21st Century Writing Desk – Designing the Base

So, with the top done, my next step was to design a suitable base for it. I went to my computer and started playing with designs.

I had an idea for a base that consisted of a pair of rectangular frames and cross members. However, none of the variations that looked good to me.

Slim, tapered legs looked much more fitting.

Because the legs were so thin and delicate, stretchers were added to provide additional strength and stability.

A rear stretcher provided further resistance to racking and flexing.

I wasn’t happy with the placement of the rear stretcher in relation to the side stretchers, so I lowered it to the same level. Arranging the stretchers like this presented some challenges with intersecting joinery in the legs, and I wanted to maximize strength while minimizing the size of the components.

Lowering the rear stretcher another 3/4″ gave the joinery more strength, but it wasn’t enough.

Positioning the rear stretcher 1-1/4″ below the side stretchers seemed to provide a good balance of aesthetics and strength (room for joinery).

The last change I made was to reduce the height of the aprons that support the table top, as seen in these last three images.

I’m happy enough with the design to start building, but there are absolutely no guarantees that the finished table will look like the one in the drawings!  Stay tuned…