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.

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

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?

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.

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?

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?

What else don't I know?

TIA
Kathy

I think you are going to be disappointed and end up with a very flimsy
desk with your design. A basic desks is just two boxes, a top, and
a back. The boxes are made with a top and a bottom with the sides
between, e.g., sides sit atop the bottom and below the top. You attach
the pieces by putting a 3/4 x 3/4 inch or larger dimension wood in the
corners, e.g. if the sides of the box are 30 inches deep by 25 inches
tall the strips would be 3/4 x 3/4 by 25 inches long (you need four
for each box). Glue and screw strips to the top and bottom pieces
(3/4 inch from the edge) and then glue and screw the sides to the
strips. Make the boxes whatever size you want but realize that you
need at least 18 inches and preferably more room for your legs. The
two boxes need to be the same height and the same depth but can be of
different widths. For example, one could be narrow with a shelf in
the center for storing different papers on edge and the other could be
wider for other materials or you could place your cpu in one of the
boxes.

If cost is a real factor, I would use lower quality 3/4 plywood for
the boxes (or the bottom, top, and inside side of the boxes) and
better quality 3/4 plywood for the top and outside sides of the boxes.
The back of the desk could be 1/4 plywood or even wall paneling; as
others have said you need this back for rigidity. Make the top and
arrange the boxes, if different widths, how you want them.

Attach the top to the boxes with screws which go up from inside the
boxes into the underside of the top and let the top extend at least
3/4 inch past the boxes on the front and sides. Attach the back with
small screws so that it is flush with the top and the outside edges of
the boxes; it doesn't have to extend all the way to the bottom of the
boxes. Finish the plywood edges with iron on strips and screw 2x 6
pieces (flat ways) about 1 inch shorter than the depth of the box and
flush with the back to the center of the bottom of each box to hold
the desk up from the floor. Adjust all dimensions so you get the
desk height you want.

Attaching the top and the bottom to the boxes means that you can take
it apart for moving. And, forget the monitor shelf. If you want to
raise the monitor (not recommended), build a little box an inch or so
larger than the monitor base.

Now all you have to do is finish the thing. Lots more fun.