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So this is my first DYI wood project for my new workstation desk. I purchased this Baltic birch butcher block and finished it myself. Not bad for my first go! It's 8 feet wide, 25" deep and 1.75 (1" 3/4) thick. It's a heavy boy.

For my legs I purchased these 28 inch ones. They're solid but the 1 inch dry wall screws that arrived with them are poor quality so I'm going to pick up some wood screws.

Questions:

  1. Where should I install the legs from the edges? It says 2 inches from the edge. Will that be enough for an 8 foot wide heavy butcher block? I don't see a problem with bowing in the center. Is there a rule of thumb for installing legs? I'm worried I'm gonna mess it up.

  2. The holes in the leg plates are 1/4" in diameter. The desk is 1.75 (1" 3/4) thick. What kind wood screw size will do? Also, do you recommend I drill a pilot holes for birch wood?

Apologies for the super newb questions. Thanks a bunch!

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  • Do a search for similar desks and see where / how the legs are positioned, then consider any local issues to you.
    – Solar Mike
    Jan 29, 2021 at 7:20
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    I'd be more concerned about it being wobbly on those legs than about any sort of sag. It will look nice (if you're into that style leg, I'm not so much), but it gives me the overall impression of being rickety. You've got a long, heavy desk top on some very spindly supports - if you bump into the 25" end, the whole thing may well wobble along the 96" length, knocking over things on the desktop.
    – FreeMan
    Jan 29, 2021 at 12:15
  • Yes to pilot holes. #10 or #12 pan head, 1-1/2" long. Subtleties in leg positioning aren't going to matter. If, as @FreeMan suggests, the desk has wobble problems, you could put two struts on the back legs that form triangles. Or you could tie it to a wall with a bracket if you had a wall handy.
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Jan 30, 2021 at 2:31
  • Thanks for the tip! you were right about the legs. I ended up going 3 inches in from the sides and 2 inches up. The legs are heavy metal and the desk feels incredibly solid. No wobble with sheer force.
    – Garuuk
    Jan 30, 2021 at 8:32
  • @AloysiusDefenestrate maybe make that an answer so the OP can accept it and this question can be closed out.
    – FreeMan
    Feb 1, 2021 at 12:57

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Yes to pilot holes. #10 or #12 pan head screws, 1-1/2" long.

Subtleties in leg positioning aren't going to matter. If, as @FreeMan suggests, the desk has wobble problems, you could put two struts on the back legs that form triangles. Or you could tie it to a wall with a bracket if you had a wall handy.

For anyone facing the same questions about sag, the Sagulator, http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator/ is a great resource to see if a given piece of wood or wood product will sag under a particular design load. If the OP had a flimsier piece of wood, that might have guided the positioning of the legs or changed the design.

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