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Okay, as promised here is part three of my ultimate computer desk video
First thing I want to do is show you exactly how I built it
First I drew out the pieces on wood with a sharpie and then I use the jigsaw to cut out the pieces I
I put the pieces together with these L brackets these brackets are bolted in place using special nuts called T nuts
I used a special drill bit to recess these nuts so that they would be flush with the wood
So you can kind of see how all this works here.
I also measured out where all the plugs on the wall would go such as the power and network and cut holes to line up with those.
Then I brought the pieces inside to test fit against the wall
You can see here where I have just about all the pieces assembled in the garage
This was my first chance to actually sit at the desk and see how it was going to feel.
I applied a coat of primer and then painted it
After painting I began to move the pieces into my computer room to assemble them
I found these really nice power strips that are easy to wall mount plus the sockets or turn 90 degrees
Which I really like so I mounted three of them under the desk
Next I used masking tape to mark out where I wanted my cable management mounts to go I spaced them about 6 inches apart all
The way around the desk, and then I screwed them in place
So they wouldn't fall off if you're not familiar with these
They're designed for zip ties to go through so you can attach almost anything this will help keep any cables off of the floor
Next I got to work on those three triangular shelves I
Decided to use these little brackets on the underside to screw them into Place I
Played around with different heights to see what I liked and here's where I eventually put them
so when I added the three hidden shelves
One of the things I noticed is that it made the desk suddenly a lot stronger, not that it was
Particularly weak before but I noticed when I tried to jiggle it
That it added a lot of stability, so I got to thinking about it like well
Why don't I just add a few more? So I decided to put two small shelves at each end of the desk like this.
I had enough scrap material left over to make these easily
So it actually worked out really well, and it made the desk even stronger, and I also have more places to store things
Ok so then it was time to start putting on the VCT tile
The first thing I needed to do was cut small strips to go on the edge of the desk
I actually ended up not getting the deep blue color as I ordered because they called back and said it was out of stock
So I get this lighter colored blue Gray color instead
The first thing to do was to glue the strips under the edges of the desk
and then file them down so that they were flush with the wood I
Used Google sketchup to play around with the tile placement. I tried two different patterns
[this] was to help me determine which pattern would work best. I decided to go eventually with the diagonal pattern.
I went ahead and cut out all the pieces to the correct shape
Then it was time to glue them all down which ended up being a much messier job than I expected
I used a file on sandpaper to smooth the edges. Just like I had done on my shelves
Once all of the tile was done
I used a hole saw to drill three holes and then put in some cable management grommets which later I glued in place and
Here's what the finished edges look like
The last thing to do is go back with a small paintbrush and touch up some of the spots that I miss
Finally it was time to actually clean the top of the desk, and then I could start setting up my primary computer
The set up is very clean and efficient design as you can see and here's what it looks like underneath
As promised I ran up all of the costs and here's what I came up with. I spent 152 dollars on wood and
$120 on Hardware like Bolts brackets and nuts stuff like that, and then I spent $60 on paint and paint supplies and
$58 for the VCT tile and
$42 for those three power strips
$25 on various glues
And $25 on the cable management hardware and ten dollars for some extra tools mostly that special drill
Bit that I needed which comes to a grand total of $492
Okay, so in retrospect
what do I have to say about the construction? Well first of all it took me an entire month to build this thing and
When I think back about some of the reasons it took so long is one thing I was battling the Texas summer I
Decided to build this in my garage in the month of august in Texas, and so that slowed me down a whole lot
Also, if I had had a router it would have probably saved me two or three days
Trimming and filing the edges around the desk on the tile
Instead of using a hand file, but I was over budget so I didn't want to spend the money on a router
But that would have shaved off a couple of days
And so I would say if I were to do this project again
And I did it during the cooler part of the month, and I had all the right tools
I could probably do it in less than a week.
Okay, so the other thing I want to say is I wish I'd used thicker wood I used quarter inch MDF and particle board for
everything and it's decently strong at least for anything
I'm going to be doing with it
But when I sit on the desk, it does bow in just a little bit more than I think it probably ought to
So I kind of wish I'd used
Maybe a little bit thicker wood
If I decide that it's ever a problem, I can remedy it just simply by adding some supports
I've actually even drawn up some diagrams of what I may eventually put under there if I think it is problem
And that would've strengthened it up a lot.
Also, I debated between using paint or vinyl on the outside of this the sides of the desk and I
Really wanted to experiment with the vinyl but I would have had to buy a whole roll
and I really just wanted a little bit to experiment with and so I decided just go ahead and go the paint route because I'd
already spent too much time on this project, but if I do anything like this in the future
I may experiment with using vinyl instead of paint
Okay, so what's next on the horizon?
When it cools down I might actually go ahead and build a smaller companion desk to go with this
as you can see kind of here in the diagram what it would look like and
This would be for my daughter and it would it would be built into the same design as the big one
I just built to just just be smaller and but otherwise look very similar. Yeah, so one of the other things
I was considering doing was using some under cabinet lights so that when I'm down there on my hands and knees
Messing with cables and stuff it'd be easier to see cause it's actually pretty dark under there, but again it was over budget
So I decided not to do that because that would add another 50 or 60 dollars
to the project
But I may do that at some point down the line depends on how much time I end up spending under that desk
messing around with cables anyway, so that about wraps it up
And I hope you enjoyed my video, and I'll get some neat stuff coming down the line so I'll catch you next time
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