Bombproof Builders Desk.....Build

[dieseldog49]

Ok so I have been planning on building a new desk ever since me and my brother in law built me a new PC work bench (Pictured below)



Using Just 2x4's and some melamine we built a super sturdy bench for about $120 and I couldnt be happier with it. Since then I have been looking at my current work/play station with a little bit of disgust, its made up out of 3 seperate desks none of which are exactly the same height. Further more due to my affinity for eyefinity and large PC cases I am finding that my little work nook is getting more and more cramped and cluttered. Heres a pic of the space I am working with please excuse the mess.





So the new plan is to gut the whole thing and create a desk that wraps around the entire area Like so (sorry for the small paint image)



Then I am going to wrap the top of the desk with custom printed Mechwarrior themed vinyl  using my wide format digital printer. So on to the construction phase. I have to give a ton of thanks to the two guys working with me (these or their online handles), Talster91 aka my old room mate and Dreyco Valentin who is my brother in law. With out them theres no way I could get these kind of projects done with the quality and speed we do together,  We are also building Talster91 a new desk for the gaming rig  I helped him build. So here is the start today, we are using birch plywood for the top and kiln dried 2x4's for the frame, using a overlapping design to interlock the tops and frames together. So today we ripped the plywood and tomorrow we will build the frames.



Dreyco



Talster91


Also this arrived today



Day 2

Ok Most of today is dedicated to Talsters desk build Which is specced to be L60xW30 with a 30 inch height


For legs on both desks are a L shape made of two 2x4's screwed together gives great stuctural support.



Next up us cutting and laying out the lower braces and the leg spacing.




When building your own desk its important to have the imagination and vision to know what you want as Talster demonstrates



Next up is setting up the top box




Next up is checking to see if the frame is square.



Damn its a inch out but dont worry theres a easy way to fix that!

Tie Downs are like duct tape for woodworking




Next up is cutting the top to length, we will be anchoring to the top to keep the desk in square.




For everything to look good he mapped out his screws and is pre drilling then using a cone bit for pre seating the heads.




Next up is taking a router to all the edges for that smoothed finished look.




Ready for sanding and staining



Also these showed up on my door woo!



Throw some stain on and thats all for today

[dieseldog49]

Day 3

I was down a day more than I expected ( the multi-player demo of Mass Effect 3 may have had something to do with that ) Ok so first off I want to thank Dreyco again without him this desk would not have happened and the next stage wouldn't even be possible. Ok down to business, to start with I happened to snag a great deal on a 720p projector which I had been wanting for the launch of ME3 for Xbox 360 (yes I play it on console thats where all my saved games are) so we will be starting there. Parts involved are

Optoma 536 720p 2700 lumen projector

Elite Screen 100 inch 16:9 manual screen

Ceiling Mount For projector

Plan is to recess the screen into the ceiling and then re-route the surround sound and video/console equipment.

First off got to get all electronics out of the room as sheetrock dust is not good for electronics.

 


Next up is measuring the screen housing and cutting the hole




That done we just put some hooks in the floorboards and time to try a test pull



Threw the projector up and time to see how it looks



Ok that done on to the desk, Cleared out all of the old stuff
 

 
With a blank slate its time to get to work
 

 
The key to building a desk with lumber like this is to never pre cut, make each cut to the specific spot so its always spot on and you can compensate for imperfections in the wood.
 

 
With the first section built (it will be the only complete section with 4 legs each section after this with be missing at least one leg to create a open front for chair and legroom)
 

 

 
Now we are joining the crossmember with a T bracket
 

 
We are double butting our legs for extra support
 

 
To limit flex we added a cross support.
 

[dieseldog49]

Frame is complete
 

 
Cutting the tops to fit.
 

 
Test fitting the tops and monitors
 

 

 

 
Next up we mark out the monitor slots and our wire slots
 

 


The mounts slide into the slots and get 4 lag bolts into the 2x4 below
 

 

 

 
Next up we router the holes and screw down the top.
 

 

 
Time to start putting things back together
 

 

 

 
The next stage is the vinyl top but I have to wait until we change our machine out next week also the other part of the project is being drawn up in CAD I will post something up soon enough.

[dieseldog49]

Ok so the next phase in the build involves incorporating a built in gaming PC plus my surround sound, Xbox360 and PS3 plus cooling all of it in a efficient manner.  but in the mean time  I scrounged a WinTV Card from Haupage off a old PC and ran the antenna and bam I have a DVR and HDTV to my projector!


Also my longer cables came in so cleaner desk!

You will notice Craig Feurgeson from the late late show (DVR FTW!)

Ok so when I installed my projector I was left with a 42 inch Vizio 1080p LCD with no where to go, I sure as hell wasn't going to sell it as I would eat my shorts so I decided I didn't need a whiteboard anymore and used a old wll mount I had kicking around and BOOM



It kinda feels like I am living in a sports bar now.

[dieseldog49]

Sorry for the day late update my new wide format printer showed up a day early so it's been a little crazy here but it means vinyl day is moving ever closer (gotta get some actual work done with it first though) here is a preview of some stuff to come



This just came in I will be posting pictures and a full review of it later

Annnnd then theres this addition to my monitor setup















Psych! thats just here to complete another triple monitor setup in the house

[dieseldog49]

Small update, my new keys showed up and I am lovin 'em, gonna try and get some MW:LL in tonight so I can get to work on my quickfire Review.







Loving having a nuke key for my delete

[dieseldog49]

Ok well my buddy is running behind with the CAD work at the moment so I am taking a whack at it. Using Free CAD this is what I got together tonight (I have never used any form of CAD before)



Basic model of the area of the desk I am working with the green area will be hinged and the entire PC will be mounted underneath trapdoor style.I have mobo tray and back I salvaged from a LanCool Case.







This will be mounted to the bottom of the highlighted piece of desktop. More CAD stuff to come as soon as I figure out how to make it

[Roguemaster8]

This is amazing, keep up the work.

Any plans to sand down the edges and polish the desks?

[omuerte]

Never mind the desk, I'm jealous you have that much space to build in.

[dieseldog49]

This is amazing, keep up the work.

Any plans to sand down the edges and polish the desks?

Nope as it says in the first post (I know theres alot there to read so its easy to miss) I am covering the top with custom printed laminated Vinyl kinda along the lines of a car wrap. It will be Mechwarrior Themed.

[dieseldog49]

Also, is anyone else having Firefox say that this is an attack page? (geekhack in general not just my thread)

[dieseldog49]

A little better CAD model the bottom shelf is a piece of ply thats already there, while the other 2 with  be a rubber coated wire mesh for maximum airflow. Bottom is Surround sound Head Unit then Xbox360 Slim then Big fat oldschool PS3 next this to work on is doors, fans and PC placement.

[dsjbirch]

Any updates? When do you plan to continue work? It looks a lot better already!

[omuerte]

Heh, this thread made me want to get back to finishing my desk and shelving projects

[ReAzem]

I am interested.

Very nice desk

[dieseldog49]

Small update

My 2x4 HDMI Matrix Showed up in the mail yesterday, this little box of awesome will let me switch between 4 different HDMI inputs and out put them to either the 42 inch LCD or my projector or both at the same time! The reason for a device like this is that I plan on watching more stuff on my LCD than projector as much as possible due to the significantly shortler lifespan of the projectors bulb.

]


Next up is my XFX 6950 2gb showed up today! Its been flashed to a 6970  Bios and although used is in like new condition. I moved my sapphire doen to the next slot and slid the PCTV card inbetween and presto enough power to rock my triple monitor setup properly. I added some extra fans to make sure cooling doesn't become an issue.











Now this is not the hardware I plan on mounting inside the desk its just my benching/review setup. For the Desk build I am hoping for a 2011 or AMD build so I will have enough PCI-E lanes for all of my needs.

[karazi]

That is the most pictures in a post ever.  Also, you should just check out Ikea, they have some nice desks, ones that wrap around too, and have wire holes.  But I get it, building your own is fun.

[ReAzem]

You made me want a bigger desk.

[dieseldog49]

Ikea doesn't have anything that I can throw 500 pounds on and not have it budge :lol:

[sth]

The GALANT series could probably handle that weight spread over the amount of desk you built. However, home-built > ikea any day, if you have the tools. That desk would cost me twice or more since I don't have all the power tools.

Looks awesome! Can I suggest you check out Sketchup for quick CAD/layout stuff? Tons of models in the warehouse that are built to scale. I picked out the desk I bought just by slapping together a quick model of my room and downloading the desk from the warehouse.

[dieseldog49]

does sketchup have pre modeled PC components? cause thats what I really need at the moment.

[sth]

does sketchup have pre modeled PC components? cause thats what I really need at the moment.

Yeah there are tons of models, and if it comes to it, what I do is just make blocks that take up the same footprint as whatever equipment you have.

[alaricljs]

does sketchup have pre modeled PC components? cause thats what I really need at the moment.

There are tons of components available all over the place.  One here  then there's the google warehouse

[dieseldog49]

sweet, can those be imported in to Free Cad? Or do I need to start from scratch in Sketchup?

[alaricljs]

Maybe check the sketchup docs for what files it can import and export, and Free Cad for the same?  Then there's also MeshLab  which can translate file types.

[dieseldog49]

Ok New update, while I am still wrangling with Cad I decided to start working on the layout of the custom printed vinyl layout for my desk top. As I have said before it will be Mech Warrior themed as that is my favorite gaming franchise and with the advent not or 2 but 4 new Mechwarrior games in the works I couldn't think of anything more appropriate. So right now I am going to be doing some test runs with the artwork and sizing for the areas I have to work with. First up I have the Map of the entire Inner Sphere which I got from the MechWarrior Online  art page. I blew it up to 30' tall by 47' and printed it on some heavy duty paper, this is just to see how the artwork looks at this resolution I have not vectored or tweaked it yet but its always important to test print as you never know what you aren't seeing on your monitor.

Doing a rough trim.





Next tape it down to let it stretch a little and offgas.



This is the area I want to put the map on.



Do the final trim.



And check how it lays out.

[dieseldog49]

Ok I am getting alot of pm's for a update so here is what I have so for in Sketchup (I switched from free CAD due to the huge amount of models available in sketchup)  I will be using either a bench hinge or piano hinge (I am open to suggestions) The model is missing several components at the moment, I couldnt find the right fittings to go between the vid cards and I have no idea how to make tubing yet (still new with digital design stuff) I am using 7970's with EK blocks but that could change depending on parts sourcing ect...  I am going to do the entire desk and then make the cad file available to anyone who wants it. The plan is to run a long loop to the radiator with enough flex for it to open or create a joint with 2 off valves and a quick disconnect in between. I am open to idea's for alternate whats to setup the WC loop or any suggestions in general, I want this to be as awesome as possible.

Feel free to post questions and critiques and thanks for all of the response guys!

[thp777]

nice desk. thanks alot for making me wanna build a new desk. like i didnt have enough projects as it was lol.

[dsjbirch]

I suppose if it's  liquid cooled, most of the heat is going to be pulled out of the cpu and gpu, but unless you're liquid cooling the motherboard as well, it'd reconsider mounting it upside down. the motherboard is going to soak quite a bit of unnecessary heat because of it.  I'd also consider not mounting your reservoirs on the plane that moves.  you want as few points of movement as possible and the resulting movement would put strain on the fittings, and the routing might be a bit inefficient as a result.  just thoughts.

I second this sentiment. Take a look at this case (FT02), hopefully it'll give you some inspiration. It uses the fact that hot air rises to its advantage. Not sure of the ratio of effectiveness to marketing!
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=242&area=en

[dieseldog49]

I made the Rog mod roundup, soooo cool! http://rog.asus.com/97282012/news/march-forum-mods-roundup/

[dieseldog49]

Ok so I pretty much have the Sketchup model for the Desk itself done here are some screen shots, now if anyone would like to point me in the right direction for a place to host the Sketchup file I would be happy to make it available to anyone who wants to build something similar.











More coming soon.

[ekw808]

wow this looks ****ing amazing..I was mesmerized by this:
http://hacknmod.com/hack/hack-your-workspace-with-the-epic-compudesk/

really makes me want to build my own desk like that, but I don't have enough time for a project this huge. Doesnt look too hard if I was provided the tools needed. And Ikea is crap, it's like buying disposable plates...sooner or later you're gonna need REAL furniture.

[dieseldog49]

Thanks!

Here is the desk sketchup file, I couldn't upload it to 3D warehouse for soem reason so its on 4shared.com http://www.4shared.com/file/WZR7EdOJ/desknoPCparts.html feel free to post any questions or pm me.

[dieseldog49]

OK guys sorry for the lack of updates, between work and Sketchup constantly crashing while I am finalising the desk design there hasn't been much to post. However I decided to start working on a different part of the build and also reorganize and clean up my office. So as I have said from the get go this desk is going to have a MW theme but other than a map I printed off there hasn't been much in the way of actual MechWarrior stuff done to the desk. Well not any more!
 

 
Yes that is a custom made Mechwarrior Branding iron
 
I would like to thank Bryan Phillips who built this for me. He does great work and is super fast. I hit him up with the idea for this last week then I got a hold of him today and told him I wanted to have it made he went over the artwork with me in chat at about 12:30 and he told me he would have it ready this afternoon :blink:  seriously I had it in my hands around 6pm and I could not be happier. I also got to meet his 37 day old Emu Gerry who was awesome!
 

 
 
Anyway on to the branding iron. Its 2.75 inches tall so it will fit on 2x4s and is made out of plasma cut steel and then welded together.
 

 
Now could not resist trying it out when I got home so here are some teaser shots.
 

 

 
I did a bunch of test runs on scrap pieces of 2x4 left over from the desk build and I think I am starting to get the hang of it.
 

 
Here is one Bryan did at his shop as well.
 

 
 
Once again I cannot recommend Bryans work enough he showed me some awesome Roman style armor as well as some futuristic armor from a popular video game franchise he is still working on. His rates are very reasonable and he is really patient when it comes to tweaking stuff to perfection. He can be contacted at RAPTORRED2@GMAIL.COM he also does 3D digital modeling please shoot him a email if you need anythign metal fab related and mention that I referred you, I know that this wont be the last piece of work i have him do on this or several other projects I have coming up.
 
Now I plan on doing the actual branding on the desk this weekend and I am looking to the community for where I should actually place the branded logo. Please post or pm your suggestions and whichever suggestion is the best/makes the most sense I will go with (I may actually give the person who makes the best suggestion a prize aswell we will just have to see  ) Two other things I am thinking about doing is videoing the branding process and posting it up for everyone to enjoy, the other thing is I am thinking about having Bryan make a branding iron for every company that decides to sponsor this build and dedicate a area of the desk to true Sponsor "Branding"  so let me know what you think of that.
 
Lastly I am hoping to cut and fit the lid to the PC enclosure so look for pictures and commentary on that. I am debating going over to videoing the build as it progress (thoughts?) Anywho thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!

[Wildcard]

Nice, I really like the branding idea on plain wood!

You should put that desk sketchup file in your public dropbox folder and share a link here. Those 4shared.com sites always seem a bit shady to me.

[dsjbirch]

That brand is way too big for that emu!

+1 for a video of you warming up and using the brand.

[harrison]

personally, i'd brand the desk between where your keyboard and screens sit (assuming there's a gap).  If like to keep your desk pretty clear, and that space specifically , it would always visible which would allow it to be appreciated MUCH more.  If you don't use a mouse pad, near the space where you'd use your mouse would also make sense.

i'd also love to see a video of you branding the desk!

[dieseldog49]

Some updated Sketchup pictures, I will soon start the hunt for sponsors.







Some of the PC cabinet (please remember the entire cabinet will be enclosed in aluminup with man and rad cutouts and access points ofr the Xbox 360, PS3 and surround sound head unit.) Also I will be using a square grid rubber coated wire mesh, the expanded metal in the imagies is just a place holder as it was already available.

[dieseldog49]

Ok guys, small update. Due to the fact that my air conditioning is out of commission for the next day or 2 and it hit 90 degrees here today, starting a fire in my office to heat up the branding iron seemed like a ill advised idea. However we did get the top for the PC cabinet cut to size, whipped out some tubing to figure out routing and component placement. Good news is I am confident that we will be able to stick with the inverted trapdoor mounted PC concept and I will be finishing the sketchup model including tubing in the next couple of days. Final bit of news the desk build just (Ok mainly the MW branding iron) just got a mention in the No Guts No Galaxy Mechwarrior podcast. You can check it out at http://www.nogutsnogalaxy.net its a really great podcast and a must for any Mechwarrior/Battletech fan. Anywho expect a bigger update a little later in the week.









Also right now I am still planning on using a Piano/continuous hinge but I am open to other options so if you know of another solution please post it up esp. if its exotic or overkill.

[alaricljs]

If you want no visible hinge then go with a inset blind corner European hinge.  I don't know if they make them  strong enough for the load on the door however.

[dieseldog49]

I will check those out, thanks for the suggestion!

[harrison]

my recommendation would be for a non-visible mount of the hinge, and to use something with a pre-load spring to make lifting it up easier (since you're going to have quite a bit of weight on it, specially once the lines have water in them.  you'll also want some very secure scissor latches to keep that open, having it slam shut would be... bad.

my other concern is that if there is any air in the system, it will result in it moving to the CPU block, since it will be the high point in the loop when the door is opened.

[alaricljs]

Gas charge piston springs  - hatchback?  

[keebler64]

Ok New update, while I am still wrangling with Cad I decided to start working on the layout of the custom printed vinyl layout for my desk top. As I have said before it will be Mech Warrior themed as that is my favorite gaming franchise and with the advent not or 2 but 4 new Mechwarrior games in the works I couldn't think of anything more appropriate. So right now I am going to be doing some test runs with the artwork and sizing for the areas I have to work with. First up I have the Map of the entire Inner Sphere which I got from the MechWarrior Online  art page. I blew it up to 30' tall by 47' and printed it on some heavy duty paper, this is just to see how the artwork looks at this resolution I have not vectored or tweaked it yet but its always important to test print as you never know what you aren't seeing on your monitor.

Doing a rough trim.

Show Image

OMFG! You DIDN'T JUST BUST OUT THE INNER SPHERE MAP! FULL SIZE!?!

Totally envious!  I've been an avid gamer/collector of all things Battletech since 1994 (I played the pre-release Mechwarrior 2 demo in the Gamestop for hours on end!) Hell I still have Crecent Hawk's Revenge NIB, complete with lapel pin and map! (And 5" Floppy!) as well as a few iterations of Battletech 1st and 2nd edition in original plastic wrap.

My sister left my 20Gallon Plastic tote in the rain "helping" me clean my house while I was at work. So unfortunately my entire book collection was destroyed.

Anyway, I skipped to the end just to post,  your mentioning of  MW:LL made me appreciative, but busting out some serious BT/Mechwarrior "Art", mad props! Making a Mechwarrior Themed Office, even better.

There are a few Independent games out there that are fun and I would recommend. Although you're probably already aware of most of them.

VirtualCommander.com
Mektek.net
Mechwarrior Online
and so on.....

Ever play on Kali?

My favorite Mechs would have to be Raven for the IS, and Firemoth/Dasher for Clan. (Yeah, I'm a Scout/Light Pilot.)

Also, back on topic, Great desk, I did the same thing for my lab, except I used old doors for the tops (door handle holes made perfect cable holes.)
I've got a wood-working shop in the backyard with the same setup.

I'd love to buy a large scale map if you're offering them for sale. :)

[dieseldog49]

Wish I could offer them for sale but there are copy right issues. That sucks about your source books, though I do believe they can be downloaded online. I love the Firemoth and Raven too (Clanner at heart though) in fact man if you are looking for people to play MW4 merc online with lmk, I play with a whole group that only uses TRO variants that they have made themselves to make the game more accurate to battletech. All you have to do is download a zip file and your good to go. Also I am part of a MWO Mercs group called the Sea Wolves (I go by the handle Vincent Vascaul on the MWO forums) Great to see another BT/MW fan around and thanks for the compliments!

[keebler64]

Wish I could offer them for sale but there are copy right issues. That sucks about your source books, though I do believe they can be downloaded online. I love the Firemoth and Raven too (Clanner at heart though) in fact man if you are looking for people to play MW4 merc online with lmk, I play with a whole group that only uses TRO variants that they have made themselves to make the game more accurate to battletech. All you have to do is download a zip file and your good to go. Also I am part of a MWO Mercs group called the Sea Wolves (I go by the handle Vincent Vascaul on the MWO forums) Great to see another BT/MW fan around and thanks for the compliments!

Yeah, I've got all the TRO's from Solaris and such, luckily (unluckily) though, I meant my novels. Most of my TRO's were in the box with the games. Separate from the novels.

I'm a Freebirth at heart. Was part of the failed MPBT Revival (aka IS3028). Although being first introduced to Mechwarrior2 via Clan Wolf, I do have a certain fondness for the Clans. The books though, skewed my view on a lot of things, especially ComStar and Word of Blake Followers. I'm "Keebler" on MWO, and MekTek. I haven't played MW4 in years (mainly since I'm a hardcore FreeBSD/Unix/OS X user), but I'll dust off my WindowsXP Hard Drive and bust out the joysticks.

What did you use to print the map? (I saw you mention you recently acquired a Large Format Printer, I presume that's what you used?) Kinko's won't print me one (I tried), because if the same Copyright laws. The only one I have is a Foldout poster included with my NIB MW2: Mercs Box.

Great use of Google SketchUp too btw. By far one of the easiest to use "CAD" programs I've used. I used it to completely renovate my Lady Friend's house, from the custom fireplace, hardwood floors and porch swing.

How much radiant heat does your computer/rig put-out? We've got a couple servers in a closet here and boy they can pump out the heat. Hell, my 8800GTX is hot and it's my only card.

[dieseldog49]

What you use for the MW4 game is the Mektek pack. And yes I used my 48 inch digital printer. Yeah I am with Clan Sea Fox all the way (Merchant Warriors FTW!) I am in contact with the guy who has murchandising rights to Battletech but at the moment he has nothing planned, I will let you know if that map or something similar ever becomes available.

[TheProfosist]

Snagged some design ideas from this to build myself a standing height desk.

[dieseldog49]

Awesome! Sorry for the Delay guys,  this project is still ongoing, however I have been absolutely slammed with work and some personal life drama, I also wanted to switch over to a video update format and have been hunting for the right HD camcorder (think I have found it in the Sony CX260V) So expect a Video update soon. Until Then heres a teaser for some of the goodies I have been gathering for the build.

[dsjbirch]

Is this build complete now?