So it appears my two-part episode is going to turn into a three,four or
Maybe five part episode on this desk project [in] this episode. I'm going to walk you through [how] I went about
Determining the surface material I was going to use for the desk
So originally I was going to use sheets of laminate like this, but I really didn't care for any of the colors or designs
They had at the hardware store plus the prices were pretty high and I would need at least two sheets
You [know] me. I said I was going to break with convention
I began to wonder if it might [be] possible to use vinyl tiles like these
After all this looked further my goal of making the desk repairable
So I've managed to damage the desk top of just about every desk or work bench
I've ever owned usually I either do it with a soaring iron over the knife or something like [that] because I do a lot of
Projects, and one of the great things about using a tile like this is that if I were to damage a piece
I could pry it up
And put a new one down and repair it plus these are like
68 cents apiece, so I decided to buy a few just to go ahead and experiment with okay, so
You can glue these things down to a top surface, and that's more us what they're designed [for] because they're floor house
But what I've tried to glue them on especially [like] strips on to the side?
For the trim on a desk
I found that the [pieces] just wouldn't stick with the glue that is designed for these and I'm guessing that's because
The glue that's designed for these is designed more or less to keep them in place from scooting around and not so much designed
to be a permanent adhesive and
It's not like I could just go online and find instructions on how to do this because it's a very
Unconventional thing to do so I had to do some experimentation on my own various people had suggested different adhesives to solve the problem
so I decided to perform a test with three different types epoxy silicone and
Contact cement I glued three strips onto an edge of some scrap board and let them all cure for 24 hours
The next day I tried to pull them off by hand the good news is that all three Glues were strong enough to
At that so next I tried prying them off with a screwdriver with a lot of effort
[I] was able [to] chip off some pieces of the epoxy version the same held true with the silicone however
I was able to remove the entire strip with the contact cement
So that left either of the other two choices for me to work with
Okay, so the next thing I had to do was a larger scale test now
I decided to take one of the little
Triangular shelves that are going to be hidden up under the desk and use them for an experiment now these shelves need to have some
kind of surface on them because if you just paint them and you put computer equipment on them over time if the computer equipment will
Stick to the paint so I definitely wanted to tile them with something
so I thought I'd go ahead and
Use these and try a full-scale experiment with one of the shelves if I could make these work on the [shelf]
Then I knew they would be suitable for the main desk top of the desk
So the first thing was to cut some strips of Vinyl [I]
Decided to use the silicon since I had plenty of it [leftover] from my [tests]
I spread it evenly on the wood and then I spread it evenly on the back of the vinyl strips
[I] applied the [strip's] to all three shelves and let them set overnight to cure once cured
I used a knife to cut off some of the excess
And then I followed that up with a file to grind it down to be even with the wood surface
I
Was decently satisfied with the appearance so next I went ahead and cut out the top surface pieces and made sure they all lined up
Then it was time for the glue. This is the same glue that didn't work very well for the small strips
But it seems to work okay for larger pieces. Which is what it was designed for
Once the wood was coated it was time to put on the tile
Once the glue set up I filed down some of the excess tile to get everything to line up
Unfortunately my cut of the wood was not perfectly straight, and that's the reason there was some overhang
Then I used the file to round off the edges of the tile
After all if this were [the] top of a desk at one a nice smooth surface where my wrists [would] be making contact the desk
Once I got the shape back I came back with sandpaper and made it really smooth, and then I cleaned it all up
I'm quite happy with the surface
It looks kind of rough
But it's actually very smooth and glossy feeling so once I was the vinyl tile would work
I went to a flooring store and look through their samples, and I picked out a deep blue colored tile and ordered it I
Think this will make the top of the desk very beautiful
Once I knew what color the top would be I had to pick a color for the sides of the desk
So [I] went back to sketchup, and I played around and I decided on a dark gray
I've already started applying primer to the desk and should be painting it soon. So here's the finished shelf and
This is where [I'll] meet the back of the desk and this is the front section now
This this would mimic the area where I would be putting my wrists if this were a regular desk
And this feels really nice
And you [know] some people had questioned that well if you use tiles, [you] wouldn't be able to write on
The desk because the lines were the divisions between the tiles would be a problem with a pen now
Not that I do a lot of writing. This is going to be a computer desk, but interestingly enough
You can see the division between the [tiles] if you look really closely
But when you run your fingers across it you really can't even feel it it is amazing
How glossy and smooth the surface is and how well the tiles line up?
So I really don't think writing would be a problem [even] if you wrote over the division between the tiles
So I just wanted to say there's a couple [of] other advantages to consider on these tiles
First of all they're much cheaper than using the regular laminate. I mean these are about 68 cents apiece
but also
They're easier to bring home
It does not require a pickup truck because they just come in a little box
And I always have to borrow a pickup truck because I don't have one so that's kind of an important thing
but also um the other thing is if you're not an expert
And you're prone to making mistakes when you're building something
Well if you happen to screw up one of these tiles while you're building your desk no big deal
Just you know grab another one, but if you have a hundred dollar sheet of laminate
And you screwed up what you're putting it on there?
Well, then that's going to be a big problem [alright], so that about concludes it for this episode
Hang around another few days. I'll have
for you