Ultimate Computer Desk - 2 Integrated Computers

[kciaccio]

Very cool. I want to upgrade my desk too. I have been concerned about heat when concealing
my computers.




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My Unraid storage server is on the right and regular computer on the left. on the ground to the right is my Blue Knight compter build that will replace my regular computer to the left, just waiting on Bulldozer release.

I have a thread on my Blue Knight build so far. Once it is done this space will get overhauled to something nicer like your set up.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145434

 

[ultimatedesk]

Prepping the Upper Desk

I love the rose finish. Always looks classy. I'm also glad you didn't go the cheap route with biscuits. You should do dove tails on the outer edges.

Thanks TheMailMan78, not sure what you mean about going the cheap route with biscuits though. Dovetails would be really nice to do, but I think it would extend the length of the project significantly since I've never done them before. Maybe they can be an upgrade to the drawers in the future.

The stain is looking real nice.

Thanks PopcornMachine

First time seeing this, but it looks really good so far

Thanks theJesus! Glad you didn't rapture everyone..

Ya I like the stained wood. I wanted to go the same route with mine but my girl demanded it be black like the desk I butchered

Cheers on the good work sir

Thanks Smokyo7, can't argue with the girl, that's for sure

Very cool. I want to upgrade my desk too. I have been concerned about heat when concealing
my computers.

My Unraid storage server is on the right and regular computer on the left. on the ground to the right is my Blue Knight compter build that will replace my regular computer to the left, just waiting on Bulldozer release.

I have a thread on my Blue Knight build so far. Once it is done this space will get overhauled to something nicer like your set up.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145434

I know what you mean about the cooling, we'll see how that goes in real world testing. There are at least a lot of options available. Nice build so far on your Blue Knight


So, with the main desk surface out of the way, it was time to start focusing on the top shelf portion, which, at this point, hadn't been sanded, cut perfectly, or assembled. Here were all the pieces required.

A quick mock up:

A few tests with the biscuit joiner to make sure I was aligned properly:

I couldn't get it exactly in the center - the bottom of the joiner is a bit concave and it made lining it up a little difficult. The tool is generally used to join boards end to end, so there wasn't really any facility for on-face joining like this.

Assembly and glue up time:

Enjoy! You can never have too many clamps you know? I couldn't continue on doing the side pods until this stuff dried up first.

 

[theJesus]

Yup, that is a lot of clamps lol.

 

[copenhagen69]

lol loven me some clamps

 

[Smokyo7]

That's a solid $400 worth of clamps, haha. /jealous

 

[ultimatedesk]

Top Shelf Assembly

Yup, that is a lot of clamps lol.

I kept the rapture down with those clamps

lol loven me some clamps

They be lovin me lots too!

That's a solid $400 worth of clamps, haha. /jealous

Ha, don't kid yourself too much - these are the cheapest "quick-clamp" type clamps you can buy at Canadian Tire, and I have never paid full price for any of them. When they go on sale, I think the 48" ones go for 15 dollars, the 36" ones for 12, and the 24" ones for 8 or 9. This boxing day I saw they were on sale and I went to 4 Canadian Tires and bought up all of them lol - they go like hotcakes and I knew I was going to need them for the desk!!

With the first phase of the top shelf all solid and dried, I could continue on to the two side pods. Here's the initial mockup.

Notice the pencil lines for the biscuits I'll be installing.

Those biscuits are so dark and moody... lol!

Aaand, some gratuitous clamping shots. Like that extra-long setup? Yeah, that worked this time, but I don't recommend it. It wasn't too stable, but there wasn't really anything else I could clamp on to for that end-pressure required.

Mmmm glue.

So that's it for this update, I know it's a pretty simple one, but hey, it's one more phase done. Just needs to have some trim stuck on and then staining!

Have a good weekend!

 

[theJesus]

[insert fetish joke about using clamps on "wood" here]

 

[TheMailMan78]

Thanks TheMailMan78, not sure what you mean about going the cheap route with biscuits though. Dovetails would be really nice to do, but I think it would extend the length of the project significantly since I've never done them before. Maybe they can be an upgrade to the drawers in the future.

These puppies. I can't stand them. Dovetail or go home ya know?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit_joiner

 

[Kreij]

Dovetails for plywood joinery? You're kidding, right?

 

[Velvet Wafer]

Dovetails for plywood joinery? You're kidding, right?

Mailman is always kidding, he is here only for that reason

 

[ultimatedesk]

Top Shelf Trim

[insert fetish joke about using clamps on "wood" here]

Seriously!

These puppies. I can't stand them. Dovetail or go home ya know?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit_joiner

Heh, next one Mailman, next one...


Ok, so it's been a little while since an update eh?

I've been busy, sorry folks, life seems to speed up in the summertime!

As a peace offering, here are the kiddo's, at about 4 months old now!

And, back to the desk!

I had a bunch of solid maple cut into more 1/4" strips so I could finish doing the trim on the top shelf and the cabinets.

My trusty compound mitre saw - got it reconditioned at a bargain place for like 60 dollars, and it's been pretty reliable for a number of years now. It's loud as all heck though!

And, my favorite part - clamping up!

And, since there was nowhere to place clamps in between this area, I had to improvise with a small block of wood!

 

[ultimatedesk]

Staining the Top Shelf

After the trim was glued on and then sanded flush, I proceeded with the staining and poly

Looks good, eh?

I also finally decided to buckle down and build myself a quick rig to store all my clamps. Since I'm moving soon, it'll also make it easier to move them to the new place! Nice lap joints eh!!

I proceeded to the cabinet drawers, where I finally sanded off the wood filler that's been attached for weeks (months?)

Lined up the drawer faces, glued them on (Was going to screw them on after, from behind. Lol)

And put a bit of weight on top..

Walked away for a bit, and realized... maybe it was a bad idea to glue them on first! Uh oh!

 

[ultimatedesk]

Staining the Drawers

I decided that it might actually be a lot easier to line up the drawer faces if I attached them AFTER I had attached the drawers to the drawer slides, to I ripped em off.

So, next on the list - staining the actual drawers!

Pre-stain on!

Mmm, they look so good

And, poly of course

Done!

And just so ya know, it really did basically take a month just to finish the top shelf and the drawers... more to come soon!

 

[Smokyo7]

Nice work man. Look forward to more updates in the future.

 

[ultimatedesk]

Drawer Face Staining

Nice work man. Look forward to more updates in the future.

Thanks Smokyo7, more to come!

With the drawers themselves all stained up, it was time to stain the drawer fronts!

Since most of the back of the drawer fronts won't be visible, I decided that I could probably stain and poly both sides at once...

Pre stain!

They look so nice like this... ahh, next project...

Some staining time

And some sweet, sweet gloss poly.

Woops! One of the drawer faces slipped off the painting cones and picked up a whole whack of saw dust and wood chips... at least this will never be seen on the final project!

 

[Luciel]

Wow, it looks like proffesionally made furniture, the kind of stuff you wouldn´t want to screw up by putting a PC in it lol! so congrats and keep up the good work! ^^

 

[theJesus]

Wow, it looks like proffesionally made furniture, the kind of stuff you wouldn´t want to screw up by putting a PC in it lol! so congrats and keep up the good work! ^^

Doesn't just look like it, it is professionally made.

 

[PopcornMachine]

Very nice looking stain. Glad to see no kittens stuck on one.

 

[THRiLL KiLL]

looking good. subscribing to thread

 

[twicksisted]

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/6026/img6036.jpg

is that a Maine Coon kitten?

 

[ultimatedesk]

Trimming the Cabinets

Wow, it looks like proffesionally made furniture, the kind of stuff you wouldn´t want to screw up by putting a PC in it lol! so congrats and keep up the good work! ^^

lol, too funny - thanks for the comments, hopefully the PC's will fit right in nicely

Doesn't just look like it, it is professionally made.

Thanks theJesus, I learned from your teachings lol

Very nice looking stain. Glad to see no kittens stuck on one.

Haha, nice - I'm glad I have space to be without them running all over the place and knocking things over!

looking good. subscribing to thread

Thanks!

is that a Maine Coon kitten?

Good question. I don't think so, however. The mother cat was a street cat that we took in when she was only 3 or 4 months old (A starving little thing, eating bugs off the street), got her her shots and still let her go outside, and sure enough, 4 or 5 months later she was pregnant. I suspect it's one of the nicer, big gray cats that hangs around the backyard. I don't know what kind of cat he is either.

With the drawers and drawer faces all finished and ready for installation, it was time to turn to finishing up the two cabinets.

First up, finishing the piece that goes on the front of the left-hand cabinet.

And, well, not a lot of writing today, as the rest of it should look pretty straightforward. I had to cut up a bunch of trim pieces, and somehow arrange the clamps to hold them in the right place. A few of the arrangements required some creative thinking, but in the end, I got the whole cabinet trimmed up over the course of a few days.

Mmmm glue.

Enjoy! We're getting close to the final assembly, yay!

 

[ObSo-1337]

The stain/gel/varnish you used is amazing. The colour is absolutely beautiful!

 

[theJesus]

Thanks theJesus, I learned from your teachings lol

Well then it's good that you apparently didn't pay any attention at all, because I'd have screwed this up long ago.

Mmmm glue.

I get so hot looking at your hard, clamped wood dripping with sticky goo.

 

[PopcornMachine]

I get so hot looking at your hard, clamped wood dripping with sticky goo.

Stll haven't stopped counting the things wrong with that. :shadedshu

 

[ultimatedesk]

Sanding the Cabinets

The stain/gel/varnish you used is amazing. The colour is absolutely beautiful!

Thanks ObSo-1337, glad you like it!

Well then it's good that you apparently didn't pay any attention at all, because I'd have screwed this up long ago.

I get so hot looking at your hard, clamped wood dripping with sticky goo.

lol thanks, theJesus. I'm beginning to think that the fumes from the stain have started to evaporate through the pictures a bit too much lately lol

Stll haven't stopped counting the things wrong with that. :shadedshu

Seriously! All fun 'n games though!

With the trim all glued up and dry, and the weather nice and warm, I decided to take the cabinets outside to have the trim sanded flush. I start with 80 grit to get all the bits nice and close, and then move to 120 grit with the random orbit sander in preparation for staining.

Everything looking pretty good on the right-hand cabinet

And now for the left-hand cabinet

I'm under the impression that I mistakenly sanded this edge too much prior to installation, because I thought that I was going to have to squeeze this end into the dado cut at the back of the drawer. Woops! Hopefully that won't show up too much after staining.

And, a bit of glue squeeze-out that I missed previously is easily taken care of by the sander

I'll be staining over the weekend, so some fresh and shiny cabinets await for next weeks early update!

Have a good weekend folks!