Scratch Build: Building the Ultimate Computer Desk

[ultimatedesk]

Originally Posted by WereBo

Waiting with bated breath.... It's looking good now the construction has started, I can start to picture what the final unit will be like

Thanks, it's pretty exciting eh? I hope it turns out how I envisioned it!!

Originally Posted by oneitsolutions

Lovely Work!

Thank you sir!

Originally Posted by PoWn3d_0704

I've been following along since you've started, and I must say, it's quite nice. Cant wait to see what kinda beast you fit in there.

Thanks! That will be a really exciting part too!!

Well, got some time to start the staining of the cabinets this weekend, and overall, everything went pretty well. Started off with a bit of detailed sanding by hand, and then a good dusting with a tack cloth / cloth with paint thinner.





And then went to work applying the stain with a clean cotton rag





They both turned out pretty well - these pictures were taken after only the first coat (A second one will go on). I find that this stain really shines once a coat of poly is put over it.

Let me tell you - getting the inside of the cabinets was quite time consuming and I really did a number on staining my arms...



Eww! It looks like a heart! ;)

[WereBo]

Originally Posted by ultimatedesk

...............

Let me tell you - getting the inside of the cabinets was quite time consuming and I really did a number on staining my arms...

.......................

Are you going to varnish them to match the cabinet?

[ultimatedesk]

Originally Posted by WereBo

Are you going to varnish them to match the cabinet?

Sure am!

I kind of forgot to take some pictures of the cabinets after I applied a pair of coats of polyurethane, but here's the status of the project so far



Both cabinets have been poly'd, and there are only 3 more pieces to stain + poly (The two caps for the end spaces on the top shelf, and the door for the right-hand cabinet). Otherwise, I am pretty much ready to assemble.

Before assembly, however, I wanted to try a technique I had been reading about - rubbing out a finish.

You start with some baby oil and a product called rottenstone (It's a very finely ground stone)



Apply some baby oil liberally (This slows down the cutting process. If you use water, it will speed up the cutting process)



Sprinkle on your rottenstone (Once again, fairly liberally. I didn't find the cutting action very aggressive at all, especially with all the baby oil)



Take a block of wood with a soft material wrapped around it, in this case, I used a piece of cut up fleece from an old blanket, but I think a felt block is the most recommended for this.



Go with the grain in long strokes, and rub the slurry into the wood. Its very fine cutting action should almost eliminate all dust marks, brush marks, and any small scratches.

This took quite a long time, and it was very, very messy. Baby oil rottenstone slurry everywhere. I then went through a ton of rags soaked in paint thinner cleaning it all off the desk surface in preparation for some good 'ol waxing.



Applied with a lint free rag, I swirled it onto the table a little bit too liberally



I then let it dry for a few moments and "attempted" to buff it all off by hand with a clean rag. Much to my dismay, after spending 10 minutes trying to buff only but a small corner, I realized that I would never get the shine I was looking for...



So I made a trip to my storage unit (My mom's garage) where I remembered I had an old electric car buffer in a bin...



Booya. It was late when I got back home, so I left it and went to sleep. Have a good weekend everyone - Canada Day tomorrow here in Canada, so I'm going to enjoy the long weekend. I'm moving this weekend too, so hopefully the desk survives the trip!!

[WereBo]

I've heard of rotten-stone but never used it, I think it's slightly higher in the hardness-scale than pumice-dust.

I hope the oil-streaks come off easily, without ruining your work so far, I'd hate to see you have to cut it back for another polyurethane coat

Good luck with your move

[Excabus]

I just stumbled across this post! That's an amazing color, really interesting so see the work through and through, the idea of incorporating the computer itself into the desk is great. Looks great so far, hope it all turns out!

[ultimatedesk]

Originally Posted by WereBo

I've heard of rotten-stone but never used it, I think it's slightly higher in the hardness-scale than pumice-dust.

I hope the oil-streaks come off easily, without ruining your work so far, I'd hate to see you have to cut it back for another polyurethane coat

Good luck with your move

I think you've got it right - sometimes people will start with pumice and then move to rottenstone. The oil streaks... gave me some trouble, I'll admit. See below lol

Originally Posted by Excabus

I just stumbled across this post! That's an amazing color, really interesting so see the work through and through, the idea of incorporating the computer itself into the desk is great. Looks great so far, hope it all turns out!

Thanks! I hope it turns out well as well lol! Only time will tell (Or once I scrape up some cash for some hardware!)

So, I finally moved this weekend, and I'm glad to say everything went pretty well. A few small parts of the desk got scuffed up, but nothing major. Here are some shots from just before being transported.

The car buffer partially worked. I ended up actually taking some more paint thinner and totally removing the wax. For some reason it didn't stick well - I think it's because I didn't remove the baby oil enough before adding the wax. Either way, it's shiny as glass and looks great.



Then I took some 3/4" weather stripping and put it on both cabinets to prevent the desk surface from slipping and sliding:







And, here's a sneak peak. Right before the move was pretty much the moment of triumph - assembling the 4 stained and poly'd pieces, and actually sitting at it. The monitors come in at perfect eye height, and the desk height is perfect as well, providing lots of forearm and elbow support.

Ahhhhhhhhh.... 8 months.

Now for the details ;)

[WereBo]

Even at it's most basic form, it's starting to look beautiful - The colour is so rich and the shine really sets it off nice, even though I usually prefer a 'satin' finish, rather than high-gloss.

I can't wait to see the final product in use

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by WereBo

Even at it's most basic form, it's starting to look beautiful - The colour is so rich and the shine really sets it off nice, even though I usually prefer a 'satin' finish, rather than high-gloss.

I can't wait to see the final product in use

agreed. Especially since I'm not sure how a laser mouse will respond to the high gloss. Shoot, I never painted my desk, it's still raw MDF.

[ultimatedesk]

Originally Posted by WereBo

Even at it's most basic form, it's starting to look beautiful - The colour is so rich and the shine really sets it off nice, even though I usually prefer a 'satin' finish, rather than high-gloss.

I can't wait to see the final product in use

Thanks WereBo

Originally Posted by magnethead

agreed. Especially since I'm not sure how a laser mouse will respond to the high gloss. Shoot, I never painted my desk, it's still raw MDF.

Thanks magnethead - might want to get that desk painted! MDF from what I remember off-gasses quite a few nasty things unless it gets sealed up!

The move went well - I'm actually using the desk right now (With a mouse pad. I haven't tried the mouse on the actual desk yet). Nothing installed yet of course, but slowly getting there. Hopefully some new updates early next week!

[Acuta73]

I wanna see this bad-boy with hardware installed...

Been following this since you posted it on Mod Brothers, albeit quietly. You have done some truly beautiful work and can't wait for a finished product!

Edit: I don't dare let my Ex see this...that finish is exactly what she loves and I'd be up to my bum in work for her!

[magnethead]

Originally Posted by ultimatedesk

Thanks magnethead - might want to get that desk painted! MDF from what I remember off-gasses quite a few nasty things unless it gets sealed up!

Considering I breathe leaded gasoline and Alcohol (fuel) fumes every weekend, I don't think a little formaldehyde will hurt me. LOL

(Alcohol fumes are bad. Our car is on gas and it's not too bad, even in the garage with doors closed. One weekend I was 6 feet from an alky car, and almost got gassed after 10 seconds)

[ultimatedesk]

Originally Posted by Acuta73

I wanna see this bad-boy with hardware installed...

Been following this since you posted it on Mod Brothers, albeit quietly. You have done some truly beautiful work and can't wait for a finished product!

Edit: I don't dare let my Ex see this...that finish is exactly what she loves and I'd be up to my bum in work for her!

Thanks Acuta73! You wouldn't believe the number of people in real life that have seen it, turned to me like "Ooooh - maybe you can build me..." !

Originally Posted by magnethead

Considering I breathe leaded gasoline and Alcohol (fuel) fumes every weekend, I don't think a little formaldehyde will hurt me. LOL

(Alcohol fumes are bad. Our car is on gas and it's not too bad, even in the garage with doors closed. One weekend I was 6 feet from an alky car, and almost got gassed after 10 seconds)

Lol, nice magnethead - well as long as you're aware of it I guess! You're already living life in the fast lane it sounds like, so enjoy it - I've always wished I could work with cars more often - especially the fast, loud ones!

So - I finally had some time this weekend to do a bit of work on The Ultimate Computer Desk.

Here's a little shot of the desk as it sits now. Note that the drawers aren't installed, there's clutter everywhere, the two cabinets are not lined up in any particular fashion, and of course, no hardware has yet been installed.



If you didn't notice, I finally said to myself "Ok Mr. You've been working on this desk for 8 months - time for a present". I ~finally~ ditched my old CRT monitor (Which was nice, at 1600x1200 resolution) and purchased myself a brand new 27" Asus. Sweet!



That was my first new computer component in ages!


I moved on to the next part of the project, which was installing the drawers, so I got to work. Sorry about the pictures, I think I accidentally turned the auto focus off!





Imagine my surprise when I went to go and slide the drawer in. The drawer was too wide! I accomodated for 0.25" on each side of the drawer, for the width of the drawer slides. Unfortunately, these particular drawer slides were 3/16's of an inch wider than I accounted for... Here's a wonderfully in focus shot:



So my options were:
1. Redo the drawers completely, making them a total of 6/16's (3/8's) skinnier, or
2. Shave off 3/16's" from each side, about 1.5" tall, along the length of both sides, of each of the drawers.

What a bummer! I thought oh well, it'll actually look pretty tidy with the sides shaved anyways, and also give additional support, so here goes!

Time to tape up my poor drawers. They're about to get scratched up pretty bad!



Setting up the tablesaw for some "guidelines" - 3/16's of an inch deep, set the fence at 2" and then 3.5" if I remember correctly.



And there you go, some proper guidelines for the material that will need to be removed.



This was a pretty big surprise, but not too major, and nothing that cannot be done well.

[ultimatedesk]

So, after I used the table saw to make my reference cuts, I grabbed the router with a 1/2" flush cut bit, set it at the appropriate depth and went to town. Making the reference cuts made the rest of this usually tedious job easy.







When I went to do the reference cuts on the shorter drawers, I realized... there were a bunch of screws in the way. Ooops! Good thing I noticed so quickly!



I had to go and remove all woodfiller and the screws that were in the way of the 3/16's inch material removal. This meant all the screws along the bottom, and 1 or 2 at the front and back of the drawer. What a pain!







After getting all of the extra material removed, I drilled some new counter-sink holes (Since the old ones were taken off with the router), re-inserted the screws, and gave all the dressers a light sanding, since I would have to redo the polyurethane coat anyways (They got pretty scratched up). In this pic, I had already re-stained the portion where I removed the extra material.



So. Next - polyurethaning the drawers... AGAIN!

[GZ]

You are doing an excellent job, ultimatedesk! I haven't been posting much, but I have been keeping an eye on your progress and wanted to thank you for sharing!!!

I am glad someone is keeping up on their project!!! All mine are shelved for the time being.

Nice score on the monitor!

[ultimatedesk]

Originally Posted by gavinzach

You are doing an excellent job, ultimatedesk! I haven't been posting much, but I have been keeping an eye on your progress and wanted to thank you for sharing!!!

I am glad someone is keeping up on their project!!! All mine are shelved for the time being.

Nice score on the monitor!

Thanks gavinzach! It's tough to keep up with projects sometimes eh? Life has a habit of putting other stuff in your path of priorities lol


While getting ready to re-polyurethane the drawers, I also took the time to stain and poly the right-hand cabinet door, as well as the two pieces that will be above each of the cubby holes on the top of the desk





Re-polyurethaning the drawers went really well - they look fantastic



Things have been pretty busy in the shop - have been re-glassing a war-horse of a canoe at the same time!



Here are the first couple drawers installed. They fit perfectly - the slides fit right into the grooves that I cut out. This photo turned out a little redder than reality



Getting the actual slides lined up and screwed in straight took a bit of patience, but well worth the effort



Ahh, nice and messy, but finally got the drawers in.



Some of the things I'll need to be working on shortly:

- Front Panel (Fan controls, LED's, Power/Reset switches, USB, Audio Jacks)
- Fan Installation (Foam surrounds, filter fitting)
- Hardware selection

After the hardware is selected and installed, I will be able to focus on cable routing and placement of the drives.

[Dogg]

Looking very good. I need to make a new desktop for my current store bought desk. After 10 years of use, the laminate top has taken a beating. This is just the motivation that I need. LOL

Keep up the great work.

[MPR]

Haven't been here is a while but I would like to say that your desk turned out pretty sharp. I tend to go for the "oak" look myself but I like the "cherry" look of yours too.

My Dad and I just finished an oak gun case for granddaughter/niece and my brother took it to her yesterday (her "husband" [what do you call a long-term live-in boyfriend?] is the one who hunts but I stipulated that it is her cabinet [she can easily convert it into a china cabinet too if the relationship goes south]).

[YTGeek]

wow I am very impressed by your work .... so amazing on what you can actually do when you put your mind to it :) ... Very nice work! and keep it up and also keep up updated :) want to see the final project! :)

YourTravelingGeek

[deleted26032012]

Looks Amazing!!!!!!!!
I have been watching your progress from the start with envy that i dont have the time to put into a project like that. Can't wait to see it all assembled and up and running.

p.s hope the cat is doing good :3

[ultimatedesk]

Thanks Dogg, I love that you've become inspired by the desk! Go for it!!

Originally Posted by MPR

Haven't been here is a while but I would like to say that your desk turned out pretty sharp. I tend to go for the "oak" look myself but I like the "cherry" look of yours too.

My Dad and I just finished an oak gun case for granddaughter/niece and my brother took it to her yesterday (her "husband" [what do you call a long-term live-in boyfriend?] is the one who hunts but I stipulated that it is her cabinet [she can easily convert it into a china cabinet too if the relationship goes south]).

Thanks MPR, sounds like a cool project, have you been into woodworking for long?

Originally Posted by YTGeek

wow I am very impressed by your work .... so amazing on what you can actually do when you put your mind to it :) ... Very nice work! and keep it up and also keep up updated :) want to see the final project! :)

YourTravelingGeek

Thanks YTGeek - there's plenty to come, and getting more exciting by the update!

Originally Posted by Ryan-McAuley

Looks Amazing!!!!!!!!
I have been watching your progress from the start with envy that i dont have the time to put into a project like that. Can't wait to see it all assembled and up and running.

p.s hope the cat is doing good :3

Thanks Ryan-McAuley, it's getting close! You know it's been 9 or 10 MONTHS?! Crazy eh!

Sorry for the delay in updates everyone - I've been enjoying the beautiful summer weather we've been getting lately and haven't been putting a tremendous effort into getting the desk finished.

Surprise though - I did manage to get quite a bit done, and I've had some good fortune lately as well. I expect to post several updates this week, so just to get you back into the spirit of things, here's this weeks preview!

4x Scythe Ultra Kaze 120mm x 38mm 3000RPM
4x Scythe Slipstream 120mm x 25mm 1900RPM


Lots of foam cutting and trimming, and a sweet, sweet ruler from the Moddders Inc Featured Rig of the Month Contest(Thanks! I'm honored!)


Hmm, what's this?


Holy moly cool prize pack Modders Inc! I still can't believe I won this - perfect stuff for The Ultimate Computer Desk!


Finally removed the protective cover from these babies - they look soo nice!


Hmm? Another surprise?...


Oh good lord! What kind of super monster is that!!?


Bwahahaha


Ok, so maybe a lot's happened in the past couple weeks. I haven't been posting any updates because I've been tinkering around with hardware AND enjoying some good outdoor times. I'm thinking that the next round of updates in the following month or so will be ultra exciting - things are starting to wrap up!

Seeya soon!