Project: The Ultimate Computer Desk

Wow, thanks for all the great comments everyone, I really appreciate the encouragement and advice!

ash30000 said:

Hi
Looks like you have done a great job on those draws!
Keep up the great work.
Ashley

Thanks Ashley :)

beagrie07 said:

The designs look brilliant and I'm sure the finished result will be just as good, I'm looking very much forward to seeing a finished result! If only there was a place that actually did this profressionally, I'm sure it'll attract some attention.

Thanks beagrie07 :) It's interesting that this kind of product isn't really readily available isn't it? ATX has been a standard for long enough that you'd think SOMEONE would have been able to make something like this available commercially...

Anthony said:

I see a nice little internet business here Great work well done!!

Thanks Anthony - wouldn't that be something? I'd love to quit the day desk job and just work in the wood shop all day! The main hindrance, if I'm not mistaken, is the shipping cost. You know this beast is going to weigh over 200 pounds, right?

jebuchanan said:

This is coming along nicely. Well done to date.
I am looking forward to the finished product.

Thanks jebuchanan :)

crazyeyeschase said:

Looks amazing I wish I had the tools at hand to do all of this.

I might be too late but another tip would be to find a really small drill bit and drill your hole before using the nail gun that would help with the cracks and having to redo a lot of work but it does work best wth a hammer and nail tap.

Stain uggh humm idk I'm not to experienced with that I think if you are using small enough trim nails and you might not even need the filler I would just stain without it but whatever works best for you. Stain the drawers first if you don’t like them with the filler then when you put the exterior showing parts of the desk don’t use filler I guess.

Mm yes, pre-drilling the ends before the nail gun probably would have worked, but in the end, I did only crack maybe 2-3 ends, which wasn't that big a deal overall.

Golden said:

Hey,

If you have a stain colour already in mind, I would try a filler with similar colour. After two coats of the stain I really do not think you will notice it.

Regards,
Golden

linnemeyerhere said:

I would test the stain first on a scrap piece with a filler section. I agree that with a dark enough second coat it could hide but then again you hate to go through this much effort and not have the finish coat come out as good as possible. Another trick is to put stain in the sealer top coat as well to even things out and hide any flaws. Do two or three boards and try different techniques and then sit back and evaluate and then choose the best of the bunch.

WartHog said:

Good advice here.

Wow, this is an amazing project! I too am excited to see the progress and can't wait to see more updates.

WartHog, linnemeyernere, Golden, crazyeyeschase, thanks first off for your encouragement, and also for your suggestions with regards to staining with wood fillter.

I have been working with about a dozen test pieces in the past few weeks trying different stains and techniques to get the colour I am looking for - however - looks like I forgot to test the wood filler at the same time. I figure, once I find the colour I want, I will purchase several different colours of wood filler and do some testing to see what comes out best after the stain.

Thanks again :)

I'll have a real update in the next few days - I've been swamped at work and have been too tired to do much work on the desk besides my stain testing!

Before you stain make sure you sand everything and go over it with a damp rag after that.

Sanding closes the pores of the wood and when you wet the wood down with water it opens those pores back then when you sand the pores take in more stain giving it a better look.

nice cat

shame about the advertising

Because it's against the forums rules - Sponsor stuff removed.