Pocket screws were what I needed for my standing desk project

[Russ Taber]

I'm 50 this year and sit behind my computer for far too long. Been running across the idea of a standing desk for some time and how they may be beneficial to health.  I decided I wanted to build my own after I heard a guy talking about his. I'm 6'7" and what I researched, you want the desk about elbow height. My elbows are right around 48" so that's what I planned for the height.

I modeled one in SketchUp (the Make version is free), here I initially thought 1x4s:

but decided to redesigned it with 1x3s that I had on hand.

I did model it without the angles so I could use straight cuts and screws in the ends, but I didn't like the look. I heard a guy talk about pocket screws so I did a bit of research. They should work great for the leg frames. I wanted to mount the top from the bottom leaving a smooth, screwhead-free work surface. Decided on a  2' x 4' x 7/16" birch ply top pocket screwed into 18"x36" frame made from 1"x3"s. 

Kreg seemed to be the top of the game and then found a local store that carried the R3 jig. I cut my pieces and got jiggy with it.

The foot rest is a 1-1/4" poplar dowel with a 1-1/4" PVC pipe over it and cut 1/8" shorter so it rolls over the dowel.

Using 1"x3" legs, which free standing are slightly wobbly without an added cross bar. Against a wall, it is very stable and trust it to hold my 27" iMac. The leg loops are bolted to the top's frame using carriage bolts. the back crossbar is pocket screwed to the legs, but is easy to remove--actually had to move it up about 6" to clear the wall outlet. I used the long 2-1/2" screws that came with the R3 pocket screw jig to hold the dowel firmly in place.

Final desk:

Looking to make another one using 2"x3" so it should be quite solid then. Thinking about reducing the width from 4' down to 3' as well. 

My first project using the Kreg R3 pocket screw jig made me fascinated with fasteners.