Two main questions:
1) Your diagram for how you would do the top, do you have the legs coming up past the bottom to support the inside edge of the joints for the top / have some kind of support there?
2) Is the glue joint just as simple as the pieces with glue in between, clamped for a while? I like the look and idea of the contrast strip.
1) There are dozens of ways to do this. You can run it on the outside, the inside, to the bottom, to the top, stopping short... etc etc. The way your drawing is, you would run it inside the desk, with the bottom being shelved in instead of a "box". Really doesn't matter though.
2) this is a can of worms. I'll help you more with this when the time comes for it
1) Currently a 4x4 is supporting each corner of the bottom, then a 1x2 is holding the top. I'm thinking that wouldn't give the joints for the top corners enough support.
Yes, used it to clean up the cuts. The board I've been using for a straight edge has the slightest start of a warp upward at the center so the guide on the tools likes to slide under it, been meaning to grab a different board.
Yeah, once I tried predrilling the holes for it made it much easier and effective.
Had this done a few days ago, but wasn't quite happy enough with how it turned out to post the update.
Unfortunately, there isn't really enough left of the psu bracket from the Scout to securely mount it to the desk.
Blank piece of metal that was laying around
Cut to size
This is where the the first attempt didn't turn out so well.
I was using tin snips to cut out the hole, but was having issues both cutting a straight line and trimming it the cut.
Been wanting to pick up a dremel for a while, and finally did. Got a Black & Decker RTX-B. Already coming in very handy.
Box of attachments I got as well to go with it
Second attempt, this time using the dremel, turned out better but still may do it again as the cutout it just slightly too wide.
Painted and secured
Also secured the motherboard tray. May find a better way to mount the tray and PSU other than the bolts, but might be a nice contrast. Planning/hoping for a dark color theme with silver accent pieces.
Should probably fill in the gap above the motherboard I/O plate.
Having an issue with the standoffs not wanting to go into the tray, as if the holes are too small. Is there a different sized standoff I need, or just drill the holes slightly larger?
Looking at the whole desk, should have plenty of room for activities with all this space.
Working on a possible hard drive enclosure concept, should have pictures (from sketchup) today or tomorrow.
interesting
i would have started off (and probably finished) with MDF thou, even if it is only a prototype/proof of concept.
Since OSB is a big pain in the * to do things like this with... too chippy, doesn't hold screws very well, mitre joints are just a fantasy and.. its very difficult to get a halfway decent looking finish.
OSB belongs under floors or under roofs
But as a prototype it'll do.. when done, start over again with MDF & proper hardwood (and veneer)
And using tricks like hollow legs and such so you don't end up with a 200 lbs desk
Slowly been making progress on a couple different sections, but it's been too hot to make working in an unairconditioned shop much fun.
In my first post I mentioned the possibility of a built in docking station. I decided that figuring out the proper inset and angle would be tricky and a pain (because I obviously never made anything more complicated than it needed to be ) so won't be integrating that in. But never fear, I picked up something better.
Very slim little piece of hardware that sticks to the back of the phone under the back with two metal contacts. That combined with bluetooth will make a pretty neat wireless solution for the phone.
It does add a little thickness, but not enough to interfere with putting the back or case on.
And a charging station to go with it
Nice and thin, should be easy enough to hide in the underside of the desktop.
Tried the charger out a bit prior to mounting it to make sure it would in fact work as advertised. Doesn't charge as fast as plugged, but still at a decent rate. The one downside I've discovered so far is the phone can get rather hot during charging.
Easy enough to mount. Routed out a rough circle with a bit extra for the cable. Stapled a strap over across it to hold it in place and flipped the top back over to test.
Unfortunately, I use my camera for pictures so I can't get a picture of it in use so the case will stand in for it.
Little bit of a sweet spot when placing it, but just in a couple times of picking up and placing down the phone I was getting more consistent with getting it.
Going to use (to start off at least) a pair of pc speakers I have around for the desk.
Removed six screws and the back came right off
Removed the speakers from the front panel
Poor finger placement during removal led to this on of the speakers. Tested it and it still works just fine just looks bad. Is there a way to fix it or am I SOL with this?
Makeshift planing using table saw.
Trimmed a small amount off the sides to get a straighter edge and clean it up
Ignore the circles. Drew them on from a previous version but marked the lines to use instead
Pilot holes drilled.
The speakers are just under 2" wide, which meant a 2" hole saw was too big and a 1 3/4" was just too small. Since I opted for the 1 3/4" rather than the 2", the speakers don't fit quite right.
Took the dremel and expanded the holes a bit
Haven't mounted them yet. Deciding between aligning them with the desk or angling them inwards. Really leaning towards angling them, as that's how I would prefer to have computer speakers. Let me know what you think.
Close, angled then straight
Above the control panel, angled then straight
Far, angled then straight
Wiring the speakers to a connecting block that is connected to the controls and power for the speakers. So if in the future it becomes necessary to replace the speakers I can do so without having to remove more wiring.
They come blue, painted black
The wires to the controls attached.
The UPS guy is getting to know me way too well these days.
First up is a coupler to attach a motor to threaded rod.
Once I finalize the orientation and location of the speakers, two motors will be mounted below the speakers with the threaded rod going to the speaker block. After all, who wants to have speakers on their desk all the time?
Mounts for the motors, surprisingly thick metal.
Got a couple analog thermometers. These will go at the intakes and exhaust to measure ambient, temperature through rads, and help with calculating a dT when eventually the desk is water cooled.
Got a small screen for monitoring data. This will be hooked up to an Arduino to readout temperatures, fan speed, dT, and whatever else I find useful. Just have to figure out where to mount it.
Test showing all characters
Connected a thermometer and the screen to the arduino to get a temperature reading.
What I'm considering for the hard drive bays
Two bays each holding 3x3.5" drives with red illuminated acrylic. Possibly some kind of light up stencil on the front of the bays.
It's amazing how fast spiders work. Already have cobwebs
This may sound weird, but I have similar speakers of the same brand, and my son poked one while I was moving. I just put it up to my mouth and sucked a little bit and it popped right back out.
This may sound weird, but I have similar speakers of the same brand, and my son poked one while I was moving. I just put it up to my mouth and sucked a little bit and it popped right back out.
The suction was a no go unfortunately. Once I get the speakers wired up, but before final mounting I'll try cranking the volume. Oh darn, what a shame, having to blast some tunes.
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