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Comment by freeqaz | Hacker News Reader

Something that bothers me a lot with desks: The legs sticking out and cutting into your foot space. Especially when you have an "L" desk and the legs stick out to block the entire "inner corner" bit.

I have a custom designed desk for my office that I had somebody help me fabricate. During that time I realized that, if you use a thick piece of hardwood, you can completely skip the inner legs. In my case it is 1.5" cherry wood.

Knowing that now, I've realized there are other benefits like my monitors shaking less because the desk is so rigid. I'd definitely recommend a solid, hardwood surface to anybody looking to get a custom work desk setup!

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This is a common Ikea hack popular for making desks.

You use two or three Alex book shelves and a large wood veneer countertop. (Karlby commonly).

If you don't want a leg in the center you can use metal angle bars screwed into the bottom of the counter top (which also double as a place to secure cables).

Lots of examples of this configuration if you search on reddit.

It looks nicer than standard desks, is often cheaper, and works better.

One of the best home-brewed desks I have used was fabricated from a large, and thick solid-core hardwood-veneer door. It rested on a two-drawer file cabinet at each end and was rock-solid. I used the pre-cut hole for the doorknob to pass the cabling from the workstation to the monitors, etc. I used it for a video-editing setup.

I've got that setup right now, but I find that the door on top of two-drawer HON file cabinets is just a bit (about 1.5 inches) too high for a normal office chair, and isn't doing my wrists any favors either. What I really need is a very thin desktop that's just as solid.

One thing that might be an option is to suspend the desktop/door from above rather than support it from below. Attach the rear of the desk to the wall (you can use blind shelf supports, french cleats, piano hinges -- so many options!), and the front of the desk can be anchored to the wall or ceiling with some cable and eye-hooks or the like.

Pardon the delay. Check out something like this and it might fix your problem!

I love this w/ my desk because I can adjust my height all day :)

Rise UP Electric Adjustable Height Width Standing Desk Legs Frame Base. Ergonomic Motorized sit to Stand up Home Commercial Office Table. Dual 2 Motors. 4 Programmable Memory. Gray https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B072XCVYVX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_...

I had a similar setup 15 years ago when I still lived at my parents. My dad had brought home a couple of retired ginormous workstations (32" high). I put a door on top of those, one became my main PC, the other a server running Windows Server 2003.

I have an L-shape butcher block setup between two filing cabinets. It's hard to skip the inner legs completely without extensive metal bracing but the supports you need are technically minimal if you do minimal strapping. I integrated a swivel foot rest that sits 45degrees to the corner. It's about 36" wide and the posts going up from the swivel points support the back end of the L.

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