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Scratch Build – In Progress The Ultimate Computer Desk - 2 Integrated Desktops (September 1)

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by ultimatedesk, 29 Nov 2010.

  1. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Left Cabinet Assembly

    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.

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    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.

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    Some outlines for the motherboard I/O and power supply

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    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.

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    And the end product:

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    And then I made a pretty huge mistake...

    Here is the suspect:

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

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  2. PureSilver

    PureSilver E-tailer Tailor

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    You drilled through the desk surface underneath the part you actually wanted a hole in?
     
  3. Javerh

    Javerh Topiary Golem

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    ^^ Classic!
     
  4. DeadP1xels

    DeadP1xels Social distancing since 92

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    Lol!

    Atleast its just a square bit not a part really hard to recreate
     
  5. Sponge12349

    Sponge12349 (づ。◕‿‿◕。)づ ︵ ┻━┻

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    =O oh noes!

    This is shaping up to be a Truly epic build!
     
  6. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Small No-Update

    lol I would have found that to be hilarious and unfortunate. Fortunately, that wasn't the mistake ;)

    Heh, yeah, I won't have to re-create it, but part of it will look awful silly...

    Thanks!


    I've been terribly sick lately, sorry for the no show on the updates. Here are some kittens to keep you content until I get some more work done ;)

    These are pictures from when they were 3 weeks to 8 weeks old.

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    Hopefully I'll have something interesting for you on Monday
     
    Crossing and Javerh like this.
  7. brinkz0r

    brinkz0r Minimodder

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    That's quote-worthy ;) Thanks for the update on the kittens :)
     
  8. Javerh

    Javerh Topiary Golem

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    +rep: Love how your kitties disregard rule 6.
     
  9. Archtronics

    Archtronics Minimodder

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    Love that grey one :)
     
  10. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Right Cabinet Assembly

    Heh, imagine the President standing up at a major decision and being all like "I know everyone really wants x decision, but I just can't. Here are some kittens to keep you content." Yaayayayayaaaa!

    Heh, whoops..

    Yeah totally cute eh? He's really "slow" as well. Falls all over the place, and does generally really mental things. Makes him the most fun of the bunch!

    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.

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    Whoops!

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    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.

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

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

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    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!
     
  11. timmmay

    timmmay What's a Dremel?

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    "How many clamps do you have?"

    "One less than I need!"
     
  12. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Staining the Desk Surface

    lol, you nailed it on the head. No matter how many I have...

    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!

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

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    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!

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    Part way through the first coat

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    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.

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    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.

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    Have a good weekend everyone!
     
  13. Shattriath

    Shattriath What's a Dremel?

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    Holy s*** that's a major project you've got there :O But it looks REALLY sweet!
     
  14. fluxtatic

    fluxtatic What's a Dremel?

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    God, that's gorgeous - Oh! My pants are wet. Speaking of rubbing one out... :naughty:

    Top-notch work. Hats off to you, sir!:thumb:
     
  15. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Prepping the Upper Deck

    lol, thanks, both of you very much :)

    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.

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    A quick mock up:

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

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    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:

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    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.
     
  16. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Top Shelf Assembly

    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.

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

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

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    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.

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    Mmmm glue.

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    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!
     
  17. murtoz

    murtoz Busy procrastinating

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    d@mn!

    I have just realised I suffer from clamp envy!
    Happily watching you progress your epic desk:clap:
     
  18. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Top Shelf Trim

    Hehe, clamp envy, that's a new one! You're going to love the next few updates in that case! Thanks for the comments!

    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!

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    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.

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    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!

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    And, my favorite part - clamping up!

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

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  19. ultimatedesk

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    Staining the Top Shelf

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

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    Looks good, eh?

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    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!!

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

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

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    And put a bit of weight on top..

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

    ultimatedesk What's a Dremel?

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    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!

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    Mmm, they look so good

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    And, poly of course

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    Done!

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    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!
     

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