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Thread: A Computer Desk

  1. #1
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    A Computer Desk

    I ordered a new computer last week and figured I should build a new desk to put it under. I don't have a lot of time available to invest in building one so this is what I'm thinking of. You can just barely see at the right end, the end of a longitudinal rail to prevent the top from sagging. It won't have to support a lot of weight, though, so I'm not too worried about sag.

    No drawers intentionally. The desk I have now has a drawer that I don't really use. It's just a junk collector and I don't need that. Maybe I'll find some plastic trays to slide into the side openings. Keyboard and mouse (wireless) will slip into the middle section when I'm not using them.


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    What's the green stuff -- painted iron water pipe?

    What's the use for the top shelf? It looks to be 5" deep or so. That's not deep enough for books or manuals.

    The two rows of pipe supporting the main display imply that the position of the display is fixed, and it is bolt upright. Is that right?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    What's the green stuff -- painted iron water pipe?
    Probably. Powder coated instead of painted. I'm also looking at some aluminum rail and fittings.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    What's the use for the top shelf? It looks to be 5" deep or so. That's not deep enough for books or manuals.
    It's 9" deep as drawn. I don't have or need any manuals at my computer. Once in awhile I'll have a reference book but I have shelves elsewhere for them. I'll put a couple of desk lamps up there and maybe an LED strip light. Currently I have my computer speakers up on a similar shelf on my current desk.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jamie Buxton View Post
    The two rows of pipe supporting the main display imply that the position of the display is fixed, and it is bolt upright. Is that right?
    Nope. Not right. There'll be a short piece of GCX track mounted to them and the monitor will be on a very short arm that slides into the track. The track will allow about 12 or 14" of vertical height adjustment and the mount will allow the display to be tilted and swiveled. The current mount uses the same GCX track but a non-swiveling mount. It hasn't been an issue, though. The lower horizontal pipe will be cut open on the back (maybe that one will be PVC) to form a channel to hide the video and power supply cables to the display.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards View Post
    I ordered a new computer last week and figured I should build a new desk to put it under.
    ...
    Keyboard and mouse (wireless) will slip into the middle section when I'm not using them.
    Funny, I thought you were an iMac user...

    I like the design, but as a woodworker I shudder at the use of pipes!
    I'm not convinced that you're necessarily going to save that much time over just crafting some simple legs or sides.

    And as for the mouse... Just a mouse? Have you checked out those 3D Connexion gizmos? They look cool for Sketchup navigation, but very pricey.
    "It's Not About You."

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    Interesting design, Dave. Are you a wanna-be plumber?

    Powder-coated pipe? Do you plan to powder-coat after assembly, or assemble the pre-coated pipe without scratching the coating (both sound challenging to me)?

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    Art, I had an iMac a ways back but I've always done most of my SketchUp work on PCs that I've built. I do have pro SketchUp licenses for both my PC and my MacBook Pro (my portable machine).

    Personally I like the sort of industrial look of the piece although I'm finding out that style isn't appreciated here. Another thing to file away for the future.

    I have tried several "3D mice" including one of those 3D Connexion Space Navigators. Actually I have two of those Space Navigators. One was a gift that I couldn't return or exchange and it has never been out of its box. A simple, three button mouse is still the best. I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts and found it extremely annoying to have to move my left hand between the keyboard and the Space Navigator. My left index finger spends most of its time hovering over Ctrl and Shift (Option and Shift on my Mac) Since I run SketchUp on multiple machines,including ones that aren't mine, it also makes sense to keep it simple. All navigation is done from the center mouse button adding Ctrl or Option and Shift as needed.

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    Jerry, no. I'm not a wannabe plumber.

    I do some plumbing in my day job although it's all medical gases. You should see the thing I built last week to supply oxygen to a transport ventilator. It has arrangements for two supplies, pipeline and a SCBA cylinder. The cylinder is regulated to slightly less than house pipeline pressure and there are check valves set up so if both supplies are available the pipeline has priority.

    The powder coating would be done after assembly of the frame pieces. The base frame won't take up anymore space than a motorcycle frame which will fit in the curing oven. Shouldn't be a big deal.

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    You might consider those 80/20 aluminum extrusions. (for instance http://www.8020.net/) It still has that industrial-chic style, but looks a little less DIY than painted water pipe.


    ...and BTW, I'm fine with non-traditional furniture design!
    Last edited by Jamie Buxton; 03-10-2013 at 4:17 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards View Post
    Personally I like the sort of industrial look of the piece although I'm finding out that style isn't appreciated here. Another thing to file away for the future.
    It's growing on me. Not sure about the green colour. Is that an accurate representation of the wood colour you're looking for? I wonder if a black pipe would look better with that colour. I never work with pipe, so for me, preferences aside, I'd probably be quicker to build it out of all wood.

    Would you use edged plywood for this, or solid lumber? Maple, Cherry or some other?

    As for the feeding of the cables... DVI cables have pretty fat ends. I think you'd need at least a 2" inside diameter in order to easily feed the video through the pipe. Is that what you've got in that drawing? Looks more like 1-1/2" to me...
    "It's Not About You."

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    I don't know for sure about the green. It just seemed kind of fun to me. Black would be more likely and it is certainly going to be much less expensive as far as powder coating goes. Pipe is appealing to me because I can get everything I need less than a mile from my house and it is easy to work with.

    I used a cherry texture because I had it. I'm thinking I would buy glued up panels. The local DIY store has birch bench tops that are glued up already. I could get most if not all of what I need out of two of them. I'd also thought about looking at Ikea kitchen work tops but they are a longer drive from me.

    The lower horizontal pipe would have a slit cut in it on the back so I don't have to snake the cables through the pip.l Instead they would just slip in from the back and be retained with short pieces of split loom. I probably wouldn't do it for this desk but I have access to video over CAT5 and could use that. It has crossed my mind to KVM extenders which would allow me to put the computer unit itself in another room or at least on the other side of the room. It really doesn't need to be under the desk.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards View Post
    The lower horizontal pipe would have a slit cut in it on the back so I don't have to snake the cables through the pip.l Instead they would just slip in from the back and be retained with short pieces of split loom. I probably wouldn't do it for this desk but I have access to video over CAT5 and could use that. It has crossed my mind to KVM extenders which would allow me to put the computer unit itself in another room or at least on the other side of the room. It really doesn't need to be under the desk.
    Do KVM extenders also give you full USB so you can plug in a flash drive? I do that a lot.

    Or you could cancel your PC order and instead get one of these tiny Xi3 computers...


    Then you just need a file server somewhere hidden in the house. I'm all for getting rid of the noise in my workspace.
    "It's Not About You."

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    I think it is too late to cancel but that's OK. I'm getting a killer deal with this computer. Yes, I could plug in a flash drive to the KVM extender box. those X13's look interesting, though. Do they have a fan inside? too bad it uses a Radeon GPU.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards View Post
    Do they have a fan inside? too bad it uses a Radeon GPU.
    One fan, and a SSD. I've never seen one in person so I have no idea how they perform or how noisy they are. Cute though.

    What is your preferred GPU? I've never had any issues with graphic performance on my iMac which is an Nvidia. But I don't load up umpteen programs and 75 bazillion layers in sketchup either.
    "It's Not About You."

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    nVidia is the GPU of choice for SketchUp due to them continuing with OpenGL support.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Richards View Post
    Personally I like the sort of industrial look of the piece although I'm finding out that style isn't appreciated here. Another thing to file away for the future..
    You gotta remember, Dave, we are woodworkers here----there's a built-in bias. I actually built a project for a client a while back with wood shelving on an iron pipe framework. It is kind of a cool, industrial look. Let us know if you actually build it.

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