New computer desk.
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New computer desk.
Hi,
It must be around 16 years ago a guy at worked approached me and asked if I would make him a farmhouse table from pine? I had some catalogues and he selected the style and we agreed on half price as stated. I bought the timber and spent three days of my Christmas holiday making the table from scratch. Back at work in the New Year I told this guy I had his table ready for collection; he replied he had seen one in Huddersfield for £10 less so I told him to buy the cheaper one. Now having this spare table I put it to use as my computer table. I finally got around to doing something about this table in June 2012 deciding to replace it with a new desk which I would make.
What prompted the new desk was that Bron and I visit Boundary Mills store in Colne and whilst visiting the toilets I was most impressed by the decor which looked like Burr Walnut but I knew would be a laminate. At home I browsed the web looking for similar laminate without success but not to be beaten I emailed Boundary Mills requesting details. I actually received a lovely reply from a lady saying she had tracked down the installers and the material was Formica but the pattern was now discontinued.
After lots more web browsing I found a site in Morley not too distant from us that are Formica stockists and I thought their Formica Amberwood Burl looked perfect so I sent off for samples which quickly arrived. I was surprised to receive what appeared to me to be virtually identical samples but the price of one was around twice the price of the other these being huge full sized sheets. I checked two sheets of the cheaper was in stock (I'm a Yorkshireman) and hadn't a clue how I could get these into our then Toyota Aygo but I drove over to Morley; paid the money around £70 for the two sheets and was asked to drive round to the warehouse to collect. I backed up to the warehouse doors which were open and was greeted by two guys; I asked how I could get such huge sheets into such a small car and both just smiled saying follow us. The two sheets were pulled from stock and both placed one on top of the other on a special table with a wide slot in the center. At the far end of the table was a long drum and I was amazed as one of the guys simply walked forward pushing the two sheets in front of him and they disappeared around the drum where they could be taped for transporting; they fitted nicely into the Aygo and I brought them home without transit damage.
As to the desk design I already had given this a great deal of thought and I already had quite a bit of woodworking experience to fall back on. I bought sufficient American White Oak for the framework and 18mm MDF as substrate for the Formica panels. One thing this desk mustn't have is lots of trailing leads? This was a tall order because when everything was hooked up on the farmhouse table the leads were like spaghetti and now I wanted to avoid this. I designed the desk top to accept seven or eight single 13A sockets having counted the plugs I needed to cater for; I built in seven sockets leaving room for a spare socket if ever needed and all the sockets were wired in allowing a single 13A plug for supply from a surge protector.
The MDF panels were cut to finished size then laid up with the Formica allowing the Formica to overhang by about 1/4" all around; the excess was removed using a flush cutting bit in the router. Extensive use was made of the biscuit jointer making cutting all the joints a rapid job. The panels are inserted into the frames using biscuits. The desk top outer oak surround was mitered for neatness and the miters reinforced with biscuits. One pedestal was to have a door fitted and this would be the printer material store the other pedestal to be open for computer ventilation. The desk was made of a size to fit into our entrance hall which now doubles up as my office and space was left at the desk end to allow the chair to be moved out of the way should anything be delivered through the front door.
The drawer fronts were also laid up with Formica and I needed some decent knobs in keeping with the desk design so because I couldn't find any knobs on sale which pleased me I turned a set out of the oak off-cuts and to the front of each knob glued in Formica inserts these working out very well indeed. The finish is good old polyurethane matte varnish in three coats which is lasting well.
The total cost of this desk was around £250 and I had immense pleasure in making it; the now obsolete farmhouse table was cut up and is being used in various projects so won't be wasted. I had never made a piece of furniture on commission before and I will never again. I like the look of this desk and it is in use very day; it is so heavy it doesn't rock around and it was well worth the effort.
Bron kindly treated me to a new computer and I re-decorated the hall and had a new carpet installed; life sure can be good with a little effort.
Kind regards, Col.
It must be around 16 years ago a guy at worked approached me and asked if I would make him a farmhouse table from pine? I had some catalogues and he selected the style and we agreed on half price as stated. I bought the timber and spent three days of my Christmas holiday making the table from scratch. Back at work in the New Year I told this guy I had his table ready for collection; he replied he had seen one in Huddersfield for £10 less so I told him to buy the cheaper one. Now having this spare table I put it to use as my computer table. I finally got around to doing something about this table in June 2012 deciding to replace it with a new desk which I would make.
What prompted the new desk was that Bron and I visit Boundary Mills store in Colne and whilst visiting the toilets I was most impressed by the decor which looked like Burr Walnut but I knew would be a laminate. At home I browsed the web looking for similar laminate without success but not to be beaten I emailed Boundary Mills requesting details. I actually received a lovely reply from a lady saying she had tracked down the installers and the material was Formica but the pattern was now discontinued.
After lots more web browsing I found a site in Morley not too distant from us that are Formica stockists and I thought their Formica Amberwood Burl looked perfect so I sent off for samples which quickly arrived. I was surprised to receive what appeared to me to be virtually identical samples but the price of one was around twice the price of the other these being huge full sized sheets. I checked two sheets of the cheaper was in stock (I'm a Yorkshireman) and hadn't a clue how I could get these into our then Toyota Aygo but I drove over to Morley; paid the money around £70 for the two sheets and was asked to drive round to the warehouse to collect. I backed up to the warehouse doors which were open and was greeted by two guys; I asked how I could get such huge sheets into such a small car and both just smiled saying follow us. The two sheets were pulled from stock and both placed one on top of the other on a special table with a wide slot in the center. At the far end of the table was a long drum and I was amazed as one of the guys simply walked forward pushing the two sheets in front of him and they disappeared around the drum where they could be taped for transporting; they fitted nicely into the Aygo and I brought them home without transit damage.
As to the desk design I already had given this a great deal of thought and I already had quite a bit of woodworking experience to fall back on. I bought sufficient American White Oak for the framework and 18mm MDF as substrate for the Formica panels. One thing this desk mustn't have is lots of trailing leads? This was a tall order because when everything was hooked up on the farmhouse table the leads were like spaghetti and now I wanted to avoid this. I designed the desk top to accept seven or eight single 13A sockets having counted the plugs I needed to cater for; I built in seven sockets leaving room for a spare socket if ever needed and all the sockets were wired in allowing a single 13A plug for supply from a surge protector.
The MDF panels were cut to finished size then laid up with the Formica allowing the Formica to overhang by about 1/4" all around; the excess was removed using a flush cutting bit in the router. Extensive use was made of the biscuit jointer making cutting all the joints a rapid job. The panels are inserted into the frames using biscuits. The desk top outer oak surround was mitered for neatness and the miters reinforced with biscuits. One pedestal was to have a door fitted and this would be the printer material store the other pedestal to be open for computer ventilation. The desk was made of a size to fit into our entrance hall which now doubles up as my office and space was left at the desk end to allow the chair to be moved out of the way should anything be delivered through the front door.
The drawer fronts were also laid up with Formica and I needed some decent knobs in keeping with the desk design so because I couldn't find any knobs on sale which pleased me I turned a set out of the oak off-cuts and to the front of each knob glued in Formica inserts these working out very well indeed. The finish is good old polyurethane matte varnish in three coats which is lasting well.
The total cost of this desk was around £250 and I had immense pleasure in making it; the now obsolete farmhouse table was cut up and is being used in various projects so won't be wasted. I had never made a piece of furniture on commission before and I will never again. I like the look of this desk and it is in use very day; it is so heavy it doesn't rock around and it was well worth the effort.
Bron kindly treated me to a new computer and I re-decorated the hall and had a new carpet installed; life sure can be good with a little effort.
Kind regards, Col.