News Anchor Desk

A few questions will help to create the deskof your dreams. 

1.  Will the desk need to be moved often or will it be a permanent fixture?
2. What are your skills with wood and metal?
3. What tools do you have available?
4. What is your Budget?

You can email me at jimruss0539@yahoo.com

I have helped high schools to make cabinets for Band rooms, I have been in the construction trades for 40 years and I should be able to help with your project.

Hi hello and welcome to the How-to-Community.

So you guys are clueless on where to start with this absolutely awesome and great project?

No problem I think can help with that :smileyhappy:

If I was the one doing this project I would start off with a desk design and material list first.

I like the design of the above pictured desk but in my opinion it would look even better if you were to angle the sides so it gives you that “rising” look.

Just a suggestion;

Btw carpet is the must :smileyvery-happy:

This is pretty much what I think you are going to need for this project;

3 -sheets of ¾ cabinet grade plywood, one for the base, one for the top and one for the trim piece.

12 - 2x4x8’s #2 and better pine (easier to work with)

3 LB - of 3” gold construction screws

3- sheets of ¼ luan underlayment plywood

3- 12OZ tubes of construction grade adhesive

1-tube of paintable wood filler

3-sheets of #150 sand paper

1-box of 1-1/4” 16 ga straight finishing nails.

1 quart of stainblocking primer     

1 gallon of paint of your choice

1 quart of contact cement + accessories

2 special order edging and laminate *see attached samples*

And these are some of the tools you are going to need;

Jig saw

Sander

Drill driver

Table saw

Clamps

String line

Finishing nailer

Ok now with all of this above handy you can go ahead and start with the desk construction;

Start by marking the cut lines on the top piece and a trim piece of the plywood first;

These two pieces should be outlined the same and easiest way to achieve this is with the string line and a pencil. Trick is to move the plywood around on the floor, with string anchored, until you find the right angle. Once positioned, mark the position of the plywood on the floor so that second piece of plywood can be placed on the same spot and outlined identically.

Cut along the marked lines using a jig saw and lightly sand the edges for the smooth finish.

Now with these two pieces cut and prepared you can start working on the base. Base should be shaped identically as the top and trim piece but smaller in size. If you decide to go with my suggested angled design than base piece should be sized so it reflects the 60° degree angle. But if you decide to replicate the pictured desk, than base should be smaller for the overhang of the top piece. Looking at the picture it looks like they’ve got about 4” inches of overhang.

So once all said and done you should have two pieces that match the top and one identically shaped but smaller for your base piece.

With these pieces put aside you can start working on the framing.

Total height of your anchor desk should match the height of the dining kitchen island and that is anywhere from 40”-43” inches.

Your 2x4s should be cut in mind that the base, trim and top piece are still getting added for the total height of 40”-43” inches.

Follow the pattern sketched out bellow and fasten 2x4’x to the base piece and the trim piece using 3” nails and construction adhesive.

Note that it is a lot easier to glue the laminate on top of the trim piece now than later once the top it’s installed.

Once the top is fasten to the framing you can start closing off the sides using luan plywood. Fasten one side at the time using finish nailer in combination with construction adhesive and trim on the spot. Note if the curve starts to appear irregular you need to go back and add more studs so there are more attachment points.   

With the sides installed you can go ahead install the top piece using the same method you’ve used previously with trim and base piece just this time with shorter pieces of lumber to replicate the design.

And that’s it all its left is to glue the laminate, fill the nail holes, sand  and paint.

Hope this helps and don’t forget to post some project pictures .

George

Ok - here is another possibility I drew up using Google Sketchup. It's an easy to use, free 3D drawing program from Google. The desk is relatively easy to construct using luaun, 2x4s and some MDF. As for the color and top, both can easily be achieved with some paint. The base would simply be gloss black and the top, while not diamond plate, a metallic look can easily be achieved using Rust-Oleum's Stainless Steel paint (it actually has stainless steel particles in it). Side note: painting the edge of MDF can be a slight challenge to get it to look like the top. The solution is to get some spray shellac (found in the Minwax bays in the Paint dept at THD). You put a couple light coats of shellac on the edges of the MDF, give it a light sanding and you're ready.

Now for the construction. While looking complicated, the curve is relatively easy to achieve. Lay a piece of your 3/4" MDF on the floor, have two of your buddies hold a sheet of luan upright with the long side at the top and bottom. They should be able to slowly walk towards one another to create a slight bend in the sheet of luaun. It's thin and will flex easily over a large area. Now trace that curve onto the piece of MDF.

You get the idea? You're going to have to work out your dimensions based on what you need and the amount of flex you can get in your piece of luaun. In a similar project I built for a demo table, the dimensions shown above worked out pretty easily. Unfortunately, my external drive just crashed so I don't have a picture of it to show you.

That curve will be the basis for the rest of your work. I cut out three pieces of MDF to serve as curve supports.  The frame of 2x4s is put together using lap joints. The vertical supports towards the front (holding the three curved pieces of MDF have slot cut into them to support the MDF.

All the cuts can be done with a circular saw and jig saw (or in a pinch, just a jig saw).

Hope this gives you some ideas and gets you started. If you have any questions, just ask. I will give you as much detail as I can or as much as you need.

Hey just to answer your questions

1. I would like the desk to have the ability to be moved easily, since our tv station is extremely small and furniture is most likely going to be repositioned.

2. I can't speak for the rest of the tv station but I, myself have little experience with wood.

3. I know we have a hammer some screw drivers, we have access to a jig saw, and possibly other tools as well.

4. I'm not sure of our exact budget but we would probably be able to spend around $200 or so if the price is right

Awesome! Thank you guys! I'll go and run this through the station to see what they have to say.

Also, this is probably easy to do, but I was wondering if it's possible to add a shelf underneath in which to store items; give it more of that desk quality.

again, relatively simple to do. in the design i showed you, there is a small slot just under the desktop in which scripts could be stashed. as for adding a shelf, something like this could be accomplished:

A couple things to keep in mind when adding the shelf: KNEES :smileywink:

The people behind the desk need some place to put their legs when sitting, unless you plan to have them stand the whole broadcast.

You can see the basic construction, simply lap and butt joints. You could build this desk with angle brackets and mending plates if you didn't want to do the lap joints. But the lap joint will be stronger.

What is a lap joint and a butt joint, you may be asking:

Also, you can adapt this deisgn very easily to using George's suggestion of laminate sheets. While luauan isn't the strongest of plywoods, it would be a bit more durable and more cost effect than a sheet of laminate. As for moving it around, casters could easily be added to aid in its mobility. But an easier solution is just to add some Magic Sliders under the four corners. They're the little grey and black things you put under chairs and other furniture pieces to make moving them around easier.

While the studio may not have a bunch of tools available, I'm sure your physical plant (the maintenance guys) has tools someone could arrange for you to borrow.

Another awesome post by Paul! I love the way you just added in the shelf, without really changing much! Keep it the Sketchup designs coming.