All Replies on What to use for an ofice desk top

Your plan sounds good to me. I would sandwich two pieces of the plywood together for a thicker top.

-- Save lives, ease suffering, reduce morbidity and mortality, stomp out pestilence and disease, postpone the inevitable, and fake compassion. The Paramedics Creed

Sounds good to me too but like Robert I would glue two pieces of the plywood together for a thicker top.

-- --- Richard Jackson

Almost all of my tops are 3/4” ply with a thicker band.

-- Adversity doesn't build character...................it reveals it.

Thanks for the great ideas. I just want to make sure I do a good job in design even if it’s for a wharehouse desk. Thanks again

Well thanks Lucystars that was the perfect feedback I was looking for. I think not!

2×3/4” plywood shhets thick then

I’m putting flooring vinyl on mine

I tend to repair things on my desk

I’m a slob really. :)

Jamie

-- Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

You’d be surprised how well the right kind of door will work and they’re almost ready to go and sometimes you can find them for next to nothing.

helluvawreck
https://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com

-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau

I see no virtue in doubling the plywood, unless it’s to brag about the thickness. If you do that, you’ll need three men and some ancient Egyptian techniques to get it in the door and atop the pedestals.

Oak makes a poor top because of its inherent roughness. Any plywood top will end up vulnerable and difficult to repair.

Plastic laminate is a consideration.

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

As far as the thickness goes I’m not thinking it will be weak but want it to look like it was not just slapped together.

I would second the suggestion of plastic laminate, i.e.formica. Nothing against plywood but if you’re using it as a desk, it’s going to see a lot of abuse and laminate is tough and easy to clean. It is also really easy to get flat and smooth. You could sandwich two layers of 3/4 MDF and put laminate over the top.

Re: double the thickness. I’d just double it for several inches around the outside so it looks thick but doesn’t weigh so much.

-- Joe

Thanks for the ideas all. If I did plywood I would have to put a few coats of poly or something similar on it to make easy cleaning. I think i’m going to use sandwich 2 1/2” pieces and put formica on top.

@Lee Barker, The virtue of two pieces of plywood or MDF sandwiched together is it not bowing under stress over a greater distance. And the dimensions the OP was talking about is just slightly heavier than a full sheet of plywood. It really has nothing to do with bragging about the thickness. You could also use 1-⅛ melamine with a solid wood edge. It has a smooth easy to clean surface and is very stable and flat. It is also cheaper than plywood and formica, yet less durable.

-- Save lives, ease suffering, reduce morbidity and mortality, stomp out pestilence and disease, postpone the inevitable, and fake compassion. The Paramedics Creed

How about some of the new hardwoood flooring panels and glue to plywood? Anyone try that idea yet I have been think of trying this idea?

I’ve made a few desktops out of solid core door blanks (no hardware holes) and they were fairly inexpensive, very sturdy, and finished up nicely. Be aware, some “solid” core doors have a core of particleboard (or MDF) and can be awfully heavy.

-- I long for the days when Coke was a cola, and a joint was a bad place to be (Merle Haggard)

Lol spammers paradise here!

-- John, BC, Canada

Hell, yeah!

-- "someone has to be wounded for others to be saved, someone has to sacrifice for others to feel happiness, someone has to die so others could live"

This desk is made with 1 1/8 plywood and HLP. Very sturdy.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!