Oak Desk - my new custom desk

[50mm]

 

Hello everyone to my new project, but this time without any hardware. I hope it still fits into this forum as it will be part of my setup.

 

The last few years many people build their own "Desk PCs" and even companies released some which you can just buy and put your computer in.

I really like the idea of having you computer inside of your desk but i don't want to have a 20cm thick one. That's why i stick to a normal PC inside a case placed next to me.

 

When i moved my setup to another room last year i didn't take my glass desk with me since i wanted to get a new one. Since then i used this old desk which looks really cheap compared to the rest.

It has scratches all over it, looks dirty and when you place something on it you might think it will break any second.  

 

 

The last few months when i was browsing reddit and instagram i found some really nice setups, from simple white desks to some made out of solid wood.

I could get a white one without any effort when i drive to the nearest Ikea but that's not what i wanted. It should at least look like wood.

The first idea where melamine oder veneer desks, another alternative were work plates like they're used in the kitchen.

 

All well and good, but after seeing so many nice setups i really wanted a desk made of solid wood. The only problem was the price.
If you want a custom made plate you easily pay 1000€ or more and that was way too high.

 

So i talked to a friend and he told me that his deceased neighboor was carpenter and after they sold nearly anything in his workshop there were still some pieces of wood left.

He found some old oak floor lying there for about 10 years and i went there to take a look at it. 

 

 

 

Apart from all the dust they looked really great so we asked if we can take these to my friends workshop. He then started to plane and saw the wood.

This is the result:

 

 

 

Gorgeous, isn't it? 

Of course the wood has some "beauty mistakes" but i love the old look. This is exactly what i wanted.

 

 

But i can't build a desk without a frame underneath. I wanted the frame to be made of steel profiles so i started creating some designs in CAD. 

The first one used angle profiles and looked like this:

 

The idea was to insert the wood plate into the profiles so you won't see the edges later. 

Some days later i made a new design which not only looks much more sturdy but also is.

 

 

This one uses 80x30x2mm steel profiles and should be able to hold much more than just the plate and my setup.

I did a second one which is "only" 1,6m long and called another friend who works with metal and also powdercoats.

The frames are going to be clear coated after welding and grinding to keep the industrial look. This will look awesome combined with the wood.

 

That's it for today, i really hope you like my idea and if not, tell me what you think would be better.  

[Noob900]

Very Cool!!

[pentotark]

Desk is looking great!

Your room looks very industrial and even, I think it would be nice if you keep each planks imperfections, especially on the left and right edges.

[Urishima]

I like wood.

 

Quote

The idea was to insert the wood plate into the profiles so you won't see the edges later.

Bad idea with actual wood. Wood expands and contracts according to how humid it is, as the fibers of the wood will swell up and dry out over the year. Always give your wood room to expand along the width. You can't just bolt it down or you will end up with the wood cupping and/or cracking.

 

Here are some examples:

Head on over to r/woodworking, they can answer all your wood related questions

[50mm]

13 hours ago, pentotark said:

Desk is looking great!

Your room looks very industrial and even, I think it would be nice if you keep each planks imperfections, especially on the left and right edges.

Thanks, i will try to keep some of these imperfections but i want the edges to be straight.

3 hours ago, Urishima said:

I like wood.

 

[...]

 

Bad idea with actual wood. Wood expands and contracts according to how humid it is, as the fibers of the wood will swell up and dry out over the year. Always give your wood room to expand along the width. You can't just bolt it down or you will end up with the wood cupping and/or cracking.

[...]

Head on over to r/woodworking, they can answer all your wood related questions

Thank you, that was one of the points why i discarded this idea. We had to make the gap big enough to allow the wood to move and that would've looked stupid.

I'll look into the subreddit
 

The frames are already here and they look really industrial 

I only took photos of the "small" one since the other one was downstairs, but they look the same  

 

 

 

 

 

[Urishima]

How are you going to connect the desk-top to the frame?

[50mm]

23 minutes ago, Urishima said:

How are you going to connect the desk-top to the frame?

When the plates are ready i'm going to give them some time before connecting them to the frame. After that i will use screws.

[Urishima]

10 minutes ago, 50mm said:

When the plates are ready i'm going to give them some time before connecting them to the frame. After that i will use screws.

Well, that is probably going to lead to the same issue.

 

When connecting a hardwood table-top to a frame, you usually use something like this:

 

These are called cleats.

Notice the grooves that allow the connecting piece to slide sideways as the wood moves. It's snug, but still lose enough to allow the wood to expand and contract over time.

 

Further explanation:

http://followyourheartwoodworking.blogspot.de/2012/03/please-dont-make-table-like-this.html

 

Since your frame doesn't have an apron, you'll have to look to a different solution.

 

[EDIT]

 

Further reading with more explanation on how exactly wood moves:

 

https://www.canadianwoodworking.com/get-more/table-tops-and-wood-movement

[50mm]

On 26.4.2017 at 2:16 PM, Urishima said:

Well, that is probably going to lead to the same issue.

 

We'll see. I know about wood movement and i'm not going to use more screws than needed. The wood already has cracks and stuff like that and that's what i wanted, so no big deal.  

 

 

The plates are finished and i can't wait to show them to you guys!

This is what the small plate looked like just before impreganting it.  

 

 

 

The planks were glued together, cut to the exact dimensions and sanded. It also fits perfectly on the frame.

 

 

This is one of the parts i love the most  Maybe not everyone's taste, but definitely unique  

For impregnation i'm using Hard Oil from Bondex to make it waterproof and resistent. This will not only dye the wood darker but also intensify the contrast of the grain.

 

 

I started with the back side of the plates, let dry and turn them around. The top sides will get at least two layers.

 

You can already see that it gets darker, but it won't stay that glossy of course.  

 

 

[Urishima]

Aye, that's a very nice top.

 

How many coats are you doing?

[50mm]

4 hours ago, Urishima said:

Aye, that's a very nice top.

 

How many coats are you doing?

Thanks, i think i will stay with two layers since it didn't absorp much oil anymore. Would've done a third layer if needed but it doesn't seem so.

[50mm]

Ok guys, the small one is already finished. The wood didn't absorp much oil anymore so i think 2 layers will be fine for now.

After the wood dried i turned it around to attach the plate to the frame. You can't imagine how heavy the wood is compared to the frame..

 

 

 

 

Looks really awesome!  Now i have to tidy up and wait for the big plate to dry. Going to post photos once the desks are in position and my rig is set up. After that i need to do some cable management and other details

[Tomatenparty]

I really like the design of the table and it looks great.

I look forward to seeing the completed setup!

 

While searching for a new desk, I also browsed through the internet (reddit, ...) looking for inspirations.

I created a CAD of what my desk should look like and it is almost excatly like your desk.

(The only diffrences are the dimensions and the lack of a support, connecting both legs).

I just haven't started yet, because it isn't a major priority atm.

 

Grüße aus Aachen, NRW 

[50mm]

On 3.5.2017 at 10:09 PM, Tomatenparty said:

I really like the design of the table and it looks great.

I look forward to seeing the completed setup!

 

While searching for a new desk, I also browsed through the internet (reddit, ...) looking for inspirations.

I created a CAD of what my desk should look like and it is almost excatly like your desk.

(The only diffrences are the dimensions and the lack of a support, connecting both legs).

I just haven't started yet, because it isn't a major priority atm.

 

Grüße aus Aachen, NRW 

Hi, also direkt nebenan  

The support for the frame was important to me because i don't want the desk to wiggle. Also i wasn't sure if it would be enough to only put two legs under the wood when i want to put my heavy pc on there.  

The setup is already working but i didn't have time to tidy it up for some photos since i'm still working on some case mod projects as well. 

 

Nevertheless i have a small update for you guys. I still have some shelf mounts left in the wall and some wood, so we decided to make a new shelf.

 

 

The piece of wood has a really cool shape imo.

 

 

For the mounting we had to mill the backside of the wood. After that we drilled two holes for the metal rods.

 

 

Then i used the same oil that i used for the desks. the colour looks a bit weird because i had my camera set to jpg instead of raw and the white balance was pretty f*****.

 

 

 

But it definitely looks the same as the desk.

[Brezzels]

that looks amazing and i was planning to do something similar but i cant weld unffortunally.

[Nicnac]

beautiful!

 

[50mm]

Got another update for you guys, sorry for the long wait!

I finally managed to get some shots while the desk was cleaned up  

 

 

The Desks now stand in an "L" shape, the bigger one is used as main desk for my computer. The other one functions as workspace for minor modding and my 3D printer.

 

 

Please ignore the cables for now, still need to manage these and get some longer ones for the monitor.
The new shelf is also mounted to the wall and fits perfect.

 

Still something's missing, right?

 

 

 

 

The guys from Caseking and noblechairs thought the same and sent me this bad boy, a new ICON series chair!

Big thanks to you! The new chair doesn't only look good, it's also super comfy.

 

 

 

 

Everyone who want's it more "noble", there's also a genuine leather version. I'm really happy and going to game a bit now.

[Jarsky]

What a beautiful desk, I love the simplicity of something like this.

Have been looking at those Noble chairs as well - they have them at my local PC Boutique and by god theyre nice <3