# Computer Desk



## Ysane (Jul 13, 2010)

*Up to this point...*

It begins with a friend asking me if I could make him something after learning I had completed my apprenticeship.

"Yep, I can make you something, what do you have in mind?"

He told me he wanted a new computer desk, because the one he's using is uncool.

The guy I apprenticed with specialized in tables and bookshelves, so that seemed right up my alley. I was enthusiastic that I could make a little money doing what I had set out to do in the first place. It was looking good. He gave me some details and measurements, all easily within my experiences at the woodshop.

My shop, on the other hand, is vastly undertooled, and very undermanned both in experience (of working alone) and in people (as it's just me, and sometimes my wife to assist me when the third and fourth hands are necessary.)

October '09, he brings me the wood. 115 bf of white oak and 11 bf of mahogany for an inlay.

June '10, I begin work on it. The wood wasn't green. My shop simply gets very cold during the winter, and it's old. No insulation, 1960's wiring (meaning no grounds for the plugs…but plenty of those adaptors) but it does house two 220v connections. Spring was bad for me to come home and do anything as we had cleaned the house out and stored everything in the shop…ever happen to you?

Anyway, June '10, shop is mine again, and new tools are bought in preparation for the desk.

It's an L shaped desk, 36×72 X 22×48 standard 30" tall.

All the boards are cut to width (to remove the rough edge) and cut to length for the panels to be glued up.

Oh, had to buy new clamps. Can't have enough clamps right? And had to build another workbench to sit them on because my first one isn't big enough.

Bandsaw to make the inlay (Ridgid 14") and a Chicago Tools 12" sliding compound miter saw and a biscuit joiner.

Then, I get the news that he's moving. The new place he's going to has a 3 foot wide hallway, and will the desk fit through it.

No…haha, no way.

What should we do? I'm asked. Well, fortune favored the lazy and cold this time around. As the panels were only still gluing up, I had to shift gears on how to make it.

The desk has to be delivered in parts, much like those build it yourself kits from an office furniture supply catalog. Which I had the pleasure of building two L shaped desks over the Christmas holiday, and became the inspiration of how I am going to put it together after shipping it to his place.

In parts. Fun, oh yes, fun. I'm used to building furniture that is all one piece, or that join together in several large pieces to make an enormous one piece.

Size it down a bit shall we? Yep…

Now, I can't put it together with anything permanent, so what to do? I remember pocket joints. Yah! That'll work well! It's strong, (enough) and can come apart if he ever decides to move again. And it's simple enough that he can do it himself!

Wheeeeee!

So, I get to learning how to make pocket joints. Erm…yeah, I don't want to spend that kind of time measuring each panel and HOPING that I drill in the exact angle. Kreg's pocket joint kit here I come!

I think that will work out well, and make it sturdy enough with a few supports underneath to help keep it from flexing down where he'll be sitting.

Then, I talk to him about the inlay…all is good, and I mention that he may want some carving to go along with it around the border. Yes, he likes that idea, what do I have in mind?

Take my dremel to task and carve a few celtic knots for him, shoot it with my digital camera and send it to him. Now I get to dremel the whole perimeter of the desk top. Haha…oh, adjust the price accordingly he says. I would hope so.

So, next I start on the inlay. Bandsaw is ready to go, just need to get approval on the inlay (which I believe he will like) and then cut it out, sand it to smooth round and straight edges, cut down the mahogany, plane it, then cut it up with the pattern marked around it, and then measure the top of the desk and start in with the dremel to cut it 1/8" deep and put the inlay in it.

Then, put it all together, stain it a warm cherry, and put a nice finish on it.

Hopefully by the end of August he will have the desk.


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## 559dustdesigns (Sep 23, 2009)

Ysane said:


> *Up to this point...*
> 
> It begins with a friend asking me if I could make him something after learning I had completed my apprenticeship.
> 
> ...


Don't forget to take some pictures to share.


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## Sawdust2 (Mar 18, 2007)

Ysane said:


> *Up to this point...*
> 
> It begins with a friend asking me if I could make him something after learning I had completed my apprenticeship.
> 
> ...


If it was standard 30" tall why would it not fit through the 3 foot hallway?


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## Ysane (Jul 13, 2010)

Ysane said:


> *Up to this point...*
> 
> It begins with a friend asking me if I could make him something after learning I had completed my apprenticeship.
> 
> ...


I have some pictures, but they're uninspiring right now as it's just stacks of wood, and then panels being glued up. /shrug I may put some of that one here just for grins. Maybe some folks aren't sure what I mean by panels glued up. I guess I'll get to them another time.

As for it not fitting if it's a standard 30" tall, well, it won't fit because it's also 36" wide so that wouldn't leave a lot of room to play with. Don't want to knick the corners of his house, and if we have to back into the room…I don't see that as being worth having it put together yet. It's really the 72" long part that is going to make it tough. Right now it all stands where the room is located in his house. Picture that his computer room is at the end of the hallway, but the room also swings back along the hallway so that the door is on the far end.

I've seen houses like this, and it makes moving large stuff in a nightmare. Hopefully, his is not like this.


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## Ysane (Jul 13, 2010)

*A few pictures...*

Ok, it's been awhile, but here I go with a few pictures of what I have done so far. Mind you, it's far into the crafting of this desk, but everything will be clear I hope!

First, the desk in its upside down assembly set up.









It's upside down because my wooden floor in the shop is not level, and it's not easy to put the pocket screws into this thing by having to shim everything. Shim the workbench and be done with it!

Next, the axes are put on top and measured for their center positioning.









A bird's eye view of the desk so far…








...I took down the sides because the screws were put in and looked good.

Add in a little Celtic knotwork design to go around the edges…








...I colored it red to make it easy to carve with the dremel later on.

A shot of a double corner for the knotwork









And a close up of the corner with some straights









Currently awaiting the go-ahead for how it looks before I start chewing up the wood.

Now, to get to work on the drawers!


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## Rustic (Jul 21, 2008)

Ysane said:


> *A few pictures...*
> 
> Ok, it's been awhile, but here I go with a few pictures of what I have done so far. Mind you, it's far into the crafting of this desk, but everything will be clear I hope!
> 
> ...


lookin good


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## Paul2274 (Nov 17, 2009)

Ysane said:


> *A few pictures...*
> 
> Ok, it's been awhile, but here I go with a few pictures of what I have done so far. Mind you, it's far into the crafting of this desk, but everything will be clear I hope!
> 
> ...


Can't wait to see this one going along.

Something silly though… when I saw the axes and the knotwork I had a flashback to playing dungeons and dragons… don't know why but I did. I know silly!

Paul


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

Ysane said:


> *A few pictures...*
> 
> Ok, it's been awhile, but here I go with a few pictures of what I have done so far. Mind you, it's far into the crafting of this desk, but everything will be clear I hope!
> 
> ...


this is going to be interresting to follow
and see the result of your work

Dennis


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## Ysane (Jul 13, 2010)

Ysane said:


> *A few pictures...*
> 
> Ok, it's been awhile, but here I go with a few pictures of what I have done so far. Mind you, it's far into the crafting of this desk, but everything will be clear I hope!
> 
> ...


@Paul: Well the guy I'm making it for is a gamer, so there's a bit of "character" to the desk he wants.


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## Ysane (Jul 13, 2010)

*An update*

So, it's been awhile. I've had a computer crash, a phone crash, and a camera failure. Tablesaw sputtered and died, yeah, it's been a tough two months.

But I'm back, and here we go!

We left off, I was still working on the knotwork and axe inlays. Without further ado; pictures!

First, the construction of the file drawer rolly.








Frame up.








Drawers








Adding drawer faces.








Finished!








And they work!

I'd left about 3/32" space between each drawer so that if they're ever heavy, they'd still close right. The slides are supposed to hold up to 70 something pounds, but you never know.

Next, the axe inlay.









Cut 1/4" down. I know that's deep, but I wanted to make sure that I had enough in there so it wouldn't bow up. I don't have a vacuum sealing set up.








Put the inlay in.









Well wouldn't you know it? It still managed to bow some. 40lb block does the trick. Lift with your legs woodworkers!

I had to hand plane down the axe inlay to about 1/16-1/32" difference then I just went at the table with a sander. I hadn't sanded the table to anything higher than 80 grit at this point, so I went 80-120-150 until it was nice and flush. Had to do the whole table to keep it from sinking around the inlay.

Next, the molding for the sides.










While the molding looks high, I went ahead and decided to lay it down after the first one. Glad I did, because I'd have hated to mill all that again to cut the miters differently. The two X's are the first to measure the center, the next to get the 45 degrees off of it. Then I only needed to measure the distances from the top and bottom and sides to get my rectangle situated.

My first (and very quick) finish sample.










The colors are English Chestnut + Cherry on the left, and Cherry only on the right. Trying to see how the mahogany matches up with the oak and the plaster filled knotwork.










This is the final finish sample I used. Same colors but adding a "unfinished" section to show what the oak looked like before. I think the client liked to see what it was, and what it was to become, as well as what a cherry finish looked like compared to the "warm cherry" finish.

The sides with the molding attached.










Glue & Shoot them things on. Keep those miters even!



















Assembly Day!









Everyone should have a helper! I got the beautiful and sweet one. =)










Finish Day!










English Chestnut goes on first. I wait 15 minutes and then wipe it off. I let it dry for two days. (Because I couldn't work on it the next day. I had to do other things.) Then put a quick second coat over it.

Unfortunately, it seems the mahogany didn't take much of it, but the oak sure did. I had to do some extra touch ups for the top or it would have simply blended right in.










The axes came out very well after the touchup. It's a shame I can't take better pictures. The glare was crazy!










The knotwork looks really brown here. That's good. After applying the cherry stain to the top it will be even darker. If it's not black enough, I will just take an ebony stain pen (or maybe a sharpie) to it. Earlier in the process some of the plaster had soaked up different amounts and it wasn't a uniform color around. The second coat fixed that. It's indistinguishable now to all but the most trained finisher.

And that's where we sit right now. Sorry for the long time between updates, but these things happen right?


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## Ysane (Jul 13, 2010)

*Video of knotwork filling*

I filled in the knotwork with plaster. I did this after I sanded the inlay for the axes flush. I'm putting this here, because when I added it to the #3 entry, it messed up all the pictures that came after it.

*MUTE YOUR VOLUME!!! It's really loud. Or at least it can be.*

!http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf!

I'm guessing now that I should have waited to sand down the desktop =AFTER= filling this in. It was another round of 150-180 to get it flush. And that was after taking the hand sander to it to simply knock off the tops. Don't use a power sander to knock off the tops, it'll simply pull the plaster out and ruin your work.


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## BigTiny (Jun 29, 2010)

Ysane said:


> *Video of knotwork filling*
> 
> I filled in the knotwork with plaster. I did this after I sanded the inlay for the axes flush. I'm putting this here, because when I added it to the #3 entry, it messed up all the pictures that came after it.
> 
> ...


I must admit, that is the *very first time *I've seen a kitchen spatula used for wood working! Very creative.


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## Ysane (Jul 13, 2010)

*The end!*

At last, the final update. I don't even remember when I started this, but it's complete now. Just gotta get it shipped!

The final shots for the desk. Six coats of gloss poly on top.




























This is the last for this series! See ya'll next project!


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

Ysane said:


> *The end!*
> 
> At last, the final update. I don't even remember when I started this, but it's complete now. Just gotta get it shipped!
> 
> ...


its surely looking glossy 
and yes always new shaves and chips to bee flown on the to do list

take care
Dennis


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