One Ledger Board Installed, One to Go

Installing a ledge board took me longer than expected, but I was able to install one on the south wall today.

Since the ledge boards determine the level-ness of the entire desktop, it is extremely important to get these things level.  A laser level comes in handy for this.

It projects a horizontal line and a vertical line, and is self-leveling.

It is easiest to first mount the board using one screw in the middle, then rotate as needed to get the board level.  It was difficult to line it up with the height of the height I wanted; I was about 1/8" off.  Hopefully I will be able to line up the west wall ledge board with one on the south wall.  I used 1/4" lag screws to mount the board:

I Forstner bit was used to set in the screw head, and a flat washer provides some support in the hole.  Here's the board mounted:

I'm not sure when I'll be able to get to the other ledger board.  Hopefully soon, like this weekend.  I have to focus a bit on work (the one I earn a living from), which isn't going too well at the moment.  Also, I injured myself, while cleaning up, of all things, so I think I need to take a bit of a break anyway.

Desk-building Begins

I'm attempting to document the building of my desk.  It will be an L-shaped desk attached to two adjacent walls in my home office.  One side will be 8' long, and the other side will be about 8' 4" long.  I got the idea from this instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Rock-Solid-Cantilever-Desk/  My design is slightly different, and it will have a bottom shelf.

Here are what the walls look like right now:

The blue tape marks studs and screws.  I got some 2x4's today from Home Depot to build the supports for the desk:

I was amazed at the poor quality of the lumber.  It was difficult to find really straight studs.  And the wood was quite moist.  I'm hoping that the wood won't warp as it dries.

I'm going to attach the ledgers tomorrow.