Make a DIY Drafting Table from an IKEA Desktop

Materials: IKEA VIKA desktop, VIKA CURRY legs, VIKA KAJ legs

Description: Adjustable drafting tables are awesome, but can have a pretty big footprint. Here's an easy way to build a DIY drafting table using the IKEA VIKA desk system and a little ingenuity.

See more of the DIY drafting table.

~ Chris

Quick table

Materials: LÄMPLIG chopping board, Vika Curry

Description: I needed a small table to put my printer on.

I couldn't find any table suited at the Ikea store, so I hacked one together from the LÄMPLIG chopping board and used 4 Vika Curry legs to support it.

It took me 15 minutes to piece it together and for €20 in materials it wasn't expensive.

~ Adri Mathlener

Cheapest home studio desk ever!

Materials: Vika Amon, Vika Curry, Capita, Lack

Description: I had no room for any of my equipment in my small home / project studio. As you can see from the before picture, everything was just piled up in 2 old desks and the wires were everywhere.

before

I decided I needed a new desk. I was going to buy one online for around £400, but after coming across this site, I decided it would be a whole lot cheaper to build it myself, and it was, almost 10x cheaper!

I used a VIKA AMON table top combined with 4 VIKA CURRY legs for the main desk base. However, the problem with this was that i didnt have enough room for my keyboard and my monitor. I decide to build another shelf using 1 LACK wall shalf and 1 pack of CAPITA legs. Now there is room for my keyboard, my monitor and my speakers, with room left over!

The great thing now it that I don't need to move everything around to use certain equipment. It's all there ready for me. Most of the wires are also hidden underneath the desk, with exception for my USB hub and wireless mouse base!

1 x VIKA AMON Table top - £20 ($31.69)
4 x VIKA Curry - £8 (£12.67)
1 x LACK Wallshalf - £9.99 ($15.83)
4 x CAPITA legs (1 pack) - £8 ($12.67)

Total: £45.99 ($72.86)

~ Simon McKeon, England

Vika Flying V Desk

Materials: 2 Vika Grevsta, 6 Vika Curry in Black, 3 thick steel lumber bracing plates, A drill and Lots of round headed screws! (Size 8 x 1")

Description: While searching high and low for a desk that will multitask (Hold my computer and arts & crafts) we ran across the Vika series in Ikea. The prices were just right however the size was a little smaller than I had in mind. So we decided to create an L-Shaped desk out of 2 Vika Grevstas. In order to accomplish this, we bought some thick steel lumber bracing plates at the local hardware store, some screws, 6 legs for the desk, and 2 desk tops. It is important that the desk tops be SOLID material, I note this because some of the Vika Series are simply honeycomb in the middle and would not hold the screws properly for the bracing.

Anyway, when we got everything home, we assembled the two desks separately with only 3 legs in each table. (So that you won't bang your knee when you swivel.) We then turned everything upright and marked the holes for the bracing plates. When that was finished we turned the desk over and drilled pilot holes with a 1/8" drill bit for the screws that would hold everything together.

Once the pilot holes were screwed into each desktop, we put everything back upright and drilled the screws into the bracing plates. TADA! One really big awesome desk for less than $160. (I wouldn't recommend putting anything terribly heavy over the place where the 2 pieces connect. It should be rather sturdy, but I wouldn't trust standing on it...

~ Christine, Orlando, FL

Vika Curry speaker stand

Materials: Vika Curry leg, Ekby Statlig shelf

Description: The goal was to make a pair of cheap and simple speaker stands. Vika legs are just suitable height to bring the speaker to the ear level when I'm sitting down, and in black they will match the legs of my desk. For the base plate I used an Ekby Statlig solid wood shelf in 19cm width. To put it all together I bought an 8mm threaded rod in the hardware store and a couple of nuts and washers.

1. Vika leg has a bolt welded inside the tube at the top, where the mounting plate is screwed on. It had to be removed to make room for the threaded rod. It's spot welded in 2 points behind the plate, and it comes off after some rocking back and forth with large pliers. I have also drilled a hole on the side for stealthy speaker cable routing.

2. Ekby shelf was already suitable width at 19cm, I only had to make one cut to make it appropriate length. The central hole is for the mounting rod, and the second hole is for the cable. I carved a rough round shape matching the leg for easier centering later. I've used some furniture oil on the wood to make it a little darker and more durable.

3. Feed the rod through, put on the washer and the nut. Do the same on the top side of the base and tighten.

4. Feed the cable through and assemble! The top plate tightens the whole construction to make perfectly vertical and solid. Because there's a nut and a cable under the base plate, stick 4 rubber floor protector pads of suitable height under the plate.

Or for some little extra hi-fi-ness, a set of speaker cones/spikes could be used. They might be more expensive than the rest of the stand, though ;)

~ Max, Finland