patonb
Golden Master
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Curses.... You blanked your address.... I was gonna come steal...... er borrow the desk.
Build Log: Constructing the Ultimate Computer Desk
- Thread starter ultimatedesk
- Start date
- Status
I got to review some Crucial Ballistix Tracers and have to say that they are nice. That's some sharp RAM you've got there.
ultimatedesk
Baseband Member
- Messages
- 58
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario
Trimming the Desk Surface
Last time I left off, with regards to the table surface, I had just finished gluing and screwing it together. I put it on the backburner for about a week to dry while I worked on the drawers, and now I'm going to take it down in preparation for putting the outer trim on it.
Here it is:
All 4 sides were a bit off, with regards to the flushness. This was expected, as the initial sizing cuts were pretty rough, and it's better to have extra material than not enough.
Took out a straight-cut flush bit for the router, and some 60-grit sandpaper for the random orbital sander, and got to work. I did two passes with the router, because since the bit is not 1 1/2" tall, I couldn't trim the whole side of the table with just one pass.
And, after a bit of work, the final result:
The next step is to take a long strip of maple and turn it into trim for the table surface.
lol patonb, thanks for being... so honest? lmao - you've got to be built like an ox to steal this desk, that's for sure!
Ooh, nice, thanks for the link Trotter. I'm looking forward to throwing those RDIMM's on a nice server board to see what they can do as well
Last time I left off, with regards to the table surface, I had just finished gluing and screwing it together. I put it on the backburner for about a week to dry while I worked on the drawers, and now I'm going to take it down in preparation for putting the outer trim on it.
Here it is:
All 4 sides were a bit off, with regards to the flushness. This was expected, as the initial sizing cuts were pretty rough, and it's better to have extra material than not enough.
Took out a straight-cut flush bit for the router, and some 60-grit sandpaper for the random orbital sander, and got to work. I did two passes with the router, because since the bit is not 1 1/2" tall, I couldn't trim the whole side of the table with just one pass.
And, after a bit of work, the final result:
The next step is to take a long strip of maple and turn it into trim for the table surface.
Abstract Hero
Hyper Techie
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- 1,843
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- Phoenix, AZ
Now as I understand it... Your going to have a banging horizontal rig on one side with the window showing the inside of the drawer, and the other side is going to be a vertical server. Correct?
ultimatedesk
Baseband Member
- Messages
- 58
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario
That is correct! I like the idea of an horizontal rig a lot these days, since those heatsinks are huge. Hopefully all the air management will work as I've planned. We'll see I guess
No update in a while, I know - it's been a bit busy at work lately. I finished the trim on the desk surface, and I also acquired some new hardware, so I'll post pics of that soon!
ultimatedesk
Baseband Member
- Messages
- 58
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario
The last time I left off, I had just finished flushing the sides of the table in preparation to add some trim. I found a nice piece of long maple that was just a little over 8 feet long, a little wider than 1.5 inches, and thick enough to cut some 1/4 inch strips from.
I layed it out, setup the table saw and cut myself a test piece.
Looks good!
Here's a pic of the cutting process. I'm afraid I had some difficulty with this. Actually, let me rephrase - the saw had some difficulty with this. I was still using the same blade I've been using the whole project - which needs replacement pretty badly. Asking it to cut through 1.5 inches of maple, for a length of 8 feet was asking a lot of it.
I made it through eventually, but the whole process left quite a few burn marks on the wood.
I glued and nailed the trim around the perimeter of the desk, which was a pretty straightforward process.
And then took out a hand plane to get rid of most of the excess material and bring the trim down flush with the desk surface. Some neat pictures here.
After some sanding with some 60-grit on the random orbit sander to get everything smooth, I went nuts with the wood filler.
At that point I stood the surface up in the back of the shop and called it a night.
Next update in the loop, I setup some dado blades in the table saw, mmm mmmm, that was fun!
Have a good weekend everyone!
I layed it out, setup the table saw and cut myself a test piece.
Looks good!
Here's a pic of the cutting process. I'm afraid I had some difficulty with this. Actually, let me rephrase - the saw had some difficulty with this. I was still using the same blade I've been using the whole project - which needs replacement pretty badly. Asking it to cut through 1.5 inches of maple, for a length of 8 feet was asking a lot of it.
I made it through eventually, but the whole process left quite a few burn marks on the wood.
I glued and nailed the trim around the perimeter of the desk, which was a pretty straightforward process.
And then took out a hand plane to get rid of most of the excess material and bring the trim down flush with the desk surface. Some neat pictures here.
After some sanding with some 60-grit on the random orbit sander to get everything smooth, I went nuts with the wood filler.
At that point I stood the surface up in the back of the shop and called it a night.
Next update in the loop, I setup some dado blades in the table saw, mmm mmmm, that was fun!
Have a good weekend everyone!
ultimatedesk
Baseband Member
- Messages
- 58
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario
Dado Cutting
It's been a while since the last update, but basically, I got around to installing the dado blade on the table saw to make some important cuts for the two cabinets, and was able to do a bit of test fitting.
For those of you not really in the know, a dado blade has two regular saw blades (One for the left, one for the right) and some irregular shaped blades of varying thickness that you put in between, until you get the right width. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
The beauty of using dado blades in the table saw (At least I think) is that you can set it up at the right height and width, and then set the fence to the proper width and do all 3 of your supporting boards one after another so they will be lined up perfectly when it comes time for assembly.
I put 3 cuts in each of the 3 supporting walls of the left-hand cabinet. There was a bit of chipping, I should have probably put down some masking tape, but it's nothing major and will be on the inside anyways.
I threw on a bit of wood filler to patch up the chipped parts, and then let these 3 dry while I worked on the right-hand cabinet cuts.
I then had some time to put together a quick test fitting! Not bad! Some of the wood was just a bit crooked, so I'll have to spend some time with the sander to loosen up some of the dado joints.
This pretty much completes the first phase of the project - I won't have any use for any of the big, messy tools anymore.
All that's really left are a few small detail cuts, some holes need to be cut out, the whole thing needs to be sanded to pre-stain state, and then assembly and staining!
I'll be bringing all of the materials back to my place where I'll be doing just that.
It's been a while since the last update, but basically, I got around to installing the dado blade on the table saw to make some important cuts for the two cabinets, and was able to do a bit of test fitting.
For those of you not really in the know, a dado blade has two regular saw blades (One for the left, one for the right) and some irregular shaped blades of varying thickness that you put in between, until you get the right width. I'll let the pictures do the talking.
The beauty of using dado blades in the table saw (At least I think) is that you can set it up at the right height and width, and then set the fence to the proper width and do all 3 of your supporting boards one after another so they will be lined up perfectly when it comes time for assembly.
I put 3 cuts in each of the 3 supporting walls of the left-hand cabinet. There was a bit of chipping, I should have probably put down some masking tape, but it's nothing major and will be on the inside anyways.
I threw on a bit of wood filler to patch up the chipped parts, and then let these 3 dry while I worked on the right-hand cabinet cuts.
I then had some time to put together a quick test fitting! Not bad! Some of the wood was just a bit crooked, so I'll have to spend some time with the sander to loosen up some of the dado joints.
This pretty much completes the first phase of the project - I won't have any use for any of the big, messy tools anymore.
All that's really left are a few small detail cuts, some holes need to be cut out, the whole thing needs to be sanded to pre-stain state, and then assembly and staining!
I'll be bringing all of the materials back to my place where I'll be doing just that.
ultimatedesk
Baseband Member
- Messages
- 58
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario
Basement Move
And, through the miracle of internet technology, I'm bringing you the next update right away!
There wasn't much work done in this update - just thought I'd show everyone where the progress is going to be taking place from now on. The spooky basement in my building!
It's a really old house, at least over a hundred years old, in fact, there's a 12" x 12" solid beam of wood running as the main support member along the entire length of the house, it must be at least 30 feet long. Can't get those any more!!!
My main complaint with the basement is that I am constantly bashing my head on the low ceiling beams, and it's quite cold! Getting motivated to go work down there is not nearly as easy as working in the nice, heated wood shop.
Time to let the pictures do the talking:
I purchased a new shop vac at Canadian Tire along with a bunch of other stuff during the Boxing Week sales after Christmas. Sweet.
I also setup a plastic wall to help prevent sawdust from going all over the basement, as well as to help keep any breezes contained when it comes time to stain.
Some of my personal tools:
And there we have it! Until next time, have a good weekend!
And, through the miracle of internet technology, I'm bringing you the next update right away!
There wasn't much work done in this update - just thought I'd show everyone where the progress is going to be taking place from now on. The spooky basement in my building!
It's a really old house, at least over a hundred years old, in fact, there's a 12" x 12" solid beam of wood running as the main support member along the entire length of the house, it must be at least 30 feet long. Can't get those any more!!!
My main complaint with the basement is that I am constantly bashing my head on the low ceiling beams, and it's quite cold! Getting motivated to go work down there is not nearly as easy as working in the nice, heated wood shop.
Time to let the pictures do the talking:
I purchased a new shop vac at Canadian Tire along with a bunch of other stuff during the Boxing Week sales after Christmas. Sweet.
I also setup a plastic wall to help prevent sawdust from going all over the basement, as well as to help keep any breezes contained when it comes time to stain.
Some of my personal tools:
And there we have it! Until next time, have a good weekend!
ultimatedesk
Baseband Member
- Messages
- 58
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario
Quick Test Fitting
So, I did a bit of work in the basement the other night, and since the next part of the project is going to be assembly, I decided to give it another shot at test fitting, since the last time I tried it was just loosely put together.
Time to get out the sander with some 80 grit. The hose on my shop vac is a little over 2", and I didn't have an adapter to attach it to the DeWalt ROB Sander unfortunately, so a little tape had to do the job.
I took each piece one by one and sanded down the edges where they slide into the dado cuts. I had to do a surprising amount of sanding, as the fit was incredibly tight.
I also took the time to label each piece (Top, Middle, Bottom, and which side faces the front) so that it could be easily repeatable when it comes time for final assembly.
Almost there. So tight! I needed a rubber mallet to set some of them, and then remove them afterwards.
This shelf was just ~slightly~ warped, and needed a lot of sanding so that one end was nice and snug, and this end actually a bit of free space (Hello wood filler!)
A couple more progress shots:
And, all tightly assembled. I could probably jump on this box...
I spent about an hour and a half doing that, and honestly, it was freezing cold down there and that's about all I could stand for that evening. Until next time!
So, I did a bit of work in the basement the other night, and since the next part of the project is going to be assembly, I decided to give it another shot at test fitting, since the last time I tried it was just loosely put together.
Time to get out the sander with some 80 grit. The hose on my shop vac is a little over 2", and I didn't have an adapter to attach it to the DeWalt ROB Sander unfortunately, so a little tape had to do the job.
I took each piece one by one and sanded down the edges where they slide into the dado cuts. I had to do a surprising amount of sanding, as the fit was incredibly tight.
I also took the time to label each piece (Top, Middle, Bottom, and which side faces the front) so that it could be easily repeatable when it comes time for final assembly.
Almost there. So tight! I needed a rubber mallet to set some of them, and then remove them afterwards.
This shelf was just ~slightly~ warped, and needed a lot of sanding so that one end was nice and snug, and this end actually a bit of free space (Hello wood filler!)
A couple more progress shots:
And, all tightly assembled. I could probably jump on this box...
I spent about an hour and a half doing that, and honestly, it was freezing cold down there and that's about all I could stand for that evening. Until next time!
MindoverMaster
Golden Master
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I can't wait for this to be done...
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