Hey Guys!
It’s Mike, from The Geek Pub!
And on this episode we’re going to make these awesome Retro Computer Display Stands!
The first step to building our retro computer display stands it to take some measurements
of the Commodore 64 and the Macintosh Plus.
Then using my miter saw and my table saw sled I cut out some sections of rough sawn Walnut
that I got at my local lumber store.
I used the fence on my table saw as a makeshift jointer to square up all of the edges.
I laid out some of my larger clamps on my workbench so I can clamp up the blanks all
at once.
This will make things a little easier.
Then I added some Titebond II and spread it out with some of these Rockler glue brushes.
These clamps can be a real pain to seat.
Finally I wiped up my glue squeeze out with some wet paper towels and then wiped it dry.
After letting the blanks sit overnight I unclamped them and cut them down to their final dimensions
on the table saw.
A couple of passes through the planer makes sure everything is nice and smooth and exactly
3/4 inch thick.
I followed that up with a quick sanding of the all of the flat surfaces.
These Bench Dogs from Rockler really make this a dream, because they hold the wood steady
and keep it from sliding around.
The next thing I needed to do was cut down some 2 inch x 3/4 inch stock to use for the
face and side frames.
For the C64 holder I went ahead and added a 45 degree chamfer to the front.
This will become the stand for the Commodore 64 that will hold it up at an angle on top
of the base.
I really prefer mitered joints over butt joints, so I set my Kreg miter gauge to 45 degrees
and mitered all of the corners of the base frame.
The face frame of the base will have a place for the manufacturers logo and the year it
entered production.
I used the X-Carve to cut out a shallow dish into the wood to hold these plaques for a
nice inset look.
Now it’s just time to glue it and clamp it all up.
I clamped the face frame on without glue, to get it perfectly centered and used that
to align the sides.
I attached them of course, with glue and brad nails.
Then I unclamped the face frame and added the glue.
I didn’t use any brad nails on the face frame.
Only clamps.
This way I wouldn’t have an visible nail holes to fill.
Back on the miter saw I cut two 30 degree blocks.
These will hold the Commodore 64 stand at an angle so that it is completely visible
when sitting on the bookshelf.
I attached them with glue and brad nails.
Over on the router table, I added a 45 degree chamfer on the top edges of the bases to match
the lip on the Commodore 64 angled stand.
Using the Rockler Bench Dogs to keep everything off the table I shot all of the pieces with
a clear spray lacquer.
This really makes the natural color and grain of Walnut pop!
And that’s it!
Now we have some super cool retro computer display stands!
I’ll keep these on display in my office for my guests to see!
Well hey guys!
Thanks so much for watching this video!
This video is kind of special to me because the Commodore 64 is what kicked off my interest
in computers as a kid and without it I might not have the career that I have today!
And so it’s kind of neat to have it here sitting on display in my office.
Well hey guys!
Thank you so much for being a fan of my stuff!!
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