[scratch build] Industrial desk [finished]

[mrc4nl]

Hi, my name is Frank van Dijk.
Last year i also participated in the contest but never finished. I Made a Drawer extensions for the desk, but never the actual desk itself. I contacted the mods, and I can enter this contest as long as I only post material that was made this year. a new scratch build. i will forget about the old one.
 
For the lack of a better name my desk is called "industrial desk" because it will have a (somewhat) industrial look to it. Whit metal exterior like aluminium.
 
The design.


 


As u can see i wanted something modern, different than those square desks. Also the motherboard will be at a slight angle rather than flat to the bottom.
I needed space for the Power supply unit but also for a 3 *hotswap bay. Because it will also will contain my server/Nas. I wanted to be able to swap hard drives without having to dismantle the desk. Thats why there is a small block sticking
out of the rear.
 
first update
As whit all scratch build i needed material first. one sheet of 18mm thick plywood to be precise. that would be more then enough to support the desk

 
I started building the rear end of the desk. The guide was helpful for cutting in straight lines.

then i cut the corners.

and this is the result ( i made 2 of them)

Unfortunately, i forgot to correct for the thickness of the blade so one part was 2mm short. i placed a anti-static bag in between so i would not glue the 2 together when i add a little glue

add some glue:

thats better 

Then i needed to plan where i would place the hotsway bay. The best way is by having the part and align it visualy.
So i had to take apart the server (it has been quite a time) 

in the meantime a added some walls to the part

i removed the harddrives and the front

now i had the psu and drive bay i could move the parts into the best location

 
end of update one. the next one will follow soon ( as it is November i made quite a bit of progress, so i have a lot of material that needs to be published.)

[mrc4nl]

When the placement of the hdd bay was determined i needed to secure its position. So i made a couple op brackets:

the hole -layout is the same as a normal 5.25" drive. i looked up the form factor spec sheet and made a drawing on my pc and printed it at 1:1 magnification

pasted it on the the aluminium :

and drilled the holes on the right spot:

i tested it on a 5.25" drive, it did fit perfectly: 

the hdd bay could now be fastened

altough there needs to be room for the side panel:

suddenly something wet came out the skies:

i moved the workpiece inside the house, where i added the second bracket:

and filled the gap between the hdd bay and the side panel

 

almost done, the 2 psu's and the hdd bay had a location

[mrc4nl]

a aluminium profile was needed to secure the PSU in place

there was airflow needed to get the hot air out of the center by the psu's

i drawed the outline onto a square piece of wood

drilled some holes:

not much later:

times 2

time to put the pieces in place:

now the other side had to be made, first the inner side

and the outher side too

pre-drilling:

and add some screws to hold it tight

almost done:

[mrc4nl]

Another part had to be made: the bottom plate, it will be made out of acrylic , and bend into shape.

the front is at a angle, so the mould has to be to:

 

 

 

 

as u can see only the left and right side have a angle the mid part is flat

 

the sheet of acryllic had arrived:

the mould was not finished yet, the side had to be at a angle too:

some sandpaper to make everything nice and smooth:

now i can start bending it into shape using hot air:

 

the main frame needed some extra support for the base plate:

 

and a cutout for the flat part:

 

i bought the acrylic sheet a with margins, now the sheet has to be cut to size:

my coat was coverd in sawdust:

and so was the machine:

some screws to hold it in place:

as u can see the sheet is dull, i used sandpaper to roughen up the surface, i needed to apply paint

 

the first layer of base paint was ready 

[mrc4nl]

the plexi arc (the front panel) needed a support:

i forgot there was a angle, now there is a gap

filling the gap is easy:

its a arc, and at a angle so the supports needed to be cut(miter?) in a special way 

add glue:

a mount for the plexi

time to cut the plexi:

i also pained the bottom gray, but i am not satisfied by the result, ill guess ill make it black

 

time for another part: the top, its a special part since its the most visible one.

 

the shape consisist of a lage radius arc and two smaller arcs on the edges

the diameter of the big acr was to large for a single plank so id had to combine two.

drilling a hole:

fits nicely

i also needed to make room, so id could start milling

the workpiece is secured into position. i dont want any movements while milling

time to go milling:

halfway there:

the big radius was finished, so now i could mill the 2 smaller ones

 

 

 

for visualising the size of the window i placed the motherboard on the wood

using wooden planks as guides for milling

 

done

[mrc4nl]

I wanted to have the top of the desk a "quality" feeling.

 

Just made from wood, wouldt cut it (pun intended)

the top had to be made of a heavier and denser material: hard plastic.

small impurities from the wood are visible while milling.

dont mistake this for wood sawdust, it really is plastic!

i had to make spacers to keep the distance even

i put some holes in the plastic so i could screw the pieces in their temporarily place. movement is bad while milling 

 

i put some tape on the surface to make the milling a little bit smoother 

the front has been milled 

i hade to make my own guide for milling the sides.

outer shape looks fine:

even after dark i continued milling:

 

 

still a little rough in the corners:

the 2 parts had to become one, so i did a little sanding:

put some paint,yes realy paint!! remember how sticky it is after 30 minutes and it has the right color

 

the paint was squeezed out by pressure:

[mrc4nl]

Although i used paint to stick the 2 parts together, i also used screws. now the surface has holes.

Some polyester putty did the job of filling those holes. smooth when unmixed

 

after sanding:

 

the edges of the desk were sharp, not confortable. there was a solution:

 

added some extra putty to hide the gap between layers

its starts to look good

borders are sticking out:

 

 

some ledstrips to light up the inner desk part

looks realy nice

and i painted the top part shiny black

 

more ledstrips on the front:

 

heatshrinks 

[mrc4nl]

making some aluminium panels for the sides

 

 

 

cross cuts for better removal of the inner material

 

and glue it into place:

 

finally some industrial material: steel. i wanted to make my own motherboard tray

i had to bend it manually into shape, i had no machines to do it for me

the method is not that great, the radius is far too big

i did cut 2 planks at a angle, much better for bending sheets

cutting the IO shied holder

 

rough edges

and the second bend 

time for motherboard spacers, first i put tape on the surface for easy marking

punching the marks, for better drilling

tapping

motherboard fits

[mrc4nl]

Thanks, taking pictures, post processing them in Lightroom, exporting, resizing uploading, writing urls. especialy writing the update takes a lot of time

 

i am running behind schedule for posting updates, because right now my desk is almost finished. i have a little catching up to do.

 

The motherboard tray was made, i was curious if the pc would still rune fine after 1/2 year being disassembled

the gpu is now upside down, in the final build it will be fan upwards. at least everything worked fine.

 

a little jump in time, i painted the wood desk parts white, it was time for the rear panel.things had to be cut to length, at least the height matched.

cutting the sides to length:

the top panel was a little to big though

thats better

 

the local glass store delived my 8mm hardend sheet.

i couldn't wait to see how it would fit

not perfect, but good enough, and its better to leave a small gap for temperature expansion anyway.

a quick assembly, with leds:

 

 

after the tray was in place i found out some cables were too short, for instance the gpu cable. i could buy a extension cable, but why not make my own? 

step 1 removing the insulation (i used a pair of scissors) 

wires are always stubborn when soldering, i used the scissors for keeping them together too.

the psu cable was a little longer now 

heatshrinks are important, a short circuit wont give any power to the psu.

 

a finished cable:

 

more electronics, I've bought some switches

4 holes had to be made

finding the center:

marking the margins

i also marked holes for the fan controller

some adjustments had to be made to make it fit

filling up the small gaps with filler

preparing the external cardreader for internal use

applying more filler

no more gaps 

the panel in white base coat:

[mrc4nl]

its not that i am running out of time, its due exams at school i am late posting updates,

no more worklogs, just whats necessarily.

 

Current standing, a working desk although limited (no cardreader,water cooling, optical drive, or paint on the motherboard tray)

 

Before i made a entry i promised the mods not to show any work of 2012. i kept that promise. until now.the desk was never made to float in the air. The drawer parts complete the desk, the top sits on them, following the same

curves.Yes the desk itself can stand alone although that was never the intention. i hope this clairify's that and wont get me disqualified. (the drawers are a mere add-on)

 

 

maybe ill fix some problems and post other pics befor jan 31. but so now this is what i have: