Happy New Year MBF Crew! I know, I know, I figured I'd try the "MBF Crew" tagline as one of the new things to come with the "Maker's Best Friend" brand in 2020 and so far I'm liking it! I'll create a separate post soon with all of the things you can expect to see coming with the new year and I've got to say, I'm pretty excited with a lot of the ideas and plans we've got. I'll count on you all to help keep me honest to what I end up promising in the post. But enough with what's to come, let's get to what's here: the latest project on making a Sit-Stand Epoxy Computer Desk!
I know that's not what this post is titled, and that's because to create the actual computer desk, I needed to create a router planer jig that would be able to plane both sides of the slab being used for the computer table top flat. This jig was extremely easy to put together and saved a lot of time and struggle when it came to the actual epoxy desk build. I constructed the base for the jig out of 2x4s and 2x6s, and then create the sliding top of the jig out of MDF since I had a lot of it laying around and because it would also be easy to ensure all of the pieces were flat and straight for the jig. This is actually the most important consideration for the entire build - ensuring every single part is completely flat and level, and every joint made is at right angles. This ensures that when the sled is ready to be used, it is in fact parallel with the base, and the slab being milled will have the best results of having a flat surface.
For the base, I use a table top jointer and planer to make sure each side of the wood was flat and at right angles. I was then able to connect everything together by drilling pilot holes and using wood screws. I used four boards in total across the bottom of the jig which was enough to support the weight of the red oak slab that I used for the epoxy desk.
After the bottom was assembled, I just needed to cut the MDF to size and then used a combination of wood glue and screws to attach the sled top together. An important tip to mention here is that MDF absorbs a large amount of wood glue, so to make it effective, first apply a small layer of wood glue to the MDF. Once it dries, you will be able to attached the pieces of MDF with wood glue on top of the dried layer of glue. Due to my impatience, I decided to just use 3" screws along all of the MDF and complete the sled without having to wait for anything to dry. At the very end, all you need to do is drill a slot for the bit to be able to run through the sled with and you're all done! Just make sure there's a gap between the sled and the top of the slab you're working with, since the cutting portion of the bit needs to be completely underneath the sled top. That's because the guide/slot you cut out will be the diameter of the router bit shaft (most likely 1/8", 1/4", or 1/2") and the actually cutter on the bit can often end up larger than this opening. Therefore, the entire portion will need to sit underneath the sled top. I hope this tip helps!
This was a quick and easy jig to make and it will let me quickly ensure that all the future slabs of wood I work on are completely flat on the top and bottom. Make sure you follow along to see the sit-stand epoxy computer desk build that's being released next week! Let me know what you think of the jig in the comments below and as always, thanks for reading!