Shelving desk legs

I basically used 8 2x4's-worth of wood for that butcher block, it is damn heavy. Flipping it to sand each side has been an adventure, so I've had to re-think my plan for the legs a little. Initially I was thinking a shelf on one side, with two of the old table's metal legs on the other. I'm not sure that's enough now, so with a second plywood board around why not make a shelf for each side and then run the legs along the back of the desk.

That's straight enough. Now I just have to build a 2nd one just like it.

I threw the first shelf together without any real plan. Split the plywood, cut it to the approximate height of the metal legs, and use the extras as the shelves. Things came together nice enough, but after putting so much work into the top I wasn't really feeling the visible lamination layers. Time to figure something out to cover those. No surprise here, this build has spiraled pretty far beyond what I first envisioned, but at least I had proof of concept that the shelves would work.

Okay, I like where we're headed.

Thankfully, following the same steps got me a second cabinet similar enough to use on the other side of the desk. To cover the edges, I trimmed some leftover 2x4 into .5" cubes to glue on as edging. Would buying some veneer been easier? Probably. But using what I already had sounded a lot more appealing than another trip to a store. It's damn cold out.

More glue, some brad nails, and lots of time.

Okay, a little mismatched but those will hold some books

They might have looked good, but they ended up about a quarter inch shorter than the old legs and I couldn't squeeze one in to fit under the top when I tested things out. Whoops. I panicked for a second, but then I realized I could easily route some placeholders for the top plates or whatever they're called. Hey, if you've got the tools you've got the talent, why not let it rip.

The bottom doesn't have to be pretty, the top just has to be level.

This really slowed me down, since I can't really hammer or router when I'm working at night once the kids are in bed. But the final version of this project is rounding into shape in my head and I like how it's looking. With the edges covered and some hardboard on the back, I think everything is ready to get stained and even better, I can use the shelves to hold the top while I work on that. Now I just have to figure out what I'm actually going to use, then I can worry about where to put this all together.