Building MegaDesk

When my family and I moved into our new house, I found myself with a much larger office than I was used to. I wanted to get a desk to fit the new space, without spending thousands of dollars on a crazy high-end solution. I decided to build one myself to properly fill the space in a tight budget.

My article on Medium covers the details on how I made the desk. Here I’ll cover the basics of what tools I used, what gotchas I experienced, and how much it cost me overall. If you decide you want to build one yourself, please check out my article on medium (linked at the top and bottom of this page).

Tools

I’m a DIY enthusiast but not an expert, so the tools for this project are pretty limited and easy to come by. If you’ve hung a picture in your apartment, you’ve likely used most of the tools I’ll list here, though there are a few that might be slightly more [word for specific or rare]. I’ll try to notate those as I think of them. Also I’ve listed tools in the format of: tool (what I used). I’m not advocating for any particular brand, I just want to be clear about the tools I used to complete the job.

  • Drill (DeWalt brushless motor)
  • Hole-saw (Coleman)
  • Pocket-Hole-Jig (Kreg Jig)
  • 1 1/4" Pocket Hole Screws (Kreg)
  • 2 1/2" Pocket Hole Screws smaller (Kreg)
  • Wood Screws 3"
  • Circular Saw (DeWalt)
  • level
  • wood glue
  • clamps

Materials

  • plywood (any)
  • plywood (finished maple)
  • 2x4 (SPF)
  • 4x4 (maple)

Cost Breakdown (Parts and Materials)

Table Tops

  • Plywood (normal): $79
  • Plywood (maple): $110
  • Wood Glue: $36

Frames

  • 2x4s: $55

Legs

  • 4x4s: $65

Finish

  • Stain: $15
  • Wood Filler: $10
  • Mineral Spirits: $8
  • Super-Fine Steel Wool: $5
  • Sandpaper: $20
  • Edging Strips: $13

Misc

  • 1 1/4” Pocket Hole Screws: $23
  • 2 1/2” Pocket Hole Screws: $23
  • 3” Wood Screws: $11

Cost Breakdown (Tools)

  • Drill: $100
  • Hole Saw: $35
  • Circular Saw: $200
  • Level: $10

Cost Rollup

  • Parts and Materials (without finish/misc): $345
  • Finish: $71
  • Misc: $57
  • Tools (if not pre-owned): $345

Total: $440

Summary

Compared to the desks of equal size I was finding online that were in the price range of $1,000 - $2,000, this was incredibly affordable. The desk itself cost around $473 to make and finish. I already owned the tools needed, but even if I had to buy all of that new it would have only brought the price up to $818, which is still cheaper than all of the acceptable-quality desks I found. It was fairly easy to put together though I learned a lot in the process. Hopefully this can help you creat the desk without the issues I had.