New computer desk.

[Retired]

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.

Top in cramps.

Top glue up..jpg (291.93 KiB) Viewed 5926 times

Hidden power sockets to rear of top..

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Bespoke drawer knob.

Bespoke knob.jpg (216.53 KiB) Viewed 5926 times

New desk almost completed.

Almost completed 1.jpg (281.81 KiB) Viewed 5926 times

Completed desk.

Completed desk..jpg (307.33 KiB) Viewed 5926 times

[Wes]

Must say, I'm not to keen on the look of it but I can see you've put some serious effort in and executed the build very well Col.

I especially like the hidden sockets, brilliant!

I personally would have liked to see the formica sections in a similar timber to the white oak. Perhaps I'm a little boring though

Nice job Col...Hat off to you Sir

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks for your compliment and honest opinion Wes; much appreciated.

I had considered using genuine Burr Walnut wood veneer for the panels but the prices for the amount needed would have given me nightmares for life? The power socket idea took a bit of dreaming up but now it looks so simple. One thing is certain this desk is unique which is one of the joys of starting with a clean sheet of paper.

Kind regards, Col.

[Retired]

It looks brilliant Col

When you were at Boundary Mill did you call in Banny's fish and chip shop

[Retired]

Hi,

That's jolly decent of you ultimatehandyman thank you. Bron and I have never visited Banny's whilst over at Boundary Mills; we used to visit Compo's chippie quite a lot at Holmfirth but now never bother with fish and chips because although we used to like fish and chips we could taste them for hours after eating them? We used to visit the old Boundary Mills in Colne and in those days prices were exceptionally low with many good bargains to be had; these days it's hard to believe Boundary prices because many times M&S are just as cheap but M&S are not advertising up to 75% off? Posh new building equals high prices? We also visit the new Boundary Mills in Catcliffe at Sheffield but mostly just for a run out. We've visited Meadowhall ever since it opened and Meadowhall remains our favourite shopping center. My favourite tool store has to be Screwfix?

I suffered major problems in cutting the large sheets of Formica when I made the desk; I think the sheets were around 10' long and I had to resort to laying the sheet out on boards on the garage floor then clamp a long straightedge to guide the router fitted with a 1/4" cutter; it was a real pain of a job scrambling around on the floor whilst reaching over to control the router but as they say no pain no gain?

Kind regards, Col.

[ayjay]

I suffered major problems in cutting the large sheets of Formica when I made the desk; I think the sheets were around 10' long and I had to resort to laying the sheet out on boards on the garage floor

Col.

That's a really impressive looking job Col, (although the American White oak is a little pale for my taste in this situation).

I used to do a lot of laminating at one time: one job I did was a repair in Hatton Garden, they use large benches covered in laminate for sorting and counting diamonds, the benches are long and wide with a large upward slope at the back. Got the sheet up there and laid it on the floor (carpet) to trim it to length, ten seconds later some idiot walked across it and put his foot through it at every step.

[wine~o]

Well I like it.....I can imagine some people paying £1000's for that (Mind you I do have a penchant for Burr walnut...)

[Rorschach]

Very smart, not my style but I can appreciate the craftsmanship.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks ayjay and Rorschach; as with most things in life it comes down to personal taste and in my case what was available to me. Our local timber yards are very limited in hardwood choice mostly Oak or Sapele. I could easily have stained the white Oak but then in time where the top frame by the keyboard is used a lot the finish would wear away to reveal light coloured timber; doing it this way a fresh coat of varnish will make good once again. Most of the furniture both free standing and fitted I've made in our bungalow is dark wood (stained) which I like but I wanted to try something different with this desk; I wanted it to look "different" which it does; I could have gone the dark wood route and used genuine Burr Walnut or similar veneer but then it would look like many other desks also I could have let some leather in? Perhaps someday I'll go to town and splash out on top quality timbers but at £250 for materials for this desk I think it was enough?

Thanks wine~o; I too like Burr Walnut but not the eye watering price of it; below are pictures of a vintage radio I fully restored using Burr Walnut and the bits of Walnut bought through eBay cost around £35 just for this radio. I wonder how much Burr Walnut would have cost for this desk job?

Kind regards, Col.

Barker 88 restoration.

Barker 88. .JPG (271.43 KiB) Viewed 5814 times

Barker 88 fully restored.

Barker 88 restored..JPG (278.58 KiB) Viewed 5814 times

[mailee]

I have seen this on another forum before and have to say it is absolutely stunning. I know what you mean about the price of real burr veneer and your choice of the laminate means a good tough hard wearing surface. I love it.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thank you mailee for your kind comments. Yes many of my restorations and assorted projects are shown on other forums and also as articles in The British Vintage Wireless Society "Bulletin". I'm not an expert on anything and don't wish to be because I derive so much pleasure out of all the problems I encounter and finding ways to overcome them; I tend to do everything the hard way first and make all the silly mistakes but with patience I always win through in the end.

Forums are wonderful for exchanging information and ideas and during my ten years of vintage radio restoring Bron and I have made lifelong friends with forum members. I'd much rather sit at the computer and share my stories on forums than switch on the never ending sport or wars on TV. I wish I had lots of time to really browse this forum because it is filled to bursting with top class information from people who are on top of their job willing to pass on their hard earned experiences.

Kind regards, Col.

[Hitch]

Looks a very neat job, clearly a lot of effort gone into that.
Looks like your workshop has all the gear too
Same as a few of the others, not my taste... think i would have preferred some burr oak perhaps- but its not my desk.

The finish looks brilliant, is the varnish sprayed?

[DIY_Johnny]

that's a very smart idea with the sockets, never seen that on a computer desk apart from commercial ones. I wish I thought of that now when I made my one. Cables strung all over the place never looks great

I wonder could you have added Lan connections for a printer and wired internet. Wifi is never great in my place because I use SKY and they give you their own sh#tty router, so I opt for wired connections.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Hitch. My workshop/garage is evolving and has been doing so for the last 27 years at this address; when I sell one of my machines I always buy another but with the aim to upgrade each time. I did however downgrade when it came to lathes a few years ago; I sold my big industrial lathes; a Colchester Triumph engineering lathe and a huge Dominion Woodturning lathe just because they were too big; with more space I would never have parted with them but I still have four lathes to play with. The Formica is factory glossed finish; it came covered in a type of cling film which was removed only when the desk was completed; however the oak framework is brushed matte polyurethane varnish which so far is standing up well and will prove easy to re-finish if ever it wears through.

Thanks also DIY_Johnny. In this instance the 13A sockets was my own idea because I've never seen such a set up previously but I knew I wanted to tidy all the dangling cables so designed these into the desk top which looks so easy now its completed but took quite a bit of thought at first as to how to achieve what I wanted. Regarding other connections being designed into a desk I don't see why not as long as there is enough space to accommodate them? We are on Virgin cable with broadband and telephone connections readily available at the left hand base of the desk. The new style Virgin router sits neatly on top of the desk at the moment as seen in the picture. My needs are small when it comes to modern gadgets and I still don't use a mobile phone however given the rubbish put out on TV these days I needed to seriously do something about this before I bricked our telly due to the massive amount of sport being shown which virtually rendered our TV a waste of space because Bron and I have more things in our life than watching people kick a ball around. I did a bit of research and now we have a pair of TP-links allowing us to watch streaming YouTube videos through our new "smart" DVD player;

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing- ... 3-pdt.html

These links are much better than wi-fi because they use the house cabling for the signal; I still need to do a bit more research because many modern YouTube videos are blurred but on the whole we now enjoy watching TV and I can even settle down to some wonderful "how to" videos; the choice is vast. We are currently watching the entire series of "The fugitive".

Kind regards, Col.

[breatheasy]

My woodworking skills are very ,er, modest to say the least, yet I can see craftmanship when I see it ,really brilliant.The radio is a gem of a piece