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Ron's Desk Build & Mancave/Bedroom upgrade (Desk build complete)

28K views 214 replies 28 participants last post by  arkansaswoman22 
#1 ·
Hey guys! I've been wanting to build a new desk for a while because my main desk is a bit crowded and my second desk is always in my way. This is mainly going to be a desk build log but I'm going to make various improvements to the room as well.

Here's what I've got right now:




Here's what I've got in mind:



The desk is going to be approximately 10 feet wide by 2 feet deep by 2.5 feet tall. It'll have 3 keyboard trays (I only need two but it would drive me crazy if it wasn't symmetrical). I'll likely build a computer into one of the cabinets in a drawer.


I need some molding for the top of the wall shelf to hide the LEDs and wires


This is what I have in mind for the molding. This will also go on the front edge of the desktop:


I might also ditch the painted white border dividing the colors on the walls and put some molding in its place.

So here's my goals:
-Build megadesk
-Rewire shelf/case/monitor RGB LEDs and Run wires for the LEDs inside the wall instead of the conduit
-Paint the walls something similar to the colors in my sketchup drawing
-Replace painted border with chair rail molding
-Wall mount the TV?

Thanks for looking, and your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks! Here you go:
1941 Willys, 2007 Mustang GT500, 1969 GTO, 1969 Corvette

2006 Corvette Z06, 1970 Chevelle, 1969 Corvette, 1969 Charger

2005 GTO, 2003 Mustang Cobra, 1971 Duster, and I'm not sure what year Holden Commodore

1969 Mustang Boss 302, 1968 GTO, 1957 Chevy
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishinfan View Post

Nice! Are they die-cast or plastic models? Do you have an all time favorite?
They're all die-cast. I don't have the patience to build the plastic ones and make them look nice haha. I'm not sure which one would be my favorite, though I'm most careful with the 2005 GTO and the Holden Commodore because they're the most expensive ones I have. I guess all the ones I have on the shelf are the ones I like the most. I have more cars but they're all in containers under my bed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OINTwinTurbo View Post

Like the look of this project. Subbed.
Thanks!
 
#8 ·
Update time!

I went to Home Depot today and got all the 1.5" wide lumber I needed. Pretty much the entire frame is all 1.5" wide. I got 9 12 foot boards, two 9 foot boards, and a 7 foot board.


This is what I had to cut up:
-16 30" long pieces for the legs
-8 15" long pieces for the width of the cabinet
-8 21" long pieces for the depth of the cabinet
-9 28" long pieces for the front of the keyboard trays and to go between the cabinets
-2 10' long pieces for the front and back of the desktop

I'll also need some pieces that are around 24" long and fortunately most of the left over pieces will work for that.

First I shave around 1/8" off the end of the board to make sure it's square.

I wrapped the areas I was going to be cutting with masking tape because it supposedly helps cut down on the amount of chipping


Here's the first half of the legs cut to size


All the pieces cut up


Some cheap Harbor Freight bar clamps that I'm using to glue the legs together


I sorted through the pieces to figure out which side I want to be showing and which ones would fit best together and laid them out on the clamps


I forgot to get photos of the process but I just loaded up one of the two pieces for each leg with glue and spread it as even as I could.

Here's all the legs glued and clamped together.


Once the clamps were tightened I wiped as much excess glue as I could off with a paper towel.

That's it for now. I'll go take the clamps off the legs in a couple hours and tomorrow I'll sand the edges to get them smooth and maybe start assembling the cabinets.

Edit: I forgot to mention, I'm making it out of Poplar
 
#9 ·
I made some more progress today. This morning I tried cleaning up one of the legs with the belt sander and ended up messing that one up. Fortunately I have my uncle's table saw here so I figured out a way to clean them up with that without cutting them out of square.


I sorted out the ones I wanted in front from the rear ones


Marked the side I wanted showing


I wanted 4" of space under the desk so I measured and marked that on all the legs


Drew a line against the square



I don't want to be able to see any screws or nails so I used pocket screws. Here's my jig:


Clamp the piece between the jig and another block of wood. Unfortunately I forgot to put blocks between the clamps and the legs last night so some of the legs have dents.


Set the stop on the drill using the guide in the case and set the stops and start drilling


The result (2 down, 62 to go...) :


All but two of the pieces with the holes drilled (I forgot to do one side on a couple of the pieces and didn't realize until I was assembling it)


My jig for assembling the cabinets


Glue it and screw it



One frame down, 4 to go


All 4 done


Time to start connecting the frames together


Got the first cabinet framed out and it made a nice work bench for the second one


Fail


Done!



Now I just need to get my uncle to talk to his buddies at the cabinet shop across the street from work and try and get me a deal on some plywood. I probably won't work on this during the week because school starts again tomorrow. I may or may not make the top next weekend. I don't really have a place to put it until someone buys the desks I've got in my room now.

Edit: I forgot to mention, I had to cut the legs down to 1 7/16" wide from 1.5" to get the sides flat so I'll be losing 1/4" of desk space when I'm done.
 
#12 ·
Wow. What do you do for a living? Your craftsmanship is amazing!
 
#14 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by FaLLeNAn9eL View Post

Wow. What do you do for a living? Your craftsmanship is amazing!
Thanks! I work with sheet metal. I either run a punch press or form up the sheet metal in a brake. I like woodworking much more though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigkahuna360 View Post

1969 Pontiac GTO for the win!
smile.gif


OT: I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out!
smile.gif
Thanks! The late 60's GTOs are probably my favorite muscle cars.

So I was thinking through my design earlier and realized the desktop will sag at each end so I talked to my dad and my uncle and I'll probably make a frame around the bottom of the desktop to raise it 3/4" higher and run some steel or aluminum tubing the length of the desk to keep it from sagging. I don't really want to have legs at each end; it'll probably make it even more difficult to get stuff in the closet than it will already be with the design as it is now. I'm also thinking I might use the same design as the doors on the sides of the cabinets instead of just making a plywood panel. I think that might look better than the plywood. I'll revise my drawing tonight if I have time.
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by rgwoehr View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by FaLLeNAn9eL View Post

Wow. What do you do for a living? Your craftsmanship is amazing!
Thanks! I work with sheet metal. I either run a punch press or form up the sheet metal in a brake. I like woodworking much more though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigkahuna360 View Post

1969 Pontiac GTO for the win!
smile.gif


OT: I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out!
smile.gif
Thanks! The late 60's GTOs are probably my favorite muscle cars.

So I was thinking through my design earlier and realized the desktop will sag at each end so I talked to my dad and my uncle and I'll probably make a frame around the bottom of the desktop to raise it 3/4" higher and run some steel or aluminum tubing the length of the desk to keep it from sagging. I don't really want to have legs at each end; it'll probably make it even more difficult to get stuff in the closet than it will already be with the design as it is now. I'm also thinking I might use the same design as the doors on the sides of the cabinets instead of just making a plywood panel. I think that might look better than the plywood. I'll revise my drawing tonight if I have time.
Just my two cents but you won't have to compensate much for weight. I had a Xigmatek Elysium with a 360mm rad and gpu block. It was about 60-70lbs, maybe even more. My desk is made of really cheap wood and it only sagged about 3/4". I don't expect your computer to weigh that anywhere near that much.
 
#16 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigkahuna360 View Post

Just my two cents but you won't have to compensate much for weight. I had a Xigmatek Elysium with a 360mm rad and gpu block. It was about 60-70lbs, maybe even more. My desk is made of really cheap wood and it only sagged about 3/4". I don't expect your computer to weigh that anywhere near that much.
Yeah mine probably only weighs around 40 pounds. That would be 28 inches of wood hanging over the edge without support though and if it does sag it'll probably make the keyboard tray under it hard to pull out.
 
#18 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishinfan View Post

Hmm,I have to know,what's under the tarp in the garage? It looks like an exhaust tip. Is that a GTO under there?
No that's my dad's Corvette
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishinfan View Post

That was my second guess. What year? My dad had a 60's corvette,it was a year before the stingray came out.I think it was a 63. Then he switched to Porsche.
It's a 1971.
 
#22 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishinfan View Post

drool.gif
Haha I agree. I hope to be able to have my own someday.

I still haven't been able to revise my sketchup drawing. My new math class is kicking my ass. I had a little bit of time to do it today but didn't feel like it because I was pissed off at math. Maybe tomorrow...
 
#24 ·
Yeah and my dad's got two cars in the garage so I'll have to wait until I have my own house. I wouldn't want to leave one of those parked out on the street, especially around here.

So this is what I was thinking for the sides of the cabinets instead of what was in my original drawing


I'd have the panel start a few inches down so I have something to attach the drawer tracks to. How do you guys think that looks?
 
#25 ·
I finished homework before 10PM for the first time this week so I had some time to make a new drawing. Here's my latest revision. The top is going to have to be twice as thick as my original drawing so I have space for some metal tubing. This should also give me some space for cable management. I'm going to go with my new design for the sides of the cabinets. I've got a list ready, hopefully I'll be able to get my wood tomorrow and I can make the desktop and finish the cabinets this weekend.
 
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