both were bought at my local big-box hardware store and were 3/4" oak.  This store did not have maple in stock, and oak provides a great texture when staining. 

The carbon gray added a bit of blue, and made an excellent stain.  The stain was a single-coat, and dried in about 2 hours.

The boxes also had 5/4 trim glued and nailed to cover the plywood layers.

I purchased douglass Fir 4x4 posts (NOT Pressure Treated!) for the back support, it streamlined the look, and allowed for an open back to the desk.

Metal brackets and angles were screwed to the top and boxes.  This ensures that the desk can be broken down into parts when we move.

Here you can see the cupping that the board experienced, it wasn't much, but significant enough to potentially cause a problem with drinks, or other items.

My oldest son wanted to help.

I used painters tape to seal the top and poured the Solarez UV activated Resin.  While on smaller surfaces, this can be done inside, and then brought outside to cure, a large surface like the desk required a tarp to block the sun until the pour was completed.  Making sure the surface was fully smooth and level was a bit of a challenge, and it required 2 coats, with sanding in between. There were some brush strokes that hardened, showed through.  See middle. 

However the resin cured within minutes, and was able to be placed into the house before the end of the day.  

I will definitely use the Solarez again in the next project. The cost was a little higher than comparable polyurathanes, but the speed of cure was definitely worth the extra cost.  This prevented particles and bugs from landing on the finish, and cured completely clear.