DIY Desk Surface

Lost desk surface

During early covid I ended up moving. The desk surface was too big to take with me but I kept the overall frame.

DIY desk upgrade

I had heard of plenty of people renovating a desk or table with a big butcher block countertop grabbed from IKEA.

What I was looking for

• Thin
• Curved (keep my forearms from resting into the edge)
• Cheap

Solutions I looked at

• IKEA butcher block: over an inch thick
• Premade desk surfaces: medium to high price and especially pricey if they had a curve
• Harware store plywood: Cheap, Thin, and meant to be cut into so I could make a curve

Looked at the different types of plywood sheets people use for desks. There seemed to be the classic option of plywood thats just wood sheets that get glued and stamped together or MDF that is stronger but needs water protection. I went with MDF figuring I’d just put on a layer of polyurithane to protect it from spills.

Build process

Materials and tools

• 4’ x 8’ sheet of MDF and had it cut down at the store to 40” x 70”
• router and bit to round off the edges
• jigsaw to cut a curve into the desk
• polyurithane sealent
• hand drill

Relied on memories of shop class from about 20 years ago on how to use a router and general woodworking experience. Sketched out a curve that allowed me to fit inside it with my elbows resting on the desk instead of hanging off the side. Used jigsaw to cut out desk curve, router gave nice rounded edges, and finished off with a protective coat of polyurithane. I now had a custom large desk surface.

After the polyurithane dried I marked where the desk frame mounting holes went and Used a hand drill to make sure the holes did not go straight through the wood. Then screwed the desk into the frame and voila your custom sized desk is now done!