The Ultimate Computer Desk - 2 Built-In Computers

ultimatedesk

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
72
Hello all,

I've been a long time browser, and only recently decided it was time to start participating in the community forums.

The reason for this change was that I've begun production on, what is in my mind, THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER DESK!

It needs to meet the following criteria:
1. Noise control
2. Fan control
3. Dust control
4. Multiple Monitors
5. House 2 computers - 1 for gaming, and 1 24/7 file server / media player

I'm already a couple weeks into the project, so this first update will be a pretty big one. After the initial slew, you can expect weekly, to semi-weekly updates, as I generally am able to get two days in the shop per week.

Hope you stay tuned, and remember, comments and criticism are ALWAYS welcome! I look forward to hearing some feedback from the [H]ard group here ;)

Thank you to Crucial, Kingston, and Danger Den for sponsoring this project and for helping to make this a reality.





 
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With the material being decided at 3/4" plywood, I set about drawing some sketches on how I would like the components laid out. Here are the initial results, done in Google Sketchup:

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And, thanks to some amazing talent over at the Google Sketchup Warehouse, some components were added:

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The air intake is on the same panel as the motherboard - it will have some high quality furnace air filter placed over it.

I took the component layout and copied it for the right-hand module, along with some drawers:

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And here is what it looks put together for the 1st draft. The boxes in back are for cable management, there'll be foam pieces that cover the top to prevent the boxes from collecting dust as well.

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There were some pretty big errors made in the first draft. so stay tuned for the 2nd, where I correct all my silly mistakes ;)
 
Ok, so if you didn't notice, here are the mistakes I made:

1. Butt joints = lots of exposed screws. I will have to remedy this.
2. Drawer faces, but no drawer bodies, I would have been missing a lot of cuts!
3. Plywood edges are ugly, I forgot to account for 1/4" trim being used on all exposed edges.
4. 2 Monitors is so 2000! I should at least accommodate for 3, right? ;)

So here are the updated sketches. The dark colour is edge trim, and the light colour are just 1x1's, where I can screw the side panels together from the inside, hiding screw holes from the outside.





The new product, and the final draft:



And, some cut-sheets! Thank you Google Sketchup!









Phewph! 4 Sheets of ply! That's going to be a lot of cutting ;) Stay tuned, I've already done the initial cuts! And in case you're wondering, yes, I forgot to re-size the photos from now on, because I thought [H]ard had automatic resizing pictures! OH snap!
 
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Ok, so I got some nice sheets of 3/4" 2-Sided Maple Veneered Plywood at the local shop, and mmm, mmm, do they ever smell nice.

In case you were wondering, the two "pods" on each top side of the desk will house DVD, power, reset controls, fan controls, hdd and power led's, etc... Yes, some custom wiring will be in order!

Some pics:







The bad boy I'll be using this evening:





The initial, lengthwise cuts finished:





And, onto the smaller cuts:





All the small cuts done, except for some 28" lengths that I couldn't fit on to the table saw. Made a bit of a mess tonight:









Initial cuts done! Stay tuned for a big hole being made in the next update ;)
 
Got those 28" Lengths cut with a special jig attached to the table saw





Went about measuring and drawing out the hole for the top of the desk with a carpenters square, then jigsaw a rough shape, and then a clamped straight-edge with a router to finish it off. Will take more pics for the next hole:







Made a small mistake here, it will be covered with a black gasket of some kind anyways - this is where the glass will rest on after all.







And, the hero of the night, actually, two of them - Mastercraft Plunge Router, and an awesome heater (It was cold in the shop!)





Stay tuned for another update in a couple days! I'll do the other hole and start on the drawers! ;) All comments are super welcome and appreciated ;)
 
nice start. If it turns out as good as your drawing, you should sell sell sell!
 
About a month ago I was thinking about how cool it would be to be able to do a project like this. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
 
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Very cool!

I'm thinking your going to need some way for air to enter and leave where you have the computer components though. Just having them locked up in a cabinet isn't so good. :eek:
 
Yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes! This is full of so much win.

I looked at your first draft and thought "this is tight, needs a 3rd monitor." You did not disappoint Sir. ;)
 
looks cool, I like the new design. Cant wait to see the final product.
 
nice start. If it turns out as good as your drawing, you should sell sell sell!

Haha, thanks FrEaKy, I never thought about selling something like this before! If I get enough orders to quit my day job, I'll consider it ;) I would love to spend my days in the wood shop!

Very cool!

I'm thinking your going to need some way for air to enter and leave where you have the computer components though. Just having them locked up in a cabinet isn't so good. :eek:

Hey King Icewind, thanks for commenting - the air intake for the left-hand module is on the same board as the motherboard, the air will go in through the first "open" shelf, and will exit via the PCI slots, and a hole above the motherboard input / outputs. The power supply will be exhausting air as well. It is similar for the right-hand module, where the air intake is a hole in the actual door of the cabinet, with the same exhausts.

This looks like a neat concept. Much better than the famous 10K desk. :D

Hmm, the 10K desk eh? I'll have to look that one up!

Yes! Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes! This is full of so much win.

I looked at your first draft and thought "this is tight, needs a 3rd monitor." You did not disappoint Sir. ;)

Haha, thanks Spiko, haven't seen that much enthusiasm for a desk since... ever! ;)

zer0gravity, darkstarcow, wra18th, roadlesstraveled, timmimd, and J-Will, thanks a ton for your supporting comments, I hope I can keep up the good work and bring you all more and more fantastic updates as they come ;)
 
I was able to spend some time in the shop this weekend, and didn't get as much done as I would have liked to.

One of the main things holding me back right now is the fact that I have not selected the motherboard tray, and template for the motherboard input and outputs, as well as PCI slots. This prevents me from cutting the holes accurately in the back of both of the modules, which prevents me from assembling the actual modules. I have some "spare" desktop chassis lying around, and will be working to find a solution to that soon.

In the meantime, I started working on the drawers for the right-hand module.

I first took them through the table saw again, trimming off the last 16th or two from some of the boards.

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Then went to work sanding all of the pieces down with 150 grit. I will likely go up to a 180 grit before the final stain goes on. I clamped a straight- edge on to the table saw so that it was easier to sand with the grain (Thanks Mike)

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Slowly, but surely, I went through all the pieces for the drawers, except for the faces. Yes, bad things happen when I don't have my sketchup drawings. I start drawing with markers.

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Mike was doing some work in the shop at the same time as me that day, so there was quite the mess.

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I put together my tools of the trade

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And here are the gluing steps I went through

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A few somewhat artistic clamp shots ;)

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Everything looks pretty straight

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Glued and clamped together the largest of the drawers, will likely put some hanging folders in there.

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Then I screwed everything together with #8 1.5" screws, all holes pre-drilled and countersunk. Most of the holes will be covered by the actual drawer sliding mechanisms, but the exposed ones will get some wood putty.

It's funny being in someone else's wood shop - I couldn't find the countersink bit anywhere - I tried looking through all the drill bit boxes (There were several) and nothing, so I had been using a small bit, then switching to the big bit to countersink, and then switching to the screw bit to screw in the holes.

Mike walks in half-way through the holes and you could tell he was rather amused - he goes to the back of the shop, pulls out a box, pulls out a box from the box, and then a small medicine container out from the box in a box - "Geez, didn't I tell ya to just look around? Oh. Wait. I guess this one was sorta hard to find eh?".

At that point, he also points out that there are several drills in the shop - silly me. So one drill with the countersink bit, one drill with the screw bit. It's been very interesting working in a shop dedicated to this type of work - very, very different from working in the basement with just basic hand tools.

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I haven't attached the faces of the drawers yet as I haven't determined how I would like to attach them. I would also like to attach the trim to the outer edges of the faces before attaching them to the drawers, since it'll be much easier to clamp all the faces together at once.

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And that's it for todays update - a bit short, yes, a lot of pictures of clamps, sorry, I got carried away ;)

I'm spending some time in the shop tonight, so hopefully I'll have another update for all of you tomorrow or the day after!

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Awesome, I have been envisioning something like this. I also started designing a coffee table that would run water-cooled console systems inside it. One thing I would suggest is using USB/ESATA extension cables and creating a panel either on the top of the desk or in spot you would prefer for easy access that would look really nice.

I love google sketchup
 
Stop posting and just finish it so we can all go "ooooooh ahhhhhhh"
 
Oh, I so want one of these. I'd like to see it retail and mass produced, but the furniture manufacturers would find a way to screw it up.
 
neat idea and concept.

just curious are the joints all just glued or are doing proper joints?

also might be worth investing in and oribtal sander. amount of time it saves getting a good finish for a stain saves so much time
 
Hell, I'd pay for the sketch-ups and materials sheet for this one. That's the biggest pain in the ass for me - the planning! I'd rather just get in and start building :)

Good luck, this looks like it'll be one hell of a sweet desk.
 
Good concept, but I see some noise/vibration issues? How are you going to isolate noise and vibration with the fans and hard drives are directly touching large, flat wooden surfaces? Are you going to use some sort of isolator? Just curious since I didn't see that in your plans or in your discussion. If I missed it let me know.
 
Wow, this is something I have been looking for. I would also pay a little bit for the sketchups and material sheet on this.
 
Dude this will be f'ing amazing. Welcome to the [H]ardfourm. You made it all the way to the front page being a newbie I call that Awesome :L>)
 
Subscribed, looks amazing. Can't wait to see the final product. I can't believe nobody asked what are the specs for the system though!
 
That's 3/4 Birch or Oak? You went to Home Depot right? Please don't tell me you went to Lowes!

I will clean your work area/garage if you build me one?
 
ultimatedesk i have always wanted to build a desk and now you have inspired me to do it
 
I had actually made a fairly similar design in sketchup especially in regards to a server being housed on the right side in a fairly similar configuration (except mine was resting on a sliding tray instead of mounted to the inside wall. This all makes me want to dig that design out and get back to work on it.
 
Nice! I'd put both comps on drawer sliders so that you can easily service them. Also, be sure to put some sort of dampening in like rubber grommets on the screws so the whole desk doesn't resonate to the tune of your hard drives or fans.
 
Awesome, I have been envisioning something like this. I also started designing a coffee table that would run water-cooled console systems inside it. One thing I would suggest is using USB/ESATA extension cables and creating a panel either on the top of the desk or in spot you would prefer for easy access that would look really nice.

I love google sketchup

Super cool idea Jutsu, that would make an amazing living room center-piece and also be a sweet htpc! I'll be implementing the power / reset / fan controls, as well as USB, eSATA, Mic and Headphone jacks in the cubby holes in the top left and right portions of the desk, so stay tuned for the implementation!

Stop posting and just finish it so we can all go "ooooooh ahhhhhhh"

Haha! If only, Adam! It'd be fantastic if I could "Just finish it!" - I would like to think that I could have the desk portion completed by Christmas, but I'm thinking at the rate I'm going, it may not be until the new year - sorry bud! ;)

Oh, I so want one of these. I'd like to see it retail and mass produced, but the furniture manufacturers would find a way to screw it up.

Well, you wouldn't be the first to want something like this! Maybe I'll talk to Ikea and get everything modularized, and flat-packed to you ;) ;)

neat idea and concept.

just curious are the joints all just glued or are doing proper joints?

also might be worth investing in and oribtal sander. amount of time it saves getting a good finish for a stain saves so much time

Thanks Yaka, ~most~ of the joints are glued and screwed. The main cabinets have a few dado cuts, to reduce the number of screw holes that I'll have to patch up.

And YES, I've been using the random orbit sander more, and it does save a ton of time - I'm not even going to think about how much sanding will have to be done when it comes time to stain!

This is sweet! I would definitely consider getting one

Thanks mrwiggles, you're not the first! Maybe we're on to something here...

Hell, I'd pay for the sketch-ups and materials sheet for this one. That's the biggest pain in the ass for me - the planning! I'd rather just get in and start building :)

Good luck, this looks like it'll be one hell of a sweet desk.

Thanks Think - stay tuned to the end of the desk construction and I'll be posting up some links to my actual sketchup files and cut plans!

Good concept, but I see some noise/vibration issues? How are you going to isolate noise and vibration with the fans and hard drives are directly touching large, flat wooden surfaces? Are you going to use some sort of isolator? Just curious since I didn't see that in your plans or in your discussion. If I missed it let me know.

Thanks Methadras - the noise isolation / hardware mounting will be a large portion of the project on its own. I have some ideas involving the use of various rubber mounts, styrofoam, and other closed-cell type foams sold at the hardware stores. I have a feeling that that part will be quite experimental, however, I am confident that I'll be able to rig up something good ;)

Wow, this is something I have been looking for. I would also pay a little bit for the sketchups and material sheet on this.

Never fear, I wouldn't even think of charging for the sketchup files! They'll be available to all at the end of the main construction phase, so stay tuned!

Dude this will be f'ing amazing. Welcome to the [H]ardfourm. You made it all the way to the front page being a newbie I call that Awesome :L>)

Wow! That explains the jump in views and replies! Thanks Killermac, I didn't even know I had made it to the front page!

Would you sell it for, say, I donno, $10,000?

Thanks trick_m0nkey, if this is something you'd be interested in, send me a pm, and maybe we can work something out ;) I love the idea that there is a market for custom computer desks!

Can't wait to see this finished. Also,good work on getting on the front page. :cool:

Thanks Scooter30! I can't wait to finish it too!!

Opening bid, 10,000.

Woohoo, maybe I'll have to make more than one ;) ;)

Subscribed, looks amazing. Can't wait to see the final product. I can't believe nobody asked what are the specs for the system though!

Heh, I'm surprised as well! I'll have to play the mysterious card on that one though - we'll just have to wait and see!

Very nice.

Thanks Ultima99!

That's 3/4 Birch or Oak? You went to Home Depot right? Please don't tell me you went to Lowes!

I will clean your work area/garage if you build me one?

Heh, there's nothing wrong with Lowes, but yes, I did go to Home Depot - I love that place - and it's 3/4 Maple, fyi!

Thanks for the offer, but according to all my calculations, you would have to do an awful lot of 10-minute clean-up jobs before getting me to purchase even 1 of those sheets of plywood ;) ;)

ultimatedesk i have always wanted to build a desk and now you have inspired me to do it

That's awesome maxius - there is truly, nothing more inspiring, and motivational, when it comes to doing paper / computer work, than having an appropriate desk. Totally worth putting the time into it.

I had actually made a fairly similar design in sketchup especially in regards to a server being housed on the right side in a fairly similar configuration (except mine was resting on a sliding tray instead of mounted to the inside wall. This all makes me want to dig that design out and get back to work on it.

Heh, get to work and start posting! ;)

Nice! I'd put both comps on drawer sliders so that you can easily service them. Also, be sure to put some sort of dampening in like rubber grommets on the screws so the whole desk doesn't resonate to the tune of your hard drives or fans.

Thanks hoffstetter - I figure maintenance on the main system will be fairly simple - the hole for the glass is quite large and allows access to all of the components. As for the one on the right, there is the disadvantage that I am not able to put the motherboard on its side, like you would a normal case, so I'm thinking of building in some kind of removable tray.

As far as noise / resonance isolation, that is going to be a whole project on its own. I'm fairly certain I'll be able to find ~something~ out of the gazillion products sold in the local home reno superstores, and I am still very open to suggestions to this potential issue.

Looks very sweet indeed. I can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks ianc, stay tuned, this WILL GET FINISHED! (Because I just can't wait, to be honest. My current desk is... a sad excuse for a desk ;) )
 
I finally got around to putting the second hole in the desk surface area (Since the desk is composed of two sheets of plywood, there are two holes needed, with the "top surface" needing a hole that is .5" larger all the way around, so the "bottom surface" supports the piece of glass which covers the gaming computer).

I took a few more detailed pictures compared to last time.

As with before, I started by cutting out a rough shape with the jigsaw. I was able to get within .5" comfortably of my marked lines. Sometimes if you rush the jigsaw, your cuts can get a little squirrely, so I was playing it safe. This is the top surface, so no screwing up here!!

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I then took an extra dose of patience, and went in straight to the corners with the jigsaw. This is a step I did not take last time, and I made a mistake with the router because of this.

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I then took the router and pressed the bit right into the corner, and clamped a straight-edge on behind it. This is how I set the distance from the bit to the straight-edge. I repeated the same for the other side.

All it took was a good solid pass from right-to-left and I had a very clean straight edge without having to go all the way into the corners, where mistakes can be made, since it is quite difficult to see where the actual router bit is when the tool is running.

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Unclamp, reset router, reset clamps and straight edge, lather, rinse, and repeat:

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This hole had a very small margin of error overall, and I am very pleased with the result. The jigsaw is an incredible versatile tool and can be very accurate, as long as you have patience. This one corner is the only one that will need a touch-up with a file and/or sandpaper, and you can see, it's only going to need less than a 16th of material removal!

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And that's all I had time for in the shop that day ;) Enjoy some of my mess!

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Until next time - I have some images in the queue, but I haven't quite gotten around to resizing them just yet ;)
 
Good stuff, man! Those are some seriously hefty drawers. 3/4" was probably a little excessive for an office desk, but there's nothing wrong with that. Just don't skimp on the slides! ;)

Can't wait to see the end result! :)
 
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