Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

My Homemade (ultimate iMac) Desk

Looks really good. You should go into business selling them 😉

I'd certainly buy one xD As would many people on here, I bet 😛


Good work!
 
Saying it's your first, you've done a cracking job gromit. Well impressive, keep it up, move to Sweden and start iKea ?
 
I3eXa said:
looking good...just a few things, If the desk it up against a wall, which I'm sure it will be, won't the hidden drawer be unaccessible??? Maybe thats what you want, I'm just makin sure. Also, have you thought of maybe a top side flushmount for the iphone 😀 now that would look sexy with the dock inside the top of the desk...
Click to expand...

He said early on that the desk will not be against the wall -- it will be in the middle of the room, a focal point. Personally I don't think the iPhone should be visible. Even though it's attractive, in the end I think that just adds to the clutter.
 
anti-microsoft said:
Good luck! Looking great at the moment! I think that "Hidden Draws" feature could be an awesome concept!

Laters,

Ams
Click to expand...

I kinda have that too, I use my Tower cabinet in my desk to hide my noisy WD external, i dont use the cabinet cuz of the imac 😀, gotta love the all in one.
 
Wow, this is awesome! Makes me feel ashamed to have my 20.00 Goodwill salvage desk, what with the mug stains, dings, scratches, and everything else.

I sincerely hope I have enough workspace someday to invest in a workshop so I can build things like this! The idea of creating my own things has never really worn off.

Take care, keep the pictures coming!!! I love seeing the progress!
 
BlakTornado said:
Looks really good. You should go into business selling them 😉

I'd certainly buy one xD As would many people on here, I bet 😛


Good work!
Click to expand...

You'd probably faint after I told you what I'd have to charge you though... Heck, even the shipping would probably be $100 since this thing is so heavy!



iJohnHenry said:
I choose to call that "organized" when I do it. Try it. 😉
Click to expand...

A VERY good suggestion. Doesn't sound nearly as negative. Thank you. 🙂



Xfujinon said:
Wow, this is awesome! Makes me feel ashamed to have my 20.00 Goodwill salvage desk, what with the mug stains, dings, scratches, and everything else.

I sincerely hope I have enough workspace someday to invest in a workshop so I can build things like this! The idea of creating my own things has never really worn off.

Take care, keep the pictures coming!!! I love seeing the progress!
Click to expand...

Hahaha, thanks. Don't be hating on your mug stains and dings though... a lot of people go to a lot of work to 'distress' their furniture and make it look like it isn't brand new. Its just like a woman... (or a man I suppose) you've got to love them for their imperfections, because that's what makes them unique!
 
Hey guys. Well, I've got all four drawers in now and thought I would share the updated photos with you! Next comes some sanding and last-minute detailing... and then GET READY because the stain comes next. I am anxious to see the first touch of stain go on so I can see what my end color is going to look like and how the beautiful cherry wood will look with the stain. Should be interesting. Anyway, here are the drawers!

It's really coming together now, isn't it?!?

2406944248_4ae69e6134.jpg


2406943510_2db8ce6d2c.jpg
 
This looks fantastic, I can't wait to see the finished product as well as detailed shots of it in use, and with the secret drawer 🙂
 
Very nice. I'm also interested to know what the drawer fronts will look like. Will there be handles, or will it all be "secret"?
 
Just a thought, are you doing this all in your own wood shop, or are you using someone else's facilities?

Just curious, because it likes like an awesome shop! My grandpa and I make all sorts of stuff in his basement shop, and it is all of about 200 square feet!

Wishing for some more space...
 
bartelby said:
It's not very secret if we all know about it...
Click to expand...
🙂 Nice. That is why I call it a 'hidden' drawer, not a 'secret' drawer.


wordmunger said:
Very nice. I'm also interested to know what the drawer fronts will look like. Will there be handles, or will it all be "secret"?
Click to expand...
Sure. Well, the hidden drawer will have no handle, and will instead have a small groove cut out of the bottom back side of it where my fingers can easily pull it open from the bottom. The notch will create a gap between teh drawer face and the 'face frame' if you can imagine that... The three main drawers on the other hand will all have matte nickel drawer pulls on them. Something like this:
DP7B.jpg




Xfujinon said:
Just a thought, are you doing this all in your own wood shop, or are you using someone else's facilities?

Just curious, because it likes like an awesome shop! My grandpa and I make all sorts of stuff in his basement shop, and it is all of about 200 square feet!

Wishing for some more space...
Click to expand...

I am using someone else's woodshop. I wish it was my own... It takes a lot of money to build facilities like the one I'm working in. I consider myself pretty lucky for that!

From what I can tell, this project would have taken me atleast 5x as long with 'normal' woodworking tools and probably wouldn't have turned out as perfect. This shop is full of expensive wide-belt sanders, lathes, planers, router tables, table saws, etc. Pretty cool stuff.
 
iJohnHenry said:
I hope it's not to big to get it where you want it?? 😉
Click to expand...

It is rather large... 66" by 36", (30" tall) but I planned it out this way. If anything, I think the room I am going to put it in might make it look small. We shall see! It should turn out pretty close to perfect unless I calculated incorrectly.
 
terin5124 said:
I just put those handles on my bathroom cabinets... they're nice.

Would you consider putting something like this on the back drawer?

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100337620

It would make it spring open with a push, and allow it to be magnetically closed, too. I've used it before, and it's pretty solid. Just an idea if you wanted it to be even more concealed and nicely finished. 🙂
Click to expand...

I tried looking at that magnetic drawer slide but it did not work. It sounds really cool, but alas I've already got mine put in! Oh well, I got some really durable ones with ball bearings and the whole shebang... That drawer needs to be able to support more than its own fair share of weight, you know? Especially for my apetite for electronics is only eclipsed by... eclipsed by... well, nothing that I can think of at the moment. 😉
 
EvanLugh said:
Coming on well mate, getting alot of fast progress. How long a week are you spending on this?

eL
Click to expand...

Good question. I would say that I've probably put in about 20-30 hours or so in the desk so far. I would say that 40 hours will be what it ends up taking... (depending on how you measure it, I waste a lot of time "thinking" and "planning")

But really... how else would I have spent those hours? Watching TV? On the internet? Taking care of the house? I consider it time well spent, and it was good the soul, kind of like taking a vacation, only much cheaper and I got a piece of furniture out of the deal!

However, if I decide I want to keep doing this, it will likely cost me more money... I will need to get a few tools, like a miter saw, a table saw, and my favorite new tool of all... the Kreg Jig!

kreg-762758.jpg
 
Great work! I especially like the V-groove idea. I love doing woodwork, I built some speakers (Audax Home Theatre) a while ago amongst other little projects. I've been thinking about building a desk for some time, much like you there are a lot of good ones but none 'just right'.

Anyway. I was thinking about your cable hole, and possible damage to the edge of the wood when they move/are dragged.
http://cableorganizer.com/desk-grommet/round-desk-grommets.htm

Also, the hidden drawer. Having a gap in the top for air is necessary I feel. Could you cut a slot in the bottom of the drawer? Heat rises, so that should allow air to 'pull through.' Otherwise your airflow will be pretty stagnant.

For convenience sake, I think you'll have to concede on having the iPods/iPhone on the desk. You could no doubt get an old iPod dock from eBay, strip it, and drop the parts into a small cherrywood 'box' (like a thick coaster), if you wanted it to match/be as unobtrusive as possible.

edit: Having USB drives connected slows down boot-up times, btw.

AppleMatt
 
AppleMatt said:
Great work! I especially like the V-groove idea. I love doing woodwork, I built some speakers (Audax Home Theatre) a while ago amongst other little projects. I've been thinking about building a desk for some time, much like you there are a lot of good ones but none 'just right'.

Anyway. I was thinking about your cable hole, and possible damage to the edge of the wood when they move/are dragged.
http://cableorganizer.com/desk-grommet/round-desk-grommets.htm

Also, the hidden drawer. Having a gap in the top for air is necessary I feel. Could you cut a slot in the bottom of the drawer? Heat rises, so that should allow air to 'pull through.' Otherwise your airflow will be pretty stagnant.

For convenience sake, I think you'll have to concede on having the iPods/iPhone on the desk. You could no doubt get an old iPod dock from eBay, strip it, and drop the parts into a small cherrywood 'box' (like a thick coaster), if you wanted it to match/be as unobtrusive as possible.

edit: Having USB drives connected slows down boot-up times, btw.

AppleMatt
Click to expand...

Good to see a 'fellow woodworker' on here. Glad you like the 'v-groove' idea... It just always seemed to me like people try to hide the fact that the edgebanding and the top were seperate pieces, but I thought.... "hey, why not accent it?" and I think it will turn out really well.

About the grommet... way ahead of you man. I orderd a nice matte nickel grommet the other day, and it arrived. It is very pretty and perfectly matches the finish on the iMac's stand. It also matches my drawer pulls perfectly. I think the matte nickel on dark wood is going to be a VERY nice look.

Regarding the airflow... as of now... my educated guess tells me that the temperature will stay within the safe zone. If not, I will have to devise another solution... My plan though it to put some sort of black fabric (leather? suede? felt?)on the bottom of the drawer to class it up a little and protect the electronics from the unfinished baltic birch which the drawers are made of. This would probably reduce the effectiveness of any slot added to the bottom of the drawer.

I think you are probably right about the convenience thing with the iPhone for sure... I think the iPod will have a home in the drawer, but the iPhone is accessed often and is beautiful enough to grace the top of my desk without ruining the 'effect'. That is what I am thinking now anyway... but it all could change once the finishing is done and the desk is sitting in my new "den."
 
Darkroom said:
very nice work so far... any thoughts on what color you'll stain the desk?
Click to expand...

Yes. I've already bought the stain! It's "Java". It should be a dark redish brown color after applied to the cherry wood. I think it will be a very good look.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back