How to Make a File Cabinet Desk

Planning:
Decide where your file cabinet desk is to be used; in order to determine the appropriate size needed. One of the beauties of creating your own file cabinet desk is that you have the option to break from traditional desk size and style.

Decide also what your file cabinet desk will be used for. Will it be just for sitting and writing letters, doing bills, and the like; or, will it be for supporting a computer, monitor, printer and other office items? Or, perhaps it will be for a sewing machine, or other hefty items?

For this article, let's say we're going to create a file cabinet desk that is about 30 inches high, 29 inches deep, and 60 inches long. This desk will be used as a home-office desk for supporting a computer monitor, computer speakers, ink-jet printer, and other typical home-office items. The computer CPU can be placed on the floor. This desk does not include a pull-out keyboard tray, but I've written a separate article for that. See the link below for 'How to Make and Install a Keyboard Tray on a File Cabinet Desk'.

Gather your supplies:
You will need to get your two file cabinets, plywood work surface, paint (or stain and varnish?), painting items, sandpaper, and other incidentals such as saw blades or other tools.
For this desk, we'll need:
A. Two (metal) file cabinets; each with two or three drawers; no taller than 30 inches high. File cabinet sizes vary; be sure to check dimensions! For this desk, we'll use two file cabinets 30"Hx29"Dx15"W (one of the 'typical' sizes available in metal). Of course, you can also choose to use wood (or wood product) file cabinets if you prefer. Even some of the more rugged plastic file cabinets are suitable.
B. 3/4" thick furniture grade plywood (birch?); 29 inches wide by 60 inches long. Note: Most home centers offer cutting services; why not have them cut your desk work surface to size? You might not need to purchase an entire sheet then, and handling the cut size is much easier.
C. Necessary paint or stain, varnish, sandpaper (medium-fine), brushes, rollers, and other finish application items.
D. Eight two-faced, rectangular or square mounting pads; or one small roll of two-faced mounting tape.
E. Tools needed: Tape measure, pencil, jig saw, sander, miscellaneous painting and other tools.
Note: If you choose to include a pull-out keyboard tray with your file cabinet desk, be sure to get the necessary items to make that, as well. Click the link below to review my article for 'How to Make and Install a Keyboard Tray on a File Cabinet Desk'.

Finish the desk top:
Presumably, your local home center has cut your file cabinet desk work surface to size for you; thus you only need to provide some finishing touches to get it ready for painting or staining.

You will want to cut radii on the two front corners of your desk. Using a small, round object (you don't need anything larger than 2"-3" diameter), draw the radii on the two corners, and cut with your jig saw.

Next, sand your plywood desk work surface; all edges, radii, and both sides; in preparation for paint or stain.

Clean your sanded plywood with mineral spirits and a cloth, to remove all dust.

Apply your stain or paint; using best-practice methods of application; i.e., if staining, using cloth might work best; if painting, using a roller might be best. After applying your choice of finish, allow to dry.

Once the finish is dry, lightly sand the work surface with fine sandpaper, and apply 2nd and 3rd coats, as deemed necessary.

After your plywood desk top is finished and dried, you are ready to set up your file cabinet desk.

Place your two file cabinets in the location of your desk; approximately 58" apart; outside to outside, with their backs about 1" away from the wall.

Place a piece of two-faced tape (or one of the square pads if you purchased that type) on each corner of the top of each file cabinet; peel off backing strip.

Gently position your plywood desk top onto the file cabinets; taking care not to let it too close to the two-faced tape before it is in its exact position. That is, you will want to ensure you have equal overlap at both ends, and adequate overlaps in front and rear. Front overlap should be somewhat more than rear, for aesthetics, mostly.

In our case, since the file cabinets are 26 1/2" deep, and our plywood top is 29 inches deep, we'd want to place the top so the front overlap is about 1 1/2", and the rear overlap is about 1".

Enjoy your new file cabinet desk!
Now that you have setup your new file cabinet desk, you can begin to fill the drawers, place your computer equipment, and get to work (or play).