Designing/Building the Perfect Computer Desk

[Xope_Poquar]

Alright I've been waiting to start this project for a while and now that the semester is almost out I can finally begin my work.

I've wanted a desk that fits my needs perfectly and I've been unable to find any desk online that is reasonably priced with even remotely proper dimensions. I want nothing fancy; no L shapes, I've never used drawers, don't need CD racks, etc. I gave up and decided to build my own.

First step was designing it. I've never done 3D Modeling in my life beyond making a UT3 map once (painstakingly). After quick research I found a program that would do more than enough for me called Rhinoceros 4. Borrowed a copy from my school, installed, and watched tutorials for what seemed about 60 hours straight.

A useful part about Rhino 4 is that it can be used for engineering precision and lets you set grid spacing to fit your needs. I'm sure this is common but it's all fascinating to a newcomer like me.



First up was the basic design. I fiddled through a few options. I started simplistic:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/11.jpg



Added a bit to the other side for balance:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/12.jpg



Tried a level desk with a backing and speaker stands:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/14.jpg



Tried a hutch:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/15.jpg



Then finally settled on a basic idea:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/13.jpg




Slowly as I went on I designed more and more of the computer itself as I kind of like this whole modeling thing. All measurements are exact, maybe too exact, but what else would you expect from a young engineering major? For instance I measured the hardwood at Home Depot to all be 23/32 of an inch which I then used for my wood thickness. I had fun doing the BenQ 24" monitor, the Antec 900 needs work, the Thermaltake mouse pad turned out very lifelike in my opinion, and the Z5500s were fun but a learning experience to say the least. The only thing I didn't design was the keyboard, and I don't feel like doing the mouse.

I did a quick image search for some basic textures, added a light, etc.

Here is an overview of the up to date model. I suppose you could call it RC1:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/16.jpg


Surround sound is really important to me. I may not be able to afford audiophile level speakers but I think the level of immersion from proper speaker placement is just as important, if not more.

I couldn't find info on the vertical angle of the Logitech Z-5500 satellites so I measured it myself. I placed one flat on the floor, measured the distance away from the wall, and using a laser pointing directly out of the speaker how high up the wall it pointed. A quick trigonometric calculation gave me the angle.

I researched proper placement of speakers and it seams Dolby, THX, and all major companies agree with this formula:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/05.jpg

I set my speakers to be equidistant from my ears (as an added bonus I made them equidistant according to the ear they're pointing to), and at the correct angle. You can see in this picture:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/04.jpg


With some more trigg calculations I could also get the heights correct save for the front left and right. I did a little calculus over spherical coordinates for proper angles and equidistant and sound vectors pointing directly into my ears but it required lowering my desk surface and bringing the speakers forward which didn't seem worth it. I think I'll live.

The front left and right only overshoot my ears by 3.5" which is insignificant as seen here:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/06.jpg


Here is an overview of the project details:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/01.jpg


The speakers aren't the only thing with exact measurements. First thing I did was set the chair so my knees bend at exactly a 90 degree angle and my back is straight but lax to normal gaming/browsing conditions. I measured my eye height and ear height. I set the monitor so my eye's vision vector is pointed directly at the center of the screen. The chair arms adjusted so my elbows bend at 90 degrees. The keyboard/mouse are set to be at the exact same height as my arms/wrists.

This desk is designed for me!


The only thing I'd be worried at all about would be the sub woofer. I'm pretty sure it would have plenty of ventilation but if anyone would like to comment I'd appreciate it:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/08.jpg

I'm planning on adding rubber stoppers to prevent vibration.



As for the material I'm up in the air. I want to go with a hardwood ply. My first idea was birch as I thought it was cheap. A man at Home Depot recommended it as the price was only $23 a sheet. I later found out that was the price for pine and the birch is $52. Oak is only $57 so I'd choose it over the birch. I can't find anywhere locally that sells mahogany or rare woods. Another option is cherry but it is tremendously expensive at around $150 per sheet.

So I'm completely open to recommendations for the wood type. The only common response I got from various family members that have made furniture was to use plywood as it won't warp.

I also took measurements of the sheet sizes (of course they're not exactly 4' x 8') and did a rough cutout guide. I gave myself some room for error but as long as I don't screw up a piece I can fit it down to two sheets:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/10.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/03.jpg


Comments, suggestions, advice; all is welcome! :up:

[Movieman]

Use the birch vs the oak as birch is a closed grain and with oak to get a mirror smoothe surface you'll have to use a filler.
I built a guy an entertainment center years ago and he wanted hard maple but that was $90.00/sheet even back then.
if you take your time at HD and go thru the stacks of birch and grab the 'white" ones you can almost mimic maple.
Comes out nice and with a solid maple edging can't be told from the real thing.
Best of luck to you.

[celemine1Gig]

I wouldn't place the computer itself on the desk top, but under the desk. You'll hear every single noise coming from the computer much louder when it is placed nearer to your head, i.e. to your ears. I know what I'm talking about, as I first had my computer on the desk, at the very beginning. But never would I go back again. It does make a huge difference. And to be honest, at the time I had my PC on the desk, I didn't care about silence at all. Today I couldn't stand it, knowing that it'll be much better when it's placed right next to my feet instead.

Just my :2cents: ;)

[Xope_Poquar]

Use the birch vs the oak as birch is a closed grain and with oak to get a mirror smoothe surface you'll have to use a filler.
I built a guy an entertainment center years ago and he wanted hard maple but that was $90.00/sheet even back then.
if you take your time at HD and go thru the stacks of birch and grab the 'white" ones you can almost mimic maple.
Comes out nice and with a solid maple edging can't be told from the real thing.
Best of luck to you.

Oh I hadn't thought of that. I'll bring some gloves and look through all the birch sheets. I also love my birch drum set so it'll match! I was originally planning on painting the desk but after seeing the stained look for so long I've become attached. Only thing is birch looks rather boring compared to some of the other woods and I don't think you're supposed to pick the pieces with the most knots. Thanks for the advice.


I wouldn't place the computer itself on the desk top, but under the desk. You'll hear every single noise coming from the computer much louder when it is placed nearer to your head, i.e. to your ears. I know what I'm talking about, as I first had my computer on the desk, at the very beginning. But never would I go back again. It does make a huge difference. And to be honest, at the time I had my PC on the desk, I didn't care about silence at all. Today I couldn't stand it, knowing that it'll be much better when it's placed right next to my feet instead.

Just my :2cents: ;)


Interesting, I hadn't considered this. I'll take this into account and experiment by setting at ear level on my current desk. I want to be able to see in the panel but I could see the noise becoming a nuisance. Thanks for the insight.

[celemine1Gig]

Concerning the visibility of your window, how about putting a window in the desk, too? Using for example a solid glass plate instead of wood or metal, next to the sidepanel of your PC would make it visible, but the noise wouldn't be a problem. OK, it's not as visible as having it right on top of the desk, but you could still show it off. And IMHO, it would even have more style that way, as it wouldn't be as agressive in terms of style. Maybe you could even use some special foil for the glass that only makes it translucent when UV light is used. That could be really cool. You'd have understatement and show effect, both available to you at any time.

[Easybeat]

A few of points of personal preference.

I would get the sub-woofer on the floor and not on a shelf, chances are it will make the desk vibrate.

I never like sliding keyboard trays, I prefer a fixed desktop as it is more solid, if you do go sliding make sure it is robust.

Finally, I think some sort of cable ducting will be beneficial to hide everything.

[celemine1Gig]

Good points. Especially the one about the Subwoofer. And don't forget to design the sliding mechanism for the keyboard (if you choose to include it) high enough. I've seen some of these trays mounted way too low, thus it was very inconvenient to use the keyboard that way.

[Bobsama]

I concur with the suggestion of moving the sub to the floor. The other thing I think you have to consider is the purpose. Computer speaker systems are crude really for music. The cheapest way to get good sound though is to buy good headphones. Otherwise, using full-range speakers is much better than using the satellites plus subwoofer. The third thing I say you should consider (if audio is at all a priority) is to use a second sound source and open-back headphones. That will give you the five traditional channels plus two more, perhaps for VoIP or something. If you have a thought to do this, I'd say include a headphone stand in the setup. They're quite simple to setup and will make keeping full-sized headphones a lot easier.

Are you going to bring with you a (wireless?) router? If you do, it may be worth considering the mounting on your router of choice. I find that having a wireless router at college is a very good thing, especially when network checks are in place. Most of it is based off of MAC address, and many routers have the ability to "clone" a PC's MAC address and use it as its own identifier. Toss in that few network checks are cross-platform.

Last thing I have to say to consider is power strip or UPS. The power strip at least can be mounted just like a router, which again cleans up the setup. You may want to include cable holders, so you can neatly have cables to power and PC running.

[Xope_Poquar]

Concerning the visibility of your window, how about putting a window in the desk, too? Using for example a solid glass plate instead of wood or metal, next to the sidepanel of your PC would make it visible, but the noise wouldn't be a problem. OK, it's not as visible as having it right on top of the desk, but you could still show it off. And IMHO, it would even have more style that way, as it wouldn't be as agressive in terms of style. Maybe you could even use some special foil for the glass that only makes it translucent when UV light is used. That could be really cool. You'd have understatement and show effect, both available to you at any time.


Well I've been using my computer at ear level for the past day and I agree it was annoying. I took out my Ultra Kazes (as they're always on minimum anyways), and turned my remaining fans on minimum power. It is practically dead silent and well within tolerance. I will be keeping it on the desk.


A few of points of personal preference.

I would get the sub-woofer on the floor and not on a shelf, chances are it will make the desk vibrate.

I never like sliding keyboard trays, I prefer a fixed desktop as it is more solid, if you do go sliding make sure it is robust.

Finally, I think some sort of cable ducting will be beneficial to hide everything.


The point of getting the sub woofer off the floor is to get vibrations more through the air and less through the floor to my neighbors. I live in an apartment and I've noticed the bass is louder in other rooms than in my own. When picked up off the ground this dramatically changed. I have many, many ideas for eliminating desk vibration beyond rubber stoppers.

I like being able to slide the keyboard away. I recently bought some sliders that were rated for 150lbs. They don't lock but it's really easy to use a stopper if sliding becomes a problem. However I haven't faced that problem with my current sliding keyboard tray.


Good points. Especially the one about the Subwoofer. And don't forget to design the sliding mechanism for the keyboard (if you choose to include it) high enough. I've seen some of these trays mounted way too low, thus it was very inconvenient to use the keyboard that way.


If my calculations are correct the height of the keyboard tray will be perfect to 4 significant figures. ;)


I concur with the suggestion of moving the sub to the floor. The other thing I think you have to consider is the purpose. Computer speaker systems are crude really for music. The cheapest way to get good sound though is to buy good headphones. Otherwise, using full-range speakers is much better than using the satellites plus subwoofer. The third thing I say you should consider (if audio is at all a priority) is to use a second sound source and open-back headphones. That will give you the five traditional channels plus two more, perhaps for VoIP or something. If you have a thought to do this, I'd say include a headphone stand in the setup. They're quite simple to setup and will make keeping full-sized headphones a lot easier.

Are you going to bring with you a (wireless?) router? If you do, it may be worth considering the mounting on your router of choice. I find that having a wireless router at college is a very good thing, especially when network checks are in place. Most of it is based off of MAC address, and many routers have the ability to "clone" a PC's MAC address and use it as its own identifier. Toss in that few network checks are cross-platform.

Last thing I have to say to consider is power strip or UPS. The power strip at least can be mounted just like a router, which again cleans up the setup. You may want to include cable holders, so you can neatly have cables to power and PC running.


I've used headphones the entire time I lived at home and grew tired of it. The sound was great but I feel more surrounded with a 5.1 setup. 5.1 surround head phones feel less precise in games than satellites. After a while the only time I used headphones was at night when everyone was sleeping. When I got the Z-5500s I liked the fact that the sub woofer could be turned off completely.

Luckily I don't live in a dorm so we have our own standard ISP. The router isn't in my room so I'm wired by a 50 foot Cat6 cable. The cable is well hidden throughout the house and with as much of a wire management Nazi I am I see no reason to go have to go wireless.

With that said I have plans for desk wire management. I am going to use my power strip and have some holes in the desk planned to be placed.



I really appreciate everyone's input. I remember why I like this community so much! :clap:

[Xope_Poquar]

Alright just bought the wood. I broke down and bought two 3/4" 4x8' slabs of grade AA Cherry for $107 each. Not bad compared to what I was seeing online. It's a beautiful red and really heavy.

I'm going with a dark mahogany stain which will get it a little darker than what I have pictured. Bought a 220grit sanding block and a gloss clear coat. I also bought some red birch tape edging to go around the edges to hide the ply's. It's iron-on and every furniture maker I've talked to swears by them.

Tonight I'm going to draw out all the measurements and hopefully tomorrow I can begin cutting.


Funny note to add was I went to a few furniture stores to check out the various woods and when I told them I was just looking at the finishes and grains as I was building my own desk, without hesitating they all told me it would cost way more to do that than to buy from them. All of them told me that. Every desk I found that was similar to my plans was around $700 or $800 for oak or cherry. So far my total bill is about $265 after tax.

[celemine1Gig]

I think they a) wanted to sell you something and besides that they b) might have thought that you would have it done according to your plans and didn't realise that you would actually do it on your own. And c) would probably be that none of the poeple you talked to really knows how to manufacture a real desk by hand.
It's most likely like in the majority of computer stores: The salespersons know a bit about computers, but nothing in depth.

[grasskicker509]

any updates??? looks promising by the way

[moiraesfate]

Wow, that looks great. Incidentally, why don't you turn all that space below the tower into drawers/filing cabinet?

[i found nemo]

for the woofer u should make ur own box out of that lil " enclosement " that u have for it in the pic. get it sealed with calk, and if it's a 8 inch speaker, go 1.5 inch port, or if it's 6 try 3/4 or if it's 10 try 2 and 3/4 or if 12 try 3 and 1/2 diameter port. make a tube that is atleast 5-6 inches deep. pcv pipe will work fine ... or is it pvc? lol i forget.

btw how deep is the front to back of the enclosement? also may i recommend 2 subs? in wich case, make holes .75 times bigger than above reccomendations :p. bass does not matter on placement as u could not tell anyways since bass is omnidirectional, and u can't tell left or right.

[Xope_Poquar]

any updates??? looks promising by the way


Yes! I had a hangup but I've already began cutting into the cherry. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up today. Thanks I didn't know anyone was following!


Wow, that looks great. Incidentally, why don't you turn all that space below the tower into drawers/filing cabinet?


Thank you sir. I can't explain it but I don't like drawers at all. I might do a shelf or two eventually but I'm going for minimalism right now.


for the woofer u should make ur own box out of that lil " enclosement " that u have for it in the pic. get it sealed with calk, and if it's a 8 inch speaker, go 1.5 inch port, or if it's 6 try 3/4 or if it's 10 try 2 and 3/4 or if 12 try 3 and 1/2 diameter port. make a tube that is atleast 5-6 inches deep. pcv pipe will work fine ... or is it pvc? lol i forget.

btw how deep is the front to back of the enclosement? also may i recommend 2 subs? in wich case, make holes .75 times bigger than above reccomendations :p. bass does not matter on placement as u could not tell anyways since bass is omnidirectional, and u can't tell left or right.


I'm not sure if I follow; turn that part of the desk into the woofer box? Sounds a little intense. The enclosure is 21.25" deep so two 8" speakers might fit but I have a 10". I will admit that the bass is the weakest part of the Z-5500s in that it is a little muddy and can be overpowering so I don't think I'd need 2.

This sounds interesting but I'll I think I'll hold off on shelving/building speakers into it until after the desk is up and running.


Hopefully I'll finish cutting out the pieces today. I'm still getting used to working with skill saws, table saws, and planers. I'll probably need help using the biscuit joiner.

[Mescalamba]

Make that keyb/mouse part not movable.. trust me, its not what you want.. :) Well, in case you are gamer. But otherwise, nice design..

[i found nemo]

Yes! I had a hangup but I've already began cutting into the cherry. Hopefully I'll get some pictures up today. Thanks I didn't know anyone was following!





Thank you sir. I can't explain it but I don't like drawers at all. I might do a shelf or two eventually but I'm going for minimalism right now.





I'm not sure if I follow; turn that part of the desk into the woofer box? Sounds a little intense. The enclosure is 21.25" deep so two 8" speakers might fit but I have a 10". I will admit that the bass is the weakest part of the Z-5500s in that it is a little muddy and can be overpowering so I don't think I'd need 2.

This sounds interesting but I'll I think I'll hold off on shelving/building speakers into it until after the desk is up and running.


Hopefully I'll finish cutting out the pieces today. I'm still getting used to working with skill saws, table saws, and planers. I'll probably need help using the biscuit joiner.


well check it out, go by the golden rule or w/e for speakers. observe

w = 1.0.
d = 0.6 times width
h = 1.6 times width

as in ratio wise. do the math on each of these and u'll see what requirements, demension wise.

and for tube size i'd go for 1/4 of the speaker size or speakers. and have it just under half the size of total depth. and buy pillows. gut the pillows and put the stuffing or w/e from the pillows into the box. not feathered pillows lol. and don't forget to add the width of ur blade so u cut the right size, and count in the thickness of wood. so u get the box volume correct. and maybe put a positive negative terminal on the out side of the box, say opposite side ur leg on the left hand side. also if u don't want to incorporate such a design, check this out. i've always noticed bass sounds better when it's kind of far away, front or back of me dn't matter cuz bass is not able to be destinguished with such things. so if u put ur speaker(s) in their nice little boxes in corner(s) farthest away from u, that will help. even 2 speakers on the same wall left or right would be okay. idk i love bass :p. u should check out the speakers section on here.

[Wookie Man]

I read that you are going for minimalism, but will you be styling the desk in anyway? Rounded edges, molding, etc...

[Xope_Poquar]

4x8' Grade AA Cherry Ply
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/19.jpg
That's my friend's old car in the back.


Great day for cutting:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/17.jpg



Fresh cut into this sheet:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/18.jpg



My friend cutting the notch out of the back board with the Miter Saw:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/23.jpg



Back done:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/24.jpg



Me pushing some wood through the table saw to make speaker stands:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/20.jpg



Stands done:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/25.jpg



The table saw has a really nice blade and the saw dust it makes is a really fine powder. My friend has some nice footprints:
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/21.jpg



As of right now all the pieces are cut to shape.

I read that you are going for minimalism, but will you be styling the desk in anyway? Rounded edges, molding, etc...

I'll probably be using iron-on birch edging as it was the closest in color to the cherry. I have a dark mahogany stain. I don't think I'll be doing any molding or anything fancy.



I'm not really sure what the next step is. I have to wait until next week before I can begin joining as I don't know how to use the biscuit joiner and don't have any experience in this field. I'm not sure if I should do any finishing yet. The videos I've seen online on desk building the people finished the wood before putting it together.

Any opinions?

[brandinb]

This is really looking great! If you want a true minimalistic design I feel there are some upgrades you could make to the desk design. If i was going all out like this I would build into the desk a small platform 3-5 inches high with an angle on the front to point the speakers upwards towards your head. Basically a large speaker box for the center and left/right channels built into the desk. You would make internal stoppers to seperate the speaker chambers and your monitor can sit ontop of the box. You could adjust the speakers for optimal angle this way and I would also build the rear satalites into the stands. It would give the system a very integrated and high end look.

Also im curious what you settled on for fasteners on the project?

I have built my own desk but not with the same finish quality you are going for. I just used wood glue and 2.5 inch decking screws counter sunk and filled. Desk was built in mdf and painted.

[TSXmike]

i wanna check more of this out when i get home (since i cant view the pictures at work). im in the process of refinishing a antique desk that im gonna use for a computer desk.

[Xope_Poquar]

This is really looking great! If you want a true minimalistic design I feel there are some upgrades you could make to the desk design. If i was going all out like this I would build into the desk a small platform 3-5 inches high with an angle on the front to point the speakers upwards towards your head. Basically a large speaker box for the center and left/right channels built into the desk. You would make internal stoppers to seperate the speaker chambers and your monitor can sit ontop of the box. You could adjust the speakers for optimal angle this way and I would also build the rear satalites into the stands. It would give the system a very integrated and high end look.

Also im curious what you settled on for fasteners on the project?

I have built my own desk but not with the same finish quality you are going for. I just used wood glue and 2.5 inch decking screws counter sunk and filled. Desk was built in mdf and painted.


Well the vertical angle of the speakers is already set exactly pointed at my ears as each satellite is already mounted at an angle. The only speaker that annoys me is the center. I've had it balanced on top of my monitor and the sound was always "above" me. I now have it on the under the monitor and it sounds better. The only problem is it's a little closer than the other speakers so I either have to push the monitor back (which is less preferable) or just turn it down slightly.

For the joints I will be using a biscuit joiner.

i wanna check more of this out when i get home (since i cant view the pictures at work). im in the process of refinishing a antique desk that im gonna use for a computer desk.

Good! Hope you can learn something and maybe improve on my method.


Tomorrow I will work on it some more.

[Sliced Cheese]

Looking very good so far. I'm thinking of doing something similar to your rear speaker stands with my z5300e's. Also, is that the dewalt 12" sliding mitre? Wish I could afford one of those....

[Xope_Poquar]

Looking very good so far. I'm thinking of doing something similar to your rear speaker stands with my z5300e's. Also, is that the dewalt 12" sliding mitre? Wish I could afford one of those....

Thanks. I wish I could afford one too!




Small update:


Busted out the biscuit joiner:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0703091542a.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0703091542.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0703091600.jpg



Going 3D!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0703091556.jpg



Now that I'm pretty confident with the tool I'll be able skim along pretty quickly.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

looks really great man, thanks for making a worklog :) I have to make a custom desk for my room in the fraternity house next year and this will be a great reference when I go to build!

[Xope_Poquar]

looks really great man, thanks for making a worklog :) I have to make a custom desk for my room in the fraternity house next year and this will be a great reference when I go to build!

Thank you! I've been learning a lot about woodworking from this project that I can see myself making use of later.



Another small update:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0705091743.jpg




http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0705091744.jpg




http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0705091820b.jpg

[AresOlSkool]

Very cool stuff!

[The0men]

Nice project. I wish I had the time to make mine in the front of my room.

Some time's its better to use a two in one stain/lacquer because if you stain then
clear coat the clear coat after ages starts to kind of crack and peel up.

Look into your coating a bit. If you bought a dark timber then
oiling would have been great. But yer if you want to stain, especially if you have an oily timber
(though you don't really) then it can get a bit ratty.

[sinticfury]

Do they sell these at Ikea???? LOLOL

[Xope_Poquar]

Yay more!

Got the top fitted:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/35.jpg




Left side fitted:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/36.jpg




And the right side fitted:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/39.jpg



The right side became known as the "unforgiving side" as nothing was coming out square, the biscuit holes were looser, and it was just a bigger pain. However it's all seemed to be working out now.


http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/38.jpg


Nothing is glued yet but all the biscuits are done and all the pieces are fitted. I suppose the next steps will be gluing, sanding, cutting holes, then finishing.

Some ideas I have are I might build a power strip into the desk, I might build a USB hub into the desk instead of drilling a hole for the mouse and keyboard, my friend had the idea of staining to a gradient, and maybe adding some LED lighting and switches.

[hikaricloud]

Not to sound strange, but are you going to leave the space underneath the left and right sections open at the very bottom? Cause I totally would, could stick notebooks and such there. Things you don't want people finding very easily. Could make a "false wall" almost, make it look closed but you have stuff down there.

Just a thought, I think of weird things sometimes.

Overall, this desk looks AMAZING. I really wish I had something like this.

Personally, I wouldn't build a power strip directly into the desk, but I would make maybe some form of clip-on system, where you could set the strip in there. I wouldn't make it stationary, but maybe make it so you could move the clips from one side to the other. That way if you ever had to move your desk, you won't have to worry about being too far away from an outlet if it's built right in. (I have outlet problems myself. :()

USB hub, on the other hand, sounds like a pretty nice idea if you know where your computer is going to be sitting, and if it's going to be sitting there permanently.

All in all, SWEET work. I can't wait to see the finished project.

[Xope_Poquar]

Not to sound strange, but are you going to leave the space underneath the left and right sections open at the very bottom? Cause I totally would, could stick notebooks and such there. Things you don't want people finding very easily. Could make a "false wall" almost, make it look closed but you have stuff down there.

Just a thought, I think of weird things sometimes.

Overall, this desk looks AMAZING. I really wish I had something like this.

Personally, I wouldn't build a power strip directly into the desk, but I would make maybe some form of clip-on system, where you could set the strip in there. I wouldn't make it stationary, but maybe make it so you could move the clips from one side to the other. That way if you ever had to move your desk, you won't have to worry about being too far away from an outlet if it's built right in. (I have outlet problems myself. :()

USB hub, on the other hand, sounds like a pretty nice idea if you know where your computer is going to be sitting, and if it's going to be sitting there permanently.

All in all, SWEET work. I can't wait to see the finished project.

Thanks!
Yeah I'll probably leave it open under the shelves. I'm thinking about putting various colored lights under there to match the theme of my room (which is a whole other ordeal). Maybe not build the lights into the desk, just have some under. I'm thinking I'll just leave everything natural on the desk. No USB hub built in or power strip. Nothing I might think is dumb down the line.




Update:

Started sanding yesterday:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/41.jpg




Let it soak up water to raise the grain:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/42.jpg




Then sand it again:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/43.jpg



I used 220 grit mostly but some areas where there were blemishes or pencil mark that was really dark I had to get out with 100 grit.



I originally wanted to paint the desk black but from using the designing program I liked the stained look. I wanted a dark stain but on this closed grain cherry it really covered up the grain (used Red Mahogany). After walking around Lowe's looking at cabinets I finally settled on something called Olde Maple (gloss). I love it and it brings out the grain beautifully.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/44.jpg



You can see it's darker than a natural stain but shows off the grain and still has red in it:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/45.jpg



Tomorrow I'm putting the edging on and I'll start gluing.

[Mescalamba]

Good luck, seems really nice. :)

[AresOlSkool]

Been enjoying the updates!

[Xope_Poquar]

Thanks guys!


Did a little experiment to see which wood filler would be the best to fix any minor "wounds." I forgot to get a picture of the actual fixed wound mostly because I couldn't find it again after it was fixed. I guess that's good. I do have a picture of the experiment though:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091804.jpg




Began the iron on edging:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091745.jpg




Cut the excess off with a knife:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091748.jpg




Then sand it down:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091804a.jpg




I liked the results:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091335.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091334.jpg




Finally get to start gluing, yay! Well the first step was dry fitting and finding a good place to clamp everything:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091851.jpg



I didn't get any pictures of the gluing because we're working in 110 degree heat and that glue dries fast. Time is of the essence.


It ended up like this:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091933.jpg




However there was a problem getting one of the sides together as the glue was too dry and we couldn't even hammer it in so we broke out the big clamp.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0719091933b.jpg


You can see the whole desk bending but it did the trick. We had to place some weight in the middle to prevent too much bowing. My buddy is picking stuff out of his feet because he kept accidentally stepping on the scrap pile.



Maybe today I'll finish gluing. :up:

[Jowy Atreides]

Slick work, impressive and inspiring. Thanks for sharing :)

[TSXmike]

great work! wish i had good wood working skills.

[CptDreadFlint]

Enjoying this worklog. Keep going, matey!

[Xope_Poquar]

Got the rest gluing right now, yay!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/59.jpg


http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/60.jpg


http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/61.jpg




You can kind of see my friend's car. He just got his windows tinted. Shmexxy.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/62.jpg

[Xope_Poquar]

She's on her feet for the first time!

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0724091622b.jpg



Finished edging everything.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0724091622a.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0724091619a.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0724091619.jpg



Also sorry about the picture quality this whole time. I'm using my cell phone to take them.

[Xope_Poquar]

Drilling out the holes was the next step. For those that will ever use a hole saw on veneer make sure you drill with a bit through the whole thing then start a hole on the backside before drilling through. We learned the hard way and a massive chip come off.

Hole started on the back side to prevent chipping:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/73.jpg




The wood would really heat up and you might be able to see from the saw dust that is was actually burning from the friction. Smelled like burnt popcorn. :p:

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/74.jpg




All the hole drilled. You may be able to see on the leftmost (your left) hole where a chip was made. I wood glued it back on and sanded it down. I think it's pretty well hidden.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/75.jpg



Staining will be up next.

[StrifeXI]

i demand more pics of stain!

[LittleKnown]

Well you have got one nice worklog of the perfect computer desk, Ithink the whole idea is superb and would like to have a full report of the glues and the tools that you have used and also some more updates Please !

[Duxx]

Looks awesome man, I will definitely be building my own desk(and a bunk bed for the hell of it) when I move out in a few months :D Gave me some more ideas as well, Thanks!

[Xope_Poquar]

Sorry I forgot to say I was taking a trip to Germany for 2 weeks. Hopefully I'll get back to the desk soon. Thanks for the support!

[Xope_Poquar]

Alright, it's been a long while, but I'm going to see if I can re-sand and put a finish on tomorrow. I really want this desk!

[Necetra]

You have some pretty awesome woodworking skills. And it looks amazing.
Personally, I'd probably have to make it wider so that I could expand from 2 monitors to 3. ;)

[Xope_Poquar]

I have one picture from a few months ago at the first attempt at the stain. It looked good on the test board but when we put it on the desk it dried with a bunch of tiny bubbles. The color was nice but it looked terrible. This was from the polyurethane that was mixed in.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/76.jpg



Well today I spent re-sanding everything. It took 5 or 6 hours so I wasn't able to get any staining done but it's fully prepped for tomorrow. I have a plastic bag over it so no dust settles on it over night. I'll still use a cloth to wipe it down before we start putting coats on.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/77.jpg


I'm going to try a red chestnut stain. It's only the oil so I don't have to worry about the bubbles and I'll be able to wipe it down.

[Xope_Poquar]

Alright I used a new test strip to try out the new stain. It's a Red Chestnut color.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0124101236.jpg

I noticed that there wasn't much difference in color for how long the stain was left on. This was a good thing as I could go as fast as I wanted for doing the whole desk.




http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0124101338.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0124101403.jpg




http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0124101545.jpg




http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/0124101403a.jpg


I like the color so I'm going to stick with just the one coat. All I need to do now is the clear coat.

[Computurd]

awesome looks great!

[Xope_Poquar]

Thanks! I also now have a camera at my disposal so I won't have to use my cell phone. Hopefully the next round of pictures will actually be better. You'll be able to see all the flaws though.

It's been raining a lot lately so I'm waiting for a sunny day to put on the clear coat.

[Xope_Poquar]

Alright so we had a warm weekend and I was able to put the first coat of polyurethane on on Saturday.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/78.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/79.jpg



http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/Xope_Poquar/Desk/80.jpg



I sanded it lightly on Sunday with some 320 grit making sure to go in the direction of the grain. Got a second coat on and it's starting to look really good.

Hopefully tomorrow if it's warm I'll be able to put one last coat on the heavy use surfaces like the keyboard tray and desktop. After that I'll just be mounting the keyboard tray and I'll be able to bring it in my house!

[individual]

I'm sorry to get to this thread so late, wish i saw it earlier to say that putting your sub box, inside that space, will make it sound crap. Subs in corners sound crap in general, you need your sub to be somewhere open, thats why people often presume that subs sound "muddy" when they have it sitting in one of the corners of their room, or in your case, that space in your desk. I've got the same speakers as you, so i recommend putting something else in that space and placing your sub at least a meter away from any corner, and have the port of the speaker box facing away from you. Sorry i don't like to criticize, but subs are the hardest part of your system to get right, of any system really. Awesome desk by the way :D

With the rear speakers, the formulas you have there are for surrounds and not rears. Surrounds are used in 7.1, which include rear speakers, where as what we have is 5.1. I also recommend placing the rear speakers at least twice the distance away from you, as your center speaker, then simple adjust the level on the rears by 3 steps on the dial. This will give it a more "ambient" and realistic audio quality, which is what the rears are designed for, especially in gaming/movies.

I'm not sure what I_Found_Nemo was going on about. All i can say is, do not mess with the speaker box in anyway. You would be UN-pleasantly surprised at how complicated the labyrinth port systems are of this particular sub, and how much engineering it requires to get minimal resonance. Basically, you need at least a diploma in audio engineering to begin to calculate the port dimensions.

Out of curiosity, what shape is your room? are all your walls parallel?

[Xope_Poquar]

I really appreciate the reply. I definitely can still set the sub somewhere else in my room. Also I haven't built the speaker stands yet so I can still make changes to them.

Do you know where the rears are designed to be placed? Should I use the rear placement shown here?:

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/129025.jpg

Or does it depend on how EAX or OpenAL routes sounds from games? Wouldn't movies route the sound using ProLogic II and therefor follow my original design?

The walls in my room are all parallel but have bamboo covering them muffling the reflection. The floor is carpeted but the ceiling reflects sound.

[individual]

5.1 setup uses the same virtual sound placement regardless of encoding/decoding algorithm. To put it simply, all legit bought movies, in DVD format, or in proper 5.1 rip if they are bought and downloaded online, will have 5.1 channels designed for the diagram you have above, with the LB and RB speakers, not the LS and RS ones. Few movies have support for 7.1, some blu-ray would I believe, most modern games are designed for 5.1 and 7.1 - However:
Movies that utilize 5.1 are done in studios, and all studios have different properties, and not all of them have the same speaker placement, so each movie will be a little different sound placement wise.

With the speakers we have, PLII is generally used to turn 2 channel music into 5.1. Ill explain how this works

Stereo separation, is the difference between the left and right channel of 2 track audio, at any given time. so if you have a guitar in the track and the sound sits evenly across both tracks, the PLII system will see this as "center" and place this sound on the center speaker. Where as if you have a snare of a drum set, only on the left channel, and nothing on the right channel, traditionally it stays on the left channel. If you listen carefully to an audio track with headphones, you can tell what instruments of the track lie where in the music (center/left/right), and if you take out the headphones and put it in PLII music mode, you will hear that it attempts to mimic this, basically, and it does a good job. If your input is direct which it most likely will be if using a computer as your media system, leave it on 6 channel direct, as this is true 5.1, and any movies encoded in 5.1 will play, true :)

The real difference between the 2 PLII settings (movie and music) is a bit of tuning and re-verb.

[Xope_Poquar]

Right. I remember when I found out that PL and PLII used nothing more than a 2 channel source and extrapolated across 6 or 8 speakers, I was really disappointed. And since receivers cannot decode a digital signal that is encoded with say EAX or OpenAL the best you can hope for is 3 or 4 stereo analog inputs (direct). Your sound card has to decode the sound for you into the analog signals. We had this problem when we found out it's impossible to send 5.1 channel audio from an HTPC to a receiver across optical or HDMI as they can't decode the signal. We couldn't afford any receivers that had the 3 direct analog inputs. :(

The only thing I'm confused about is you saying 5.1 uses that left and right back speakers. All the diagrams I see seem to suggest they use the left and right surround speakers. Only when you use 7.1 do you utilize the left and right back. :confused:

Dolby (http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/speaker-setup-guide/index.html)
Crutchfield (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-rB5QLC4R7a3/learn/learningcenter/home/speaker_placement.html)
THX (http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/home-theater/surround-sound-speaker-set-up/)


Edit:
http://www.thx.com/files/2009/12/5-1-desktop-pc-speaker-setup-400x300.jpg

Seems for computers it's less stringent for the angles but you were right with the distances.

[individual]

On different websites they call the rear/side speakers differently, but i can tell you for sure that 5.1 has speakers at the rear, not on the sides.

The latest diagram is the most correct one I have seen so far.

And i can say don't be too fussy with it. unless your producing scores in a purpose built studio, the speakers don't have to be down to a millimeter or degree accurate, you can be off by like 30cm and 10 degrees anywhere, especially if you are in a "box" room, the sound will always be "messy" and have a certain amount of unpleasantness due to the room itself. In studios they spend hundreds of thousands, millions in the bigger ones, soundproofing and sound-modding the room, So unless you have a good 150k to throw around (we all wish) i wouldn't look into this all that much.

last rule in audio: There are no rules.

If it sounds good, do it. I learnt that from Doug Rogers himself. Mess around with the speaker placements to get the sound "you" want.

What we used to do before we ordered speaker stands, is grab a couple of adjustable PA stands and place the speakers on them, then move them around the room, raising or lowering them 'till we got the perfect sweet spot, because last but not least no 2 speakers are alike, all have different attributes.

I could go on for ages but ill stop rambling lol.

[Badfastbusa]

Wow man, great job!!!

[cling]

I would spring for more mousing surface as well as a non sliding keyboard