Custom Computer Desk Case Build - Sit Stand

[cstrachn]

EDIT: posting a final pic at beginning of thread.

 

 

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Budget (including currency): what ever it costs. ~3k in so far

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Everything, Gaming, Game Dev, programming, Blender

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): EVGA 3080 TI ftw3, i7 12700K, 32G DDR4, 4TB hdd, 1TB ssd, another 1TB SSD, EVGA 1KW PSU. 27" 165hz Asus gaming monitor. razer deathadder Elite, G910 rgb keyboard. Custom built desk case with glass top and electric lift( sit stand control). lots of fans, lots of RGB

 

image of items:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I've been working on this for a month now. probably another month to go. I'll try and get a ton of photos and possibly some video on the build process.

 

I've sourced a 48x24" glass table top and an Electronic lift for the build.

Lift: took the top off already. replacing with my custom top. And i had to cut this down so the desk is at the right height.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glass:

3/4" tempered glass table top. removed from a small desk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1:10 scale model of what it possibly could look like. I'm not liking the green anymore. so i think flat black on the whole thing.

 

Cad layout of new lift height. only one leg shown:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not going to be super tall because of the modifications. but should get 27" to 36" desk height.

 

Some desk assembly:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glass top in place and fitting nice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to come.

Edited May 15, 2023 by cstrachn
fixing alignment

[cstrachn]

PC parts are sitting on a desk right now. doing some pre startup testing. And yes i went air cooled cpu  for now. I may go back later and switch to liquid cooling if i have any temp issues.

 

Here im testing out generic ws2812b RGB strip. make sure it will work with jrainbow on the motherboard. looks like it does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some RGB hard drive cases i made to go inside:

SSD case 

 

HDD case 

 

[cstrachn]

Modified Lift before paint. For some reason this has 2k views?

 

 

Had to cut and reweld the brackets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some pre assembly. Need to modify some parts still

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this was used lift and was outside for a month the bolts had lots of rust. So i cleaned these up and painted black.

[cstrachn]

Wire brushed them clean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to paint booth to paint the bolts

 

[cstrachn]

Some videos i tried to make. im not big YT video editor. So bare with me. Need to work on my angles and editing still.

cutting out some holes for custom 3D printed fan brackets. This will make it easy to replace if they go out later. 6 RGB fans for the back of the desk

 

 

[TVwazhere]

-Moved To Build Logs-

 

This is so cool!!!

[cstrachn]

Thanks for the move. wasn't sure where to put it.

 

Yah i'm using all my skills for this one. Hope it turns out great.

[cstrachn]

Purchased an up down switch for lift. but it's a 12vdc car switch and the lift control runs 110vac. So instead of getting another switch i just got 2 relays to switch the lift controls. Going to put this switch on plexiglass in front of desk with power switch. It lights up blue. Maybe add RGB strip behind it.

 

Had a little small fire during welding. Lift controls had a shop towel covering it and it caught fire! But I'm replacing it anyways so all good. The garage is fine  

 

p.s. 3d printed this case to hold the relays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took some video of this new switch working but haven't had time to do any editing. The lift has chain drive and one side is really loose. so im waiting for a part so i can fix that. Then i can finish the lift assembly.

[bezza...]

looks so cool 

[cstrachn]

Front panel cutout. fits pretty good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fan brackets glued into place.

 

 

Took 5 days to print 10 of these. 5 hours each.

[cstrachn]

Wiring up new switch control for the desk lift. And fixing some burned wires i had from slight fire outbreak

 

[cstrachn]

Worked on front panel controls last night. Power switch and up down lift control. May need to add a reset switch as well.

 

1/4" plexiglass. used fostner bit to drill out some holes. Coping saw to cut out the up down switch. It is a little lose, but i can epoxy it in place.

 

Need to figure out how im mounting this on the desk now. maybe a 3d Printed pocket for it to sit in? Not sure yet.

 

         

[PriitM]

14 hours ago, cstrachn said:

Worked on front panel controls last night. Power switch and up down lift control. May need to add a reset switch as well.

 

1/4" plexiglass. used fostner bit to drill out some holes. Coping saw to cut out the up down switch. It is a little lose, but i can epoxy it in place.

 

Need to figure out how im mounting this on the desk now. maybe a 3d Printed pocket for it to sit in? Not sure yet.

 

         

I would not have used plastic for stuff that gets stressed. Pressing those buttons will cause cracks to form, starting from the square opening edges. Since you have committed, I strongly suggest you polish those edges. And sanding them smooth is not enough. You have to either flame polish or solvent polish them until they become clear again.  

[Blue4130]

44 minutes ago, PriitM said:

I would not have used plastic for stuff that gets stressed. Pressing those buttons will cause cracks to form, starting from the square opening edges. Since you have committed, I strongly suggest you polish those edges. And sanding them smooth is not enough. You have to either flame polish or solvent polish them until they become clear again.  

The force needed to push a power button should not really do anything to the plexi.

[PriitM]

4 minutes ago, Blue4130 said:

The force needed to push a power button should not really do anything to the plexi.

Power button no, but the button for lowering/raising. Its held down for the duration and humans have the tendency to rest weight on what ever surface they can. But then again, how many times will they adjust the table anyway. The plexi may outlive the use of the whole table after all...

[cstrachn]

Yah it is 1/4" thick plexi. I'm going to use epoxy on all edges. And i designed a trim piece for it. so if it does break? i can replace it later with a harder material. From what i can read Plexi glass is 10 times stronger the glass.

 

It's actually pretty tough stuff. I've used plexi glass in thinner sizes and always have cracking issues when cutting. But this stuff is really nice. drill saw etc... haven't had it crack on me yet. which is amazing. 

 

3d printed trim Piece I'll epoxy the trim into the desk to be permanent.  Add some wood putty and sand it smooth. Should blend right in.

 

 

This is about 4x4" x1/4" quick online load calculator says i can do about 1300 PSF! i don't press that hard i hope

[cstrachn]

Finished rewiring lift last night. Quick shaky video of it running. Had to modify limit switch locations because it is shorter now.

 

 

[PriitM]

12 hours ago, cstrachn said:

Yah it is 1/4" thick plexi. I'm going to use epoxy on all edges. And i designed a trim piece for it. so if it does break? i can replace it later with a harder material. From what i can read Plexi glass is 10 times stronger the glass.

 

It's actually pretty tough stuff. I've used plexi glass in thinner sizes and always have cracking issues when cutting. But this stuff is really nice. drill saw etc... haven't had it crack on me yet. which is amazing. 

 

3d printed trim Piece I'll epoxy the trim into the desk to be permanent.  Add some wood putty and sand it smooth. Should blend right in.

 

 

This is about 4x4" x1/4" quick online load calculator says i can do about 1300 PSF! i don't press that hard i hope

A 7/16" bolt can exert force of 10 000 lb. But can still work itself loose with vibration. Never under estimate the small things, huehue

You should be fine. 1/4" might crack but it should not catastrophically fail (split in half). Filling the void with epoxy wont stop the cracks from forming as the stress is in the material. And the easiest thing would be to use PMMA glue. blends the jagged edges and technically should stick to the switch body too. 

[cstrachn]

11 hours ago, PriitM said:

A 7/16" bolt can exert force of 10 000 lb. But can still work itself loose with vibration. Never under estimate the small things, huehue

You should be fine. 1/4" might crack but it should not catastrophically fail (split in half). Filling the void with epoxy wont stop the cracks from forming as the stress is in the material. And the easiest thing would be to use PMMA glue. blends the jagged edges and technically should stick to the switch body too. 

yah still thinking epoxy to hold trim in place. and maybe backplate to hold plexi in place. so i can remove easily later. Not sure if i can have PMMA glue hold PLA to plexi. i guess it could work. CA glue is another option. But i think some fastener to hold in place might be better long run. dont want permanent placement if there is a chance of cracking.

[cstrachn]

Assembled the rest of the lift. The side arms are 3" too long. so i will need to cut them down.

 

no photos. But i added sound dampening foam inside before i closed it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit: Hmm, guess i didn't post the link of cutting the sides down.

 

[cstrachn]

Okay i'm sure someone will yell at me for this. but fine yell at me i'm doing it and your sitting at your desk complaining

 

Screwing in mounting nuts to the desk. 3 on each side.

 

I was a little off on alignment. So i will need to open up the mounting holes on the lift. I'll just add washer for more support.

The top is resting on the lift so i dont need strength holding anything up. just strength in keeping it in place. So this will have to do. i have sooo much to finish still i dont want to waste time thinking on a better way to mount this.

 

 

 

 

[cstrachn]

~~~Flash back~~~

When i started this project, i had drawn out the plans for how I could get it all in one piece of 4'x8 plywood'. going for 8" depth.

 

Went to Home Depot and Lowes to see if they could cut all of it for me. However, due to safety reasons they only cut down to 12"!!!

 

So i did what any cheap hacker would do. I purchased a $25 skill saw, a nice blade and built a homemade table saw out of some scrap wood.

 

Anyways, this is what i made.

 

 

 

 

 

After the first couple cuts on a terrible 2x4 fence. i went back to store i picked up some good flat smooth wood and made a better fence. And a nice custom knob

 

 

This worked much better and i could cut all my pieces. to be safe i cut all the 8" parts with the same settings on the table saw. So they would all be the same even if i was off a little.

 

[cstrachn]

~~~Flash forward~~~

Still, I needed more from the table saw. So after a week of watching YouTube videos on making drawers I decided I needed to make a cross cut sled and a Box Joints jig

 

First I added nice straight side rails. i didn't think i could get a straight t-track in the top, so I'm refrencing the edges. the top was pretty square.

Oh and I painted it black and then put a layer of polyurethane on it. it was an old can and i needed to test it on something before i put on the desk.

Annnnnnnd, i rubbed some beezwax on the edges to help it glide better.

 

Could use a little modifications as i had to go back over a couple joints to make them a tad wider. But in the end i think this will work

 

You may notice the extra cut on one joint...i forgot to flip the first piece around to align the next block. thank god this is only a test piece.

 

 

 

[cstrachn]

Hopefully tomorrow i can take my time and get this to work on 2 drawers i want to add.

 

Cut all the pieces today And i have to say, wow! I'm getting really good with this saw.

 

I checked with square and they are dead on! helps to use a square on the back of the fence and clamp down the fence for straight cuts

 

 

 

Only issue was i didn't account for the box joints to loose 3/4" on each side. so the drawers will be smaller then i hoped for. I will sleep on it. Maybe tomorrow i cut wider pieces for the ends.....wood is so much right now. ~$70 for a 4x8 sheet

 

[cstrachn]

Well i finished one drawer BOX.

took a couple seconds to think through the bottom slide cut. but i managed to figure out a process for it.

Might be too tight for glue, may have to sand it a little for a lose fit.