Asked on Mar 21, 2017
Has anyone ever made a flip top desk out of an regular desk?
I have a regular student desk that isn't used anymore. I would like to convert it into a flip top desk, then add it to another desk to create the L shape desk my son needs. One desk is a nice piece of furniture, I want to make the right side of the desk a flip top. Can this be done? Right now, both desks are useless to me and would like to re-purpose them into one functioning unit. The picture of the white desk is similar to the one I want to make the flip top on, and also the drawers are on the left instead of the right. There once was a hutch, but that has vanished. The black one I just want to make it fit and paint it the same as the other, a dark grey. The black desk is made of composite wood, and has a weird surface that everything sticks to.
ok I thought I could add 2 pics in one post, heres the other desk
Before you take the top off, take the drawers out, then mark the underside of the top, front to back, along both sides of the inner wall. Remove top & mark your cut(s). It would be best to leave the back side about 3 inches (at least) wide, to have support/area for the hinges to connect to. I would cut front to back to where the flip is to be, then from side to other cut, leaving the whole back part 1 piece. Your top piece would look like an L with a thick bottom. Depending how wide that inner wall top is, you might want to put a couple of small braces on both sides to give extra support where the cut edges are. For the black one, have you tried to lightly sand the top? You would probably want to put several coats of paint on the top to help smooth it out. Good luck!