Project: The Ultimate Computer Desk

Woah! That is quite the dedicatian!
You have given me inspiration. But I I cannot follow it...

linnemeyerhere said:

Add desired red stain into the clear poly coat and apply to base stain to add depth and add red richness?

I considered doing that, but I think that that technique works best with spraying, which, I did not have the equipment for. I was also concerned about mixing small, consistent batches, since I cannot stain the entire project at once (It has to be done in steps due to space considerations)

Trickeh said:

Wow can't wait for the results O: All the best!

Thank you :)

Jaime74656 said:

you sir have inspired me to start my own project, ok more take it from idea to start planning it out and actually start making sumthin...

That is really awesome to hear, can't wait to see it!

kool1zero said:

totally awesome! wanna make me one? i haz very little moneyz but i'll pay you somehow.

seriously though, its awesome. some things you might want to consider, an integrated KVM switch, ethernet switch/router, integrated speakers and/or speaker ports.

Hehe, thanks kool1zero, I'll send it over, asap! I have made considerations for speakers and a router, however, I do not think I'll be going with a KVM, as the second computer will be used at the same time sometimes (When a friend comes over for some multiplayer gaming, for example)

crazyeyeschase said:

I havent been around much but i come just to see how this project is going so cglad you decided to do samples before mving to the finished produst saves you some time good luck be back next time.

Thanks, I hear you - I did not want to mess up my 80 hour project in a half hour worth of staining lol

DocBrown said:

Excellent work on this project Your talent is appreciated

Thank you DocBrown!

DaGooN said:

Amazing what you have done sofar. just hope you got the Ultimate Computer to go with that Desk when you are done. and not just put a Dell setup on it

Thanks DaGooN - the hardware is still up in the air, but hopefully I'll have some money left over after all the construction for something sweet

Markus said:

Woah! That is quite the dedicatian!
You have given me inspiration. But I I cannot follow it...

Hehe, thanks Markus - you never know!

simmo said:

check this out..Computer Desk LED Plexiglass Case Mod | Hack N Mod
pretty nice imo.
site prolly has more but I haven't checked it out...mat give you some other ideas tho :)

updated...I did just check out some more of it..there's some bloody unreal mods there guys...

When I was originally researching this project, I took a look at that desk several times. Some very cool stuff there. For this project however, I did not want something so "blingy". It's very awesome though!

For those of you interested in seeing how the kittens are doing, I've been keeping a bit of a video log on them - ie. I have been taking quick video clips of them every few days, since day 0. You can check them out here:
YouTube - MrAderome's Channel

Also, here is a bit of a sneak peak, as far as actual computer hardware is concerned - I've been slowly acquiring bits and pieces, since I'm still not entirely sure what will end up in this Ultimate Computer Desk.

Kingston has decided to sponsor me, and has sent me this really fantastic SSD drive. I am PSYCHED!





As you are all aware, my first 2 staining attempts were successful in the sense that I learned a lot, however, I was still not achieving the result I originally wanted.

I decided to try something other than the tried-and-true local Home Depot, and I hit up a custom furniture store - Randalls. Let me tell you - it was a truly great experience, and I will be returning there many more times in the future due to the incredible service I received there.

I walked in with my backpack full of my 2nd attempt samples, and immediately a salesperson started talking with me about what I was there for. I explained to her the stains I tried, along with the techniques, and she asked to see my samples.

I pointed out the ones I liked, and why, and why I didn't like them, and she came back in a few minutes with a couple stains that might interest me. She then asked if she could do some sample stains on the back of the pieces I brought in. She took the pieces behind the counter, sanded them down, stained them, and came back in a few minutes with actual, real - this is what they're going to look like - samples.

How cool is that? I could have just gone there in the first place and spent the whole extra 2 dollars, but would have walked out with 1 product - the right one - the first time. Amazing - I'm really happy I discovered that place.

I can't imagine Home Depot opening up any of their products for a test piece.. I've never asked though, so who knows. Randall's is my goto place for stains now, however!



Once again, I decided to see what variety of colours I could get with what I had on hand, so I setup 8 samples once more:

1. Old Masters
2. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters
3. Wood Conditioner + Minwax + Old Masters
4. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters + Minwax
5. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters x 2 Coats
6. Old Masters x 2 Coats
7. Wood Conditioner + Varathane + Old Masters
8. Wood Conditioner + Old Masters + Varathane



I worked on the samples for about a week (1 coat per day, did 5 or 6 coats of poly on top, light sanding between poly coats)



Here are a couple close up shots while staining was in progress





And a comparison with the previous samples, once everything was nicely glossed up



Look at the difference in colour! Now that's more what I was looking for. There's no question that the gel stain has "muted" the grain a little bit, however, the colour is unquestionably closer to what I was looking for originally.

Here is a shot of my previously favorite samples from the 2nd round, against the new samples



And a closeup of the 2 samples I think I like the best. The differences between this batch are quite subtle, as the Old Masters gel stain has a very strong dye which mutes out the effects of conditioner, or any other stain applied before or after.



Now that's what I call progress! I think I can call it quits for testing stain now. Time to move on to the dreaded motherboard tray / I/O Slot stuff...

Until next time!

Lordbob75 said:

Looking good mate! I personally would not have chosen a glossy finish (HATE glossy things), but it certainly is a nice shade of red.

I only wish I had the space/time/room/money to do a project like this.
Congrats on the sponsorships by the way.

~Lordbob

Thanks Lordbob75 - we'll see how the full-on gloss goes in the future. The nice thing about going with a gloss finish is that you can always change it to semi or satin pretty easily.

JDobbsy1987 said:

This is an awesome thread... Great Updates!

keep up the good work.



Regards,
JDobbsy1987

Thanks JDobbsy1987!

JDobbsy1987 said:

I think you should get yourself over to Custom Made Sig and Avatar [5] and get your own 'Desk Project' Signature/Avatar :)

Regards,
JDobbsy1987

Ah yes, I had a lookie over there and I will consider getting it done sometime soon

Jaime74656 said:

ive now started reworking my old design to bring it up to date with more modern elements as well as thinking of putting plexi glass in it some where to add some nice touches to it!

Sweet! There's nothing like a good desk to increase productivity. Anyone ever hear my Computer Hardware analogy before?

Computer = Small Home Office
CPU = You, the Worker
HARD DRIVE = Filing Cabinets and Shelving Space
DESK = RAM

You do the work, sometimes you're fast, sometimes you're slow. Your filing cabinets are where you store everything - your files, applications, maps, letters, etc. Your desk is the area where you do work - if you have a bigger desk, you basically have more RAM - you don't have to go back and forth between your desk and filing cabinet all the time because you have room to just move your current task over to the corner Think about it - with a small desk, you have to spend so much time LOADING! Oh, and junk mail just sitting on your desk is just as bad as ad-ware!!

VIDEO CARD = The pretty pictures on your wall, and the sweet stain on your desk



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

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

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


Let us help you be cool!



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



I had these PSU support brackets custom made:



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



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



And some real nifty motherboard trays:





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

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