Build Log: Constructing the Ultimate Computer Desk

[ultimatedesk]

Some New Hardware

Nice samples..... I've heared good things about Randells too.

I use to live in Halifax, 10yrs... 1 high school, 3 Universitys.

Aha! That explains it

Does the cat have anything to do with the Kingston SSD?

Haha, yeah, she's part of Quality Control


Sorry about the lack of updates everyone, it's not that I haven't been working on the desk much, but it's more that I've been using the camera a lot (You know.. kittens) and I haven't had time to sit down and sort through all the photos, re-size, crop, etc for some real proper updates.

I've had this update sitting on the back burner for a little while now and I've been meaning to squeeze in it somewhere. I had been talking with some folks at Danger Den because I was looking at their motherboard trays and I/O panels, and they've decided to sponsor me!

Big thanks go out to Danger Den, as these are critical components required for a professional end result - you've all seen the mangled results of the cases I tore up earlier in the project.

Let us help you be cool!

Everything came very nicely packed - not much loose play, and plenty of foam to absorb any shipping issues.

I had these PSU support brackets custom made:

I sent them a higher resolution image of this, that I threw together in Sketchup:

Also included in this little shipment were some momentary switches for power and reset. (These are really popular these days, aren't they?)

And some real nifty motherboard trays:

All the acrylic is 1/2" clear - I will leave them wrapped up until the project is close to completion. With these parts -finally- settled, I can cut some holes in the cabinets and actually put them together -for real- !!

Stay tuned, I'll sit down this weekend and sort through the next round of updates

 

[patonb]

Congats on the sponser.

I'm excited to see a fully done.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Yeah noice! Keep the updates rolling

 

[Abstract Hero]

This is exciting looks like a fun project so far.

 

[ultimatedesk]

IO Slot Cutting

Congats on the sponser.

I'm excited to see a fully done.

Yeah noice! Keep the updates rolling

Thanks for the comments everyone, sorry it's been a bit slow lately, I'll try to post a few updates this week.

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!

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.

 

[ultimatedesk]

Re: IO Slot Cutting

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?

 

[4P_Bulldozer]

Re: IO Slot Cutting

Looking great. Thanks for the details and large Photos.

Check out: http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-work-logs/887640-wooden-cheese-i-status-fan-controller-10.html Here is a suggestion for your matching Project, a wooden Case:

 

[ultimatedesk]

Right Cabinet Assembly

Hey Bulldozer, thanks for the link, some good info in there

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!

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

I was beginning to wonder if this died, I am loving it so far.

 

[ultimatedesk]

Staining the Desk Surface

I was beginning to wonder if this died, I am loving it so far.

Nope, it's still alive! Hopefully I'll be working on it quite a bit in the next month or so!

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!