My computer desk

[wilfy]

now that my garage is starting to be workable i've decided to start clearing out stuff i've been storing for ages.

one thing was a full 8x4 sheet of 25mm mdf i ordered way back in the summer with my OSB for the cladding.. with the intention of creating a nice computer desk for my computer room.

since joining this site i feel the need to plan everything out in google sketchup so i started out with this



i'd had that curved shape in my head for ages and i'll be honest without sketchup i'd have likely done it free hand with a jigsaw. but through figuring out how to acctually draw the desk with the rounded shape i realised that it's basicly 2 circles of the same radius side by side.

so with all measurements in hand i got out to the garage and proceed to cut the desk using my really shoddy circle jig



yes thats a piece of mdf with a router stuck to the top of it, rotating around a 3mm drill bit

second circle to cut is only acctually a quarter of the circle and i get left with this


next i stick a straight edge under the desk connecting the circle to where the edge of the desk finnishes and run my router with a trim bearing bit all the way along and end up with this



and on the edge of the desk to get a nice smooth finish all i have used is an 18mm round over on the top of the desk and a small 6mm i think round over on the bottom of the desk, the result is something i'm very proud of as i've never achieved something like this before



test fit the desk on top of the previous desk before i attempt to paint it.. lucky i did as the wall was out and the desk didnt fit, back outside, trim an edge down and bam fitted.. one very happy wilfy. so wanting to always better myself i've decided that i want some kind of cool lighting for this room. i've always been a fan of RGB LEDS and the effects you can achieve. so robbed a friends run of LED's to see how bright they are and more than anything to see if they will provide enough light for me to see the keyboard and other things if i need to.




on the left is an arduino we have used to rig up the rgb controls as a temp thing untill i can order my lights. my plan is to run a 45 degree router bit with bearing on it all the way round the back of the desk, this should hide the LED's from view and have no glare and we have already tested the angle and i'm happy with the amount of light produced, infact i have the lights on now whilst i'm typing this and i'm more than happy with them.

i'm going to finish the desk in black spray paint and lacquer it so i can cut and polish it back flat so i get a nice glass smooth finish.