Bombproof Builders Desk.....Build

Heh indeed, I'd go with the flip stealth idea, just figure out how you can make sure the res is always upright.
 
Great job so far dieseldog, been following this for a while. I like the sturdiness of it, I'm the same way myself.

If you decide that you won't be able to pull it off upside down, you could always make a plexiglass mobo tray that sort of "hangs" down from the top/ceiling of the area housing the computer. You could light up the plexiglass to match a color theme, and if you mount the mobo tray with thin threaded rod (or long thing bolts or whatever) you could always paint that to match the color theme. With the blue you have in there, a metallic blue would look sick imo.

If you did it this way, it might be better to have the hinges on the left or right since it would be difficult for access the way it is. The mobo would be right side up, so it would be kind of a consolation prize, and it would have to be dropped a significant amount in order to clear the video cards, but I think it could look pretty sweet if done right. Just an idea.

Oh and I like the keyboard and the Resident Evil looking reservoir, but I especially like the minifridge and more specifically its contents :D

Good luck! looking forward to updates
 
I suggest you mount the reservoir or both of them on the legs so they are stationary then just have enough tubing to allow it to move up and down, you can use rotarie fittings like Bitspower and/or manifolds like the ones Koolance makes to allow some flexibility and movement capability

love the project looking great
 
IPAddict (your name makes me think of the movie IP man lol) If I mount it right side up It will be mounted to the frame and not the lid (think like a car hood and engine) I would probably suspend it with metal rods ect....

Darth I had thought about that for the res's just hadn't gotten around to drawing up a version that way. Also thanks for the fitting suggestions the Koolance manifold looks perfect for my application! What do you think about the rad setup? would I be better off running 2 or 3 360mm or 480mm rads or can one Large rad do the trick with this sort of setup?

Thanks for the feedback guys!
 
Just mount the reseviour with the rad. I think that single rad will be more then sufficent aswell. Hell, with a rad that big, you may not need a res. Just make sure that rad is topped off before you start.
 
Ok so I pretty much have the Sketchup model for the Desk itself done here are some screen shots, now if anyone would like to point me in the right direction for a place to host the Sketchup file I would be happy to make it available to anyone who wants to build something similar.

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More coming soon.
 
Nice work!

You could host it on 4shared.com or a variety of other similar sites. Even a dropbox link would do, if you use that service.
 
Nice SketchUp and congrats on the ROG roundup! I look forward to seeing this completed as I am going to start constructing my own desk in August. How are you going to get the map to stay on the desk?
 
That was just a dry run I will be using vinyl with the image digitally printed on it.
 
OK guys sorry for the lack of updates, between work and Sketchup constantly crashing while I am finalising the desk design there hasn't been much to post. However I decided to start working on a different part of the build and also reorganize and clean up my office. So as I have said from the get go this desk is going to have a MW theme but other than a map I printed off there hasn't been much in the way of actual MechWarrior stuff done to the desk. Well not any more!

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Yes that is a custom made Mechwarrior Branding iron :D

I would like to thank Bryan Phillips who built this for me. He does great work and is super fast. I hit him up with the idea for this last week then I got a hold of him today and told him I wanted to have it made he went over the artwork with me in chat at about 12:30 and he told me he would have it ready this afternoon :blink: seriously I had it in my hands around 6pm and I could not be happier. I also got to meet his 37 day old Emu Gerry who was awesome!

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Anyway on to the branding iron. Its 2.75 inches tall so it will fit on 2x4s and is made out of plasma cut steel and then welded together.

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Now could not resist trying it out when I got home so here are some teaser shots.

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I did a bunch of test runs on scrap pieces of 2x4 left over from the desk build and I think I am starting to get the hang of it.

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Here is one Bryan did at his shop as well.

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Once again I cannot recommend Bryans work enough he showed me some awesome Roman style armor as well as some futuristic armor from a popular video game franchise he is still working on. His rates are very reasonable and he is really patient when it comes to tweaking stuff to perfection. He can be contacted at [email protected] he also does 3D digital modeling please shoot him a email if you need anythign metal fab related and mention that I referred you, I know that this wont be the last piece of work i have him do on this or several other projects I have coming up.

Now I plan on doing the actual branding on the desk this weekend and I am looking to the community for where I should actually place the branded logo. Please post or pm your suggestions and whichever suggestion is the best/makes the most sense I will go with (I may actually give the person who makes the best suggestion a prize aswell we will just have to see ;) ) Two other things I am thinking about doing is videoing the branding process and posting it up for everyone to enjoy, the other thing is I am thinking about having Bryan make a branding iron for every company that decides to sponsor this build and dedicate a area of the desk to true Sponsor "Branding" so let me know what you think of that.

Lastly I am hoping to cut and fit the lid to the PC enclosure so look for pictures and commentary on that. I am debating going over to videoing the build as it progress (thoughts?) Anywho thanks for reading and please let me know what you think!
 
very cool updates

the Emu is pretty cool and amazing work by Phillips for his metal work
 
Some updated Sketchup pictures, I will soon start the hunt for sponsors.

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Some of the PC cabinet (please remember the entire cabinet will be enclosed in aluminup with man and rad cutouts and access points ofr the Xbox 360, PS3 and surround sound head unit.) Also I will be using a square grid rubber coated wire mesh, the expanded metal in the imagies is just a place holder as it was already available.

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Ok guys, small update. Due to the fact that my air conditioning is out of commission for the next day or 2 and it hit 90 degrees here today, starting a fire in my office to heat up the branding iron seemed like a ill advised idea. However we did get the top for the PC cabinet cut to size, whipped out some tubing to figure out routing and component placement. Good news is I am confident that we will be able to stick with the inverted trapdoor mounted PC concept and I will be finishing the sketchup model including tubing in the next couple of days. Final bit of news the desk build just (Ok mainly the MW branding iron) just got a mention in the No Guts No Galaxy Mechwarrior podcast. You can check it out at www.nogutsnogalaxy.net its a really great podcast and a must for any Mechwarrior/Battletech fan. Anywho expect a bigger update a little later in the week.

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Also right now I am still planning on using a Piano/continuous hinge but I am open to other options so if you know of another solution please post it up esp. if its exotic or overkill.
 
Sorry for the Delay guys, this project is still ongoing, however I have been absolutely slammed with work and some personal life drama, I also wanted to switch over to a video update format and have been hunting for the right HD camcorder (think I have found it in the Sony CX260V) So expect a Video update soon. Until Then heres a teaser for some of the goodies I have been gathering for the build.

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Ok guys, I have been working 14 hour days so no build updates but the parts are still rolling in here is another sampler pic or 2.

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I wish, got hit hard with property taxes from last year cause I bout the house after june so I am not considered a homeowner occupied property for that year, $2800 o_O Plus I am self employed so its not like I am getting overtime for any of it.
 
I wish, got hit hard with property taxes from last year cause I bout the house after june so I am not considered a homeowner occupied property for that year, $2800 o_O Plus I am self employed so its not like I am getting overtime for any of it.

Ouch, thats quite the bill. I also didn't realize you were self employed. Well, in the end this will just give you an upgrade path to IB-E with its octo core HT extreme edition.
 
Indeed I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs and started my first business at 14, I love the freedom but there are times where there is alot to be taken care of and its just time to grind it out. I worked a 18 hour day yesterday :eek: but tomorrow I get to go on a 5 day vacation so turns and roundabouts I suppose. And that is precisely my plan with the 3820, it outpaces my current 2700K and I believe I should be able to get 4-5 years out of this system with minimal upgrades other than Proc and GFX swaps.
 
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Ok guys I shot a video update but I am having issues with it unfortunately so here is a regular old update.

Ok so I have been on a backup rig for over 2 months now and it has been killing me. So I now have most of the components I am planning on using in the desk build, so I threw all of them into a Bitfenix Shinobi XL case to test all of the components and make sure I am happy with the performance and everything works before I go through the trouble of mounting it up. This is just a temp build so its not my prettiest work.

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Also I managed to snag a Dell 30 inch 2560x1600 to replace my triple monitor setup. I freaking love it! I may go up to three of them but at the moment 1 is enough. Specs for the system are as follows

Intel 2011 8320 w/ XSPC Raystorm waterblock

MSI Big Bang II Mobo

Gigabyte 7970 with EK Acrylic waterblock and backplate

G-Skill 16gb 1866 ram

Swiftech 360mm rad with gentle typhoons in a push configuration

Swiftech 240mm rad with Noctua fans in a pull configuration

Swiftech Pump with XSPC res.

Koolance 3/8 ID and 5/8 OD compression fittings

Corsair 1000w PSU

Asus Blu Ray drive

Crucial M4 256 SSD

WD Green 2TB Media Drive


Ok Guys I am ordering more parts for the build however I will not be posting much till the beginning of September as I have a huge workload to get done before I head to PAX Prime :D I will be going full steam ahead on the project when I get back. Thanks again for everyone following the build I will try to get the video update redone and working in the next few days though.
 
Thanks, I used to work at a bike shop. They gave em to me when they decided to update they're look.
 
This Build still lives but there have been some changes, including a second PC. Here are some screenshots for what I have planned :D


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More to come soon.
 
Ok, sorry for not posting more details with the design updates guys, it was late and I had just gotten them done. Anywho So its been a couple months since my last update, between PAX, work and a unexpected medical issue I haven't been able to post much. However I have been making headway on the build so here is a list of some of the changes.

First off obviously is the monitor setup I have added 2 Dell 2007 1600x1200 monitors to my Dell 30 for a PLP setup, I have to say that out of all monitor configurations I have tried this is by far the one I prefer most it allows for crazy high levels of productivity without being crazy wide or narrow.

I also have a 24 inch 1920x1200 monitor to the left, that is for the next phase of my project. I am mounting a PC in the wall behind the Desk as the designs above illustrate. The room behind my office us unfinished as its where the HVAC is located in the house, so I decided to do something fun and interesting with this area as its basically used for just storage. The PC will be mounted on a hinged board with dual triple rads bellow. The reasons I did this are threefold

1. As some people have brought out there may be issues running a liquid cooled rig in this horizantal configuration and before I go through the trouble of modifying my desk this way (I have a backup configuration) This will serve as a proof of concept build for the liquid cooling layout and help me work the bugs out in a more forgiving setup with cheaper components. And should it not work I will put it in the up position and be no worse off.

2. I will need another PC up and running ans I am modifying and building the desk rig so this will serve as my backup and interim rig.

3. It s a chance to do something cool and different with PC components, duh!

So the specs for this rig are

i5 2500K processor
EVGA FTW mATX Mobo
Koolance 360WB
655 Pump
AMD 6970 Video Card with Heatkiller waterblock
2x 360mm slim rads
8gb of G-skill 1866Mhz ram
SeasonicX 750w psu

More coming soon, I am waiting for parts today and tomorrow, thanks for reading!
 
Ok guys, small update today but I can say that I will be posting more regularly as all of the parts I need for the next stage of the build are either here or in the mail. Anywho today was all not tech work on the desk. First off as this coffee stain will show you I need a better way to have beverages on my desk.

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Enter the stainless steel 3 3/4 inch cupholders :D

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They have a drain at the bottom that I will have a plug for, so should I spill a drink in the holder I simply put the trash bag bellow in and drain it.

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I will be using my 3 and 3/4 inch hole saw for these. Costs alot of money but work every penny, remember modders, the right tool for the right task :thumb:

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First one cut and mounted (sorry forgot to snap a pic before I put it in)

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Then number 2

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And Bam! 2 sexy additions to my already awesome desk :)

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Ok, next up in anticipation of the 6970 and motherboard tray arriving for the wall PC part of the build I decided to mount the power and reset buttons for the wall PC. First off a strait edge to make sure my marks are right.

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Then a couple of pilot holes.

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Now the trick with these is to drill with 2 different size paddle bits from each side so I can get the mounting ring for the switches in the hole. So 3/4 inch in the front.

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Then 1 inch in the back

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Getting the rings to stay in place was a pain in the butt however my trusty leatherman came through for me on this one.

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These were a bit of a hassle but I am really happy with how they turned out.

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But now I have this awesome place to put my beer but I have to keep a tacky bottle opener lying around, cluttering up the top of my desk. Well I solved that problem today as well :D

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One last piece of advice guys, when ever I mod I test, test, test :drink:

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Expect another update in a week guys and as always thanks for reading!
 
Love the bottle holders and the Deschutes Brewery. Mirror Pond Pale is one of my favorites.
 
Ok guys, small update, today I am back over at Bryans shop to get some parts fabbed up. Here we have the Plasma Cutter we will be cutting the parts out with.

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And these are the items the parts are being made for.

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Templates made up, its time to cut.

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Smooth em out, and drill out the holes for attaching to the 2x4

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Bend them to shape and I have some sweet purpose built Brackets to hang my Rad from.

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Next up is a new triple rad template, as the compessed paper one I have is just not going to last. 16 Gauge steel, should last me the rest of my modding career :D

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Went outside, and who do I see? Gerry! Man he has gotten big!

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Ok so I will be having Brandon make alot more parts for me after the first of the year. But now onto the actual area I will be installing the wall PC into. Now, to be clear everything I am doing is just test fitting. I will be cleaning up the area and paint it as well.

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Next up my 6970 came in and I got to slap my Heatkiller WB on it (Man I love the way these look)

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Sorry I dont have more to show right now, I hurt my hand, and due to the holiday. I will have more soon and hopefully have the wall mount fabbed up in the beginning of january.
 
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