Custom Lap Desks!

Every once in a while, a project comes along that let's you practice a wide variety of maker skills. These simple lap desks that we made for our nieces and nephew are just that type of project.

They let you design in CAD, woodwork with hand tools or CNC, sew by hand or using a machine, cut vinyl and then iron it on wood, install snap buttons, and apply finish!

We first approximated the design by drawing on a piece of cardboard. Then we precisely modeled it in xDesign. This let us fine tune the dimensions, and add details like the recess that will allow you to tuck the desk closer to your tummy 😁. 

Knowing that we were going to turn to the CNC router to batch out three of these, we took the opportunity to add a bit of contour to the shape of the hand holds. If we were going to hand route these, we would have kept all of the side walls vertical.

After cleaning up the tabs left by the CNC and doing a bit of quick sanding, we ironed on vinyl designs of each child's favorite animal. 

Then we applied a few coats of poly-crylic.

The pillows for each desk were made out of cozy fleece with fun patterns on them that matched each child's personality. 

We took measurements of the xDesign model to figure out how big to cut the fabric pieces. We just had to remember to add an inch to the height and width to allow for a half inch seam allowance.

The pillow is sewn inside out, and then inverted to make the seams disappear. Each one is stuffed and closed up with a special hand-sewn slip stitch. The last thing to do was attach the pillow to the desk. We first reinforced the corners with triangular caps we made from leftover straps from an old bag. Then we hammered on snap buttons!


This was a really fun project that let us stretch our creativity, and practice a bunch of maker skills!

Be sure to check out the full video to see how everything came together:

https://youtu.be/3TQE3FoDUdQ

 

...and feel free to download the files in native xDesign (3DXML) and neutral (STEP) formats.

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