Kathy wrote:

I need a desk for my computer & can't bring myself to buy
anything on the market. All the desks out there in my price
range are made of particle board.

Sounds like a good reason to build one for yourself.

I'm an amatuer in woodworking. I've built a picnic table & a
play set for my daughter. Never made anything for indoors.
Never did anything with plywood, but I came up with a design
for a desk using plywood, mostly. I have limited skills, few
tools, & no space, so this should be easy, right? LOL

It shouldn't be too difficult. If they'll cut the plywood for
you, you shouldn't need a lot of tools.

Here's a drawing of it & a cutting layout for the plywood.

http://www.peggyelliott.com/deskplan.htm

Now my questions;

What kind of plywood? I assume I should be using 3/4", right?
I keep reading about birch plywood & baltic birch, what's the
difference & which do I need? Or something else?

Since you're getting all of the parts out of a single sheet, it'd
probably be a good idea to choose plywood thats attractive on
both sides (have 'em show you what they have so you can select
according to your own taste and budget.)

In my area baltic birch isn't available in 4' x 8' sheets (5' x
5' is largest I've found) so be prepared to cross that off your
list of possibilities - but ask anyway. Plywood is available with
all kinds of outer surfaces and selection of one is very much a
matter of personal taste and budget.

I'm hoping to get my local independent lumber store to cut the
pieces out for me, is that likely? They made all the cuts for
the play center, but that wasn't plywood.

They'll probably as willing to cut plywood as anything else.

How do I attach the plywood to plywood, do I use a nail gun?
I'd have to rent one. Should I hammer nails in? What size
nails? Should I use screws instead of nails? I assume I should
also use glue, what kind? Should I attach 2x4's or 1x4's
underneath & in the back to make it stronger?

My preference is for glue and screws. I think your 1x4's are a
good idea (2x4's might not be a bad idea if you're going to put a
lot of weight on the table.) A "modesty panel" would add a lot of
strength to your design. It would help to prevent "racking", the
tendancy for rectangles to become parallelograms.

By reading here about plywood, I gather I should attach a 3/4"
molding strip to the edge of the desktop with glue. So using a
router on the edge doesn't work on plywood?

It would contribute considerably to a "finished" look and help to
prevent damage to the plywood edges - which would otherwise tend
to become rough and splintery and unfriendly to skin and clothing.

What else don't I know?

That you'll do just fine if you take your time and work
carefully. (-:

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto, Iowa USA