Computer Desk Build

[fuzz092888]

While it's only tangentially related to audio builds, the desk is going in my brand new office where I'll be able to pack in some more speakers. Speakers that I will build. So I guess this is the precursor to that. Anywho, it's been two or three years since my last audio related build (dual 21" subwoofer) and 2 years since I last built something of any consequence (10'x15' front porch). I figure it's time to get back on the horse. You can only build so many charcuterie boards and cutting boards before boredom sets in and I need to get my new garage workshop sorted before I do anything speaker related in there. Thanks home depot and NSD for losing all the storage cabinets I ordered.

I recently moved so everything is everywhere and every time we seem to get unpacked we bring more stuff from the storage unit or from my parents and then the place looks like a disaster again. A buddy of mine tried to start his own farm to table restaurant and had big plans for this grand entrance. He ordered a bunch of mahogany boards, even though he is definitely not a woodworker, and peppered me with questions about how to make his grand vision come to life. Long story short, his reach exceeded his grasp and this summer was the everything must go sale. He appreciated my help and sold me the mahogany for a nice little discount.

So I ended up with a load of mahogany to begin the undoing of all my organization efforts. Later progress pics will show how bad things have gotten lol.

Testing with a little water so I can an idea of which boards will become the desk. Ultimately I was unhappy with most commercial offerings and was 100% convinced I could build a better top than what the companies I was considering were offering.

Laying out the chosen boards to decide which ones stay and which go

Mahogany boards obviously need mahogany dominos

Couldn't find some of my clamps so we went with what we had and hoped for the best. More clamps would have been more better though

Starting off with the bottom. Sanding it relatively flat

When dry a little more satin

Finally able to flip and start sanding the top

An eternity of sanding later......still sanding

First coat on the top

5th, 6th, 7th coat????? who knows at this point. Stupid desk. I should have just bought one.

The eventual base

 

[Alex2507]

Welcome back. I'll take a set of dominos. Thanks.

 

[afterlife2]

 

[witchdoctor]

Did you get whacked by the runaway cost of lumber? Nice pics

 

[MrBoat]

Mahogany is a favorite. I have an entire boat's worth (roughly 60 board feet of it) of framing built out of H. Mahogany. Been used for fishing in saltwater hard since 2006 and still looks new.

 

[fuzz092888]

Welcome back. I'll take a set of dominos. Thanks.

I may regret a fair amount of purchases, but the domino wasn't one of them. Is it necessary? Absolutely not. Is it fun and super fast to use? Yes.

 

[fuzz092888]

Did you get whacked by the runaway cost of lumber? Nice pics

I didn't count the number of board feet, but a rough estimate puts me at like less than $5/bdft for the whole lot. So.....pretty good

 

[fuzz092888]

Mahogany is a favorite. I have an entire boat's worth (roughly 60 board feet of it) of framing built out of H. Mahogany. Been used for fishing in saltwater hard since 2006 and still looks new.

This is why I jumped on it. I wanted something that would last for years of use and abuse. I figure with the pure tung oil + citrus solvent it will be super low maintenance as well for at least 10-15 years if I'm lucky.

 

[fuzz092888]

Pardon the terrible overhead fluorescent lighting, but here's the top after a little sanding with 800 grit and a quick super light recoat. I'll probably just leave it as is and continue to wait for it to dry out....which seems to be taking forever.

At this point I may just bring it upstairs and attach it to the base and let it finish drying/curing up there

 

[panteragstk]

Glad you're back. It's nice to have someone motivate me to clean my garage so I can finish some projects.

I have a sheet of red oak that's been sitting in my garage for years. I'll be turning it into a desktop for my daughter.

Very nice work, and I know this isn't a woodworking forum, but some of you guys are just excellent at it and I always enjoy your builds.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Speaking of wood finishing, I highly recommend this YT channel - the dude is funny and extremely good at restoring old wooden furniture

https://www.youtube.com/c/ATRestoration/videos

 

[Verdinut]

For wood finishing, I like the Minwax wipe-on polyurethane liquid. It's so easy to apply and is a carefree product:

Wipe-On Poly - Clear Polyurethane Finish | Minwax®

Minwax® Wipe-On Poly is a durable, oil based, clear polyurethane finish for interior wood that provides protection with a classic, hand-rubbed look.

www.minwax.com

 

[fuzz092888]

For wood finishing, I like the Minwax wipe-on polyurethane liquid. It's so easy to apply and is a carefree product:

Wipe-On Poly - Clear Polyurethane Finish | Minwax®

Minwax® Wipe-On Poly is a durable, oil based, clear polyurethane finish for interior wood that provides protection with a classic, hand-rubbed look.

www.minwax.com

One of my favorites for interior work is Osmo. That and Rubio provide such a nice finish. However, the goal is to get a good spray system eventually. All the quality without all the buffing, even though the GEM orbital buffer is pretty fun to use.

 

[fuzz092888]

 

[fuzz092888]

Glad you're back. It's nice to have someone motivate me to clean my garage so I can finish some projects.

I have a sheet of red oak that's been sitting in my garage for years. I'll be turning it into a desktop for my daughter.

Very nice work, and I know this isn't a woodworking forum, but some of you guys are just excellent at it and I always enjoy your builds.

Idk If I'm excellent. The other Alex does some great stuff. Most of my things are just big rectangles

 

[panteragstk]

Idk If I'm excellent. The other Alex does some great stuff. Most of my things are just big rectangles

But they're very nice rectangles.

 

[Alex2507]

But they're very nice rectangles.

They are.

He’s into epoxy or some other weird sh!t you pour too.

Why the sale? Why so much? That’s about what I paid for my car.

 

[panteragstk]

They are.

He’s into epoxy or some other weird sh!t you pour too.

Why the sale? Why so much? That’s about what I paid for my car.

Yep. I've learned a lot of what you can do with epoxy from @MrBoat as well.

Will I ever try it? No idea, but it looks like a good solid finish.

 

[highfigh]

Pardon the terrible overhead fluorescent lighting, but here's the top after a little sanding with 800 grit and a quick super light recoat. I'll probably just leave it as is and continue to wait for it to dry out....which seems to be taking forever.

At this point I may just bring it upstairs and attach it to the base and let it finish drying/curing up there

800 grit is only needed if you're trying to bring a finish to a satin finish- if the paper clogged very easily, the finish wasn't hard or the previous grit was too coarse to follow with 800. OTOh, if the finish is very hard and you want the sheen to be just shy of watery gloss, you can go all the way to 15000 grit.

IMO, Tung oil isn't the best finish to use for something that will experience direct contact with arms, hands, anything that might scratch or scrape it because it's more of a 'look at it' finish, rather than a floor poly which, BTW, can be applied with a brush, roller, pad or by spraying. I used Minwax fast drying satin floor poly for my kitchen cabinets and it turned out beautifully- I thinned it with Naptha and it dried totally flat.

If you want to fill the pores of an open-grain wood like Oak, Ash, Mahogany, etc, you can put the finish on and use Scotch Brite pads to 'sand it in'- the fine material that is removed by the pad will mix with the finish and act as a filler. That way, you won't need as many coats. It also allows you to use one filler coat and not end up with a totally flat surface. The grain won't be as open, but it will be visible. From there, you would use a finer Scotch Brite pad to smooth the surface but not remove much wood or previous finish. Then, you can use the wax of your choice to protect it, or not.

Another step you can use is applying a barrier coat like Zinsser sanding sealer- it's Shellac that has had the wax removed and it's about the same color as water when applied. That stuff dries incredibly quickly, so a lot of coats can be applied in one day, unless it's cold and/or very humid. It dries with an extremely glossy surface and can be made less glossy in many ways- I have used Scotch Brite pads and on a couple of McIntosh cases (one for an AM/FM tuner, the other for a small power amp), it was just too glossy, so I burnished the finish with paper towels before waxing with Johnson's Paste Wax. The one issue with Shellac is that you don't want alcohol of any kind to come into contact with it unless you add some kind of wax and there are no gaps- Alcohol is used as the solvent for Shellac. Once hard, it's very durable- it was used as a floor finish a long time ago.

 

[highfigh]

One of my favorites for interior work is Osmo. That and Rubio provide such a nice finish. However, the goal is to get a good spray system eventually. All the quality without all the buffing, even though the GEM orbital buffer is pretty fun to use.

How often does Rubio need to be re-applied? I have watched a bunch of videos (Blacktail Studio and others) but don't remember hearing comments about durability.