Unwarp wooden desk top?

[Puddle Jumper]

Or better yet, get a Solid wood door and seal and stain it. Use that as your desk top. It will look and feel one hundred times better than plywood. I promise.

34 in. x 84 in. Composite Unfinished Flush Slab Door-143746 at The Home Depot

That's an excellent suggestion. I am using a solid oak door as a desktop and it works very well and looks great.

 

[Jayce]

I'll certainly be looking into doors as well - thanks!

EDIT - Well, just got back from Lowe's. You guys weren't kidding... I poked around for a bit and found a lot of 2' by 4' sheets of wood that sort of looked like it would fit the bill. But you're talking 24x48, and I want to match the size I had @ 30x60. I found some doors that looked somewhat nice, but they were hollow. An employee directed me to a separate area where solid doors are kept. The doors ranged in size, from 30x80 to 36x80 and varied in price from mid 40 to 52 I believe. Not too shabby!

The doors looked like they were made of some sort of compressed wood. You can see on the edges areas where there are color variations of different materials. Overall, it seems solid, and it's very heavy, so that's re-assuring that this would be a good buy.

My only concern is I'm not sure how well this wood would hold up in terms of retaining its threading when I screw the metal counterparts in. This here is the exact desk I have:

http://www.oppictures.com/singleimages/400/ALESD216030BW_1_2.JPG

The metal drawers simply screw in with coarse threaded screws. If this wood doesn't hold up and the screws fittings (the actual holes in the wood that the screw connects with) can be easily stripped, it might be a bust. That said, I did brew up an alternative idea. You guys can tell me what you think about this, assuming the coarse threaded screws are a bust.

What if I drilled the entire way through the desk top. On the top plane of the desk, I could utilize a drill bit like this: http://www.rapidonline.com/catalogueimages/module/M076389P01WL.jpg
This door is a solid inch and 5/8 thick, so I have some room to play with. I could drill downward far enough to cause there to be a little (but even) pit for a bolt to sit. Then, drop a bolt in, put a nut on the underside of the desk, lock it up. Then use some wood filler to fill in the remainder of the gap by the bolt head on the top plane, sand it, paint it, etc.

Think that's a good plan + alternative plan?

I did a quick Gimp sketchup to get the idea across if my wording above is making people go "what the flip is he talking about?"
http://i.imgur.com/tWWu7.png
Tan - desk top
Black - black metal drawers underneath
Gray - the actual screw
White box - where the wood filler would go to close the gap. Then, sand, paint, etc.

P.S. - if I want to seal it with polyurethane and also paint it (assuming that's possible), is there a proper order to go in?

EDIT II - I just found on Lowes what I got:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_10804-42734...=reliabilt+flush+door&facetInfo=#BVRRWidgetID

I assume (and hope) I can use a table saw on this slab of wood accordingly and get some good even edges. That way I can sand them off real nicely and give it a polyurethane bath. I'm tempted to make the desk much larger than the other one, but I have to remember: I gotta get the thing in the house...

 

[Jayce]

Well, things are coming together nicely. I cut the door to size (roughly 32x67, bit larger than what the original one was) and sanded it down. I put on two coats of paint already. I'll likely put on a third tomorrow for good measure and then throw on some polyurethane. Once done, the desk is basically done. For basically 100 bucks, I'm getting a solid desk, far better than anything I could have gotten at the store. Craigslist bargains, a little paint, and some time goes a long way.

On the slab of desk top that was left over, I was able to test out different drill bit sizes for pre-drilling with the bolts that'll be used to attach it to the bottom portion. That said, I found the sweet spot for a super secure hold without stripping the wooden hole out unless I superman torque it down.

28 days...

 

[Jayce]

Quick question for you wood workers out there: Is polyurethane the way to go? I'm reading some rather conflicting advice on Google. Some people say absolutely yes, others say no way, and others say "well if you used xyz paint it might work is you use abc version of sealant."

The exact paint I used is here:

Clothing, Toys, Electronics, Jewelry, Jaclyn Smith - Kmart.com

I painted the door with 3 coats on top and so far 1 coat on the bottom. My goal is to have the thing durable. I don't need a high gloss shine or anything like that. I just want to make sure if I drop something on the desk it won't dent it or chip it. Is polyurethane the best way to go? If it is, should I sand it? I've also heard a lot about a spray can based "clear coat" that some others recommended as well, but again, that just makes my head spin a little bit more in regard to which one is best to use.

 

[Trotter]

Be sure to lightly sand each coat before applying the next. I would go with at least two coats, three would be good. My dad built me a desk back in the day and poly'd it... it would stand up to anything.

 

[Jayce]

I can easily allocate time to do 3 coats. After all, I want durability, so that's the route I want to go. I guess I just have to make sure whatever poly I get is compatible with the type of paint I have. I'm reading some horror stories now of people who have mixed/matched the wrong paint vs poly and had terrible results.

Or maybe it's just time to call Sherwin Williams and ask their opinion? Me thinks so.

 

[Jayce]

Well, here's a recent update. I completed the desk and even painted two wooden work benches I built the same color scheme. I also polyurethane'd them with the same process as I used with the desk. I sanded with 220 in between each coat application and put on a total of around 5 coats or so. The finish turned out pretty nice.

The only bummer I realized is today I have to return 2 computer towers to someone. When I slid them across the desk to pick up, the rubber stops on the bottom of the tower put significantly obvious marks on the finish. It's flat, it's not like it was the metal corner of the case, it was just the act of the rubber stops moving across the table.

So now I'm curious (since I'm in home improvement mode now that we're moved in) if it'd be worthwhile for me to put some sort of finish on the desk and tables that wouldn't result in this. I know I won't get top quality without using a hardwood and some sort of good branded sealer on it, but c'mon, I just don't want these super light marks to come about whenever I move something across the desk. Even when I moved my monitors I saw markings from their rubber soles as well where they had been sitting, and I didn't even slide them.

Any insight?

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I didn't read the whole thread, but, the strength of the finish depends on the wood, I have a table, no clue what wood was used to make it, but it's solid through, I spent a good week resurfacing and sanding it, then I noticed any time something moved accross it, I would get little marks, come to find out, the wood is VERY soft, softer than pine it seems like, but it's very strong. So what kinda wood is this? Are you sure the marks are from the finish or?

 

[-RockMan-]

Well, here's a recent update. I completed the desk and even painted two wooden work benches I built the same color scheme. I also polyurethane'd them with the same process as I used with the desk. I sanded with 220 in between each coat application and put on a total of around 5 coats or so. The finish turned out pretty nice.

The only bummer I realized is today I have to return 2 computer towers to someone. When I slid them across the desk to pick up, the rubber stops on the bottom of the tower put significantly obvious marks on the finish. It's flat, it's not like it was the metal corner of the case, it was just the act of the rubber stops moving across the table.

So now I'm curious (since I'm in home improvement mode now that we're moved in) if it'd be worthwhile for me to put some sort of finish on the desk and tables that wouldn't result in this. I know I won't get top quality without using a hardwood and some sort of good branded sealer on it, but c'mon, I just don't want these super light marks to come about whenever I move something across the desk. Even when I moved my monitors I saw markings from their rubber soles as well where they had been sitting, and I didn't even slide them.

Any insight?

Dont take this the wrong way, but how did you finish your wooden desk ?
Also what kind of poly urethane did you use or a light wood primer for projects such as yours ?

Wood Finishing Basics | Wood Finishing 101

 

[Jayce]

I used this stuff in particular:

MINWAX 24444 Polycrylic Protective Finish Semi-Gloss

What do you think? Good stuff? Bad idea? Should I strip the tables and repaint and start over or would another polyurethane be better suited?

The wood is not a hard word. It is some sort of a particle door. It's very sturdy and strong but it's not your typical hardwood by any stretch of the imagination. My goal for the polyurethane was to just make the surface area feel solid and seal the entire door from any moisture that it could be exposed to.