Woodworking plans · Woodworking
Simple desk plans
A plain desk: 2x4 legs, 1x4 aprons pocket-screwed between them, a plywood top screwed up through the aprons. Free, any size: open it in uCAD, change the sizes or the lumber you can buy, or just tell its AI what you need, and the parts, the screws and the cut list follow.
Level: easy · Time: about 3 h · Shown: Desk 1200 x 600 mm
Make it your size
- Width: 800 to 1800 mm (1200 in the cut list below)
- Depth: 450 to 800 mm (600 in the cut list below)
- Height: 700 to 780 mm (750 in the cut list below)
- Legs: 38 × 89, 40 × 100, 45 × 95, 50 × 100
- Aprons: 19 × 89, 18 × 94, 20 × 95
- Top: 15 mm, 18 mm, 21 mm
In uCAD, change any of these in the part's panel: the model is built again, joints and all.
What you need
Tools: saw, drill, pocket-hole jig (set to the boards' thickness), pocket screws (the lengths in the cut list), wood glue, clamps, sander.
Fixings (and wood glue):
- pocket screw 32 mm: 30
Cut list
At the sizes shown above. Letters match the drawings below.
| Part | Qty | Length | Width | Thickness | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | top | 1 | 1200 mm 47 1/4" | 600 mm 23 5/8" | 18 mm 11/16" |
| B | apron long | 2 | 1084 mm 42 11/16" | 89 mm 3 1/2" | 19 mm 3/4" |
| C | leg | 4 | 732 mm 28 13/16" | 89 mm 3 1/2" | 38 mm 1 1/2" |
| D | apron short | 2 | 382 mm 15 1/16" | 89 mm 3 1/2" | 19 mm 3/4" |
Lumber to buy
US lumber, 8, 10 and 12 ft boards, 4 × 8 ft sheets:
- 2x4: 1 × 10 ft
- 1x4: 1 × 10 ft
- Plywood 3/4": 1 sheet 4 × 8 ft (or a part sheet: 47 1/4" × 23 5/8" will do)
In millimetres
Boards 2400 and 3000 mm long, 2440 × 1220 mm sheets:
- 38 × 89 mm: 1 × 3000 mm
- 19 × 89 mm: 1 × 3000 mm
- Plywood 18 mm: 1 sheet 2440 × 1220 mm (or a part sheet: 1200 mm × 600 mm will do)
Your store sells other lengths or sections? Put in yours in uCAD's cut list: what to buy and how to cut it are worked out again.
How to cut it
From US lumber, a 1/8" saw kerf between the pieces; the hatched ends are left over.
2x4
1x4
Plywood 3/4", sheet 1
Rip it into strips 23 5/8" wide, then cut them across. Little on it: a part sheet or an offcut 47 1/4 × 23 5/8" will do.
Build it step by step
The frame: two pocket holes at each end of every apron on its inside face, more along it for the top (every 300 mm or so). Glue and screw the aprons between the legs, flush with their tops and outer faces.
The top: lay it face down, set the frame upside down on it, 20 mm in all round, and drive the pocket screws up through the aprons.
The pocket holes: a pocket-hole jig set to the board's thickness. In uCAD, Build steps plays these one by one on the model, the wood see-through so you can see where every screw goes.
Questions
Can I change the size?
Yes: open it in uCAD and type the sizes you need in its panel. The parts, the joints, the screw lengths and the cut list follow.
My store doesn't sell 2x4. What then?
Choose what yours sells in the plan's panel (38 × 89, 40 × 100, 45 × 95, 50 × 100; 19 × 89, 18 × 94, 20 × 95; 15 mm, 18 mm, 21 mm): it's built again for that lumber, with screws to match.
Is it free?
The plan, uCAD and the cut list are free, no sign-up.
Tell us what you need. We’ll do it.
uCAD’s AI draws it in real sizes, and changes it when you ask.
Can’t make the furniture fit?
We’ll lay it out for you, every piece at its real size.
Want a new kitchen?
We’ll design it: the units, the worktop, the appliances, to your walls.
Not sure the staircase will fit?
It will: we work out the steps from your floor height and show you.
Love a house, a garden or a room you saw?
Show us the photo: we’ll build one like it, to real sizes.
Building a shelf, a bench, a workbench?
You get the cut list, what to buy and how to put it together.
Need a floor plan?
Tell us the rooms: we’ll draw the flat or the house, walls, doors and windows.
You say it, we draw it
No CAD to learn: write what you need the way you’d tell a builder or a designer.
Not right? Say so
“Move the sofa to the window.” “A metre wider.” Every change can be undone; nothing can break.
Free to try
Nothing to install: it opens in your browser. A new account tries the AI free.
More plans
Build it your size
Open the plan, change the sizes, print the cut list.