The Ultimate Computer Desk - 2 Integrated Desktops

[x88x]

Awesome! Congrats on the new sponsor!

[ultimatedesk]

YAY! +r for that SWEET set of sponsors!

Awesome! Congrats on the new sponsor!

Thanks, both of you! It's a lot of work getting sponsors, but it has been totally worth it!


So - it's been sometime since I've posted an update - apologies, things have been very busy lately.

With the parts from Danger Den having arrived, I could now move on to some more specific details with both of the cabinets that will contain the computers.

Once again, I started with a test fitting, this time, it was a very accurate fitting, requiring quite a bit of sanding and fiddling around to get as close to the final product as possible.

I then placed some test parts for fitting, and traced some outlines on the wood. The motherboard tray was placed on some thin strips of packing foam that I cut up, to help isolate any vibration from the CPU Heatsink.

Installed some new blades on the jigsaw, put my biggest drill bit in the drill, and went to town!

Part 2 coming right up!

[ultimatedesk]

After doing the rough cut with the jigsaw, I took out the router and free-handed with a straight bit to smooth out the edges.

The semi-finished air intake for the left-hand cabinet:

The power supply rough cut:

I decided that the PSU bolts will need a little more clearance around the screw holes.

The I/O Shield cut out was a bit tricky to measure, but I think I did a pretty decent job:

And a final shot from above and below:

Next update, I'll have pics of actual assembly of the left hand cabinet, and then more cutting, and biscuit joining on the right-hand cabinet.

[AmEv]

I want to see this complete.
In person.



Too bad I live too far away.....

[Fuganater]

Looks like its gonna be a pretty slick desk.

[ultimatedesk]

I want to see this complete.
In person.
Too bad I live too far away.....

I want to see this... complete... lol! Come take a visit to Ottawa!

Looks like its gonna be a pretty slick desk.

Thanks Fuganater!


It's been a while, but I can assure you, progress is still moving forward with the Ultimate Computer Desk!

I finally got around to assembling the left-hand cabinet - here it is, all glued and clamped together. It's a really solid unit - the dado cuts lined up really well, and the structure is rock solid.

Here I am doing a mock-up of the right-hand cabinet. This one was a little trickier to put together. There is a pretty specific order of assembly, otherwise, you're left with a piece that just doesn't want to fit properly.

Some outlines for the motherboard I/O and power supply

I remember mentioning that I free-handed the holes with the router for the left-hand cabinet. I decided to play a safer route for the right-hand cabinet.

I took a piece of wood, lined it up with my straight edge, and ran my router on top of the wood with a straight bit - this game me a perfect "stencil". What I can do then, is take the stencil, line up the edge with a line that I've drawn on the target piece, place a straight edge behind the stencil, clamp down the straight edge, remove the stencil, and run my router across the straight edge for a straight, accurate line.

Wow, that was a mouthful.

And the end product:

And then I made a pretty huge mistake...

Here is the suspect:

Bam. Can you guess why this was a bad idea?

[Fuganater]

Woo progress!

[Blkfxx]

Oh noes, A mistake.

How bad is it?

[ultimatedesk]

Holy moly, I'm really sorry for the lack of updates folks - I've been sick for quite a while and the weather has been miserable so I haven't had much time to work on the desk. Apparently I had cedar poisoning! Wonderful!

Anyways - back on track!

Those of you who guessed it right - yes, I shouldn't have made the hole in the first place. I don't know what I was thinking. This is the right-hand cabinet.

Whoops!

Here's the biscuit joiner I was using. It worked pretty well for what it is. The tricky part was determining the order of which pieces/faces/sides to glue first and how to keep it all from falling apart before completion.

Here's the left-hand cabinet all dried and ready for some trim

And voila, my erm.. elegant clamping solution (I need to grab some cauls!)

Hope you enjoy! Rest assured, this project WILL BE FINISHED! Just.. mm, I don't really know when. I'm moving in a month and a half, so all the staining/sanding will have to be done, at a minimum.

Take care!

[ultimatedesk]

This part of the project took a better part of a month. There was a lot of sanding, waiting, and sweating as I put on each thin layer of polyurethane on the desk surface.

Here it is at the start of the phase - what a mess!

You can see there was still sanding to do from when I put in the wood filler back in... November!

All cleaned up, ready to rock the stain. It was starting to get nice as well so it was time to lube up the 'ol bike chain as well!

Part way through the first coat

Note that this is the bottom of the desk surface. I did this intially without any kind of pre-stain or wood treatment to see if I could get away with it.

I actually noticed a significant amount of dark spots and uneveness, so for the top of the desk, and for all future staining, I went with a pre-stain, and two coats of Old Masters Gel Stain. Here is the desk surface approximately a month later with around 8 coats of polyurethane on top. It will be getting a good ol fashion rubbing out in another month from now once it has fully cured.

Have a good weekend everyone!