# First Mod Build, Wooden Desk, Project Log



## TheNamezAustin (Oct 20, 2012)

Hi every one, happy to see that you are interested in my first custom build. I'm a junior in high school, and I work part time at my local grocery store, so patience is a must for this build. Slowly it will come together, limited time and funding going to slow me down more than I would like. But the holiday seasons coming and I hope that my family will be generous. 

To start I've been playing around quite a bit with sketchup, and I've got in my opinion some pretty good models coming along.

Closed up.







Opened up.






Wiring Space









It's a start to get an idea of what I want to do. I'm probably going to the lumber yard on Monday, probably going to go with a nice pine, or if any one else has a suggestion.

More updates to come, a plus for this project is that I might get some people around school interested in computers. Where I'm from people are not too tech savvy, but they all are interested in learning. And I don't think any of the people who really want to be into computers know how to get into it (i.e. getting an alien ware for Christmas). Just want to get my hobby more know around town. + It's a huge space saver, and a reason to get water cooling  and a new video card.

Any questions or suggestions please post. I'll always be checking.


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## l3p (Oct 20, 2012)

The sketchup is looking great, can't wait to see where this is going


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## ALMOSTunseen (Oct 20, 2012)

Looks awesome! You could also try using cherry wood or mahogany, They look very nice, and hold up well. Just remember one thing with your water cooling, make sure that your res is higher then your pump.

Maybe another thing that would be nice, (I would draw this idea up in CAD for you, but I left my school comp at school... ) Instead of having the hole for cables coming up. 

What you do is cut out a small rectangular shape ontop, near the back, maybe 250mm by 100mm. Just sand the edges, so there is a small space between the piece of wood and the hole, but sand the edge that is facing towards you more, by maybe 20mm. Then attach a hinge on the end that is facing away. Then on the edge that is facing towards you, attach a long strip of brush, where the cables can come out.

I can try and make a render for you of this idea, or find a picture.

ps. All bow down to the desk mod god, l3p!


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 20, 2012)

ALMOSTunseen said:


> Looks awesome! You could also try using cherry wood or mahogany, They look very nice, and hold up well. Just remember one thing with your water cooling, make sure that your res is higher then your pump.
> 
> Maybe another thing that would be nice, (I would draw this idea up in CAD for you, but I left my school comp at school... ) Instead of having the hole for cables coming up.
> 
> ...



Yeah i was thinking about where i was going to put my res. I have no idea. Where it could be placed. I could cut a whole and place the pump where my wires will go. leave the res where its at. Should i put my res as part of my loop or with a t. I've seen it different ways.


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## MT Alex (Oct 20, 2012)

You are going to want to use sheet goods with wood accents as opposed to using strictly dimensional lumber.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 20, 2012)

MT Alex said:


> You are going to want to use sheet goods with wood accents as opposed to using strictly dimensional lumber.



I'm not sure what you mean, sheet goods as in? And dimensional Lumber as in?


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## cadaveca (Oct 20, 2012)

you want to buy plywood, good plywood, @ like $30 a 4x8* sheet*, rather than buying *2x4*'s(dimensional).

Heh.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 20, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> you want to buy plywood, good plywood, @ like $30 a 4x8* sheet*, rather than buying *2x4*'s(dimensional).
> 
> Heh.



Yeah that's what I thought he meant, I guess I could do that with stud spacing for extra stability. That was my only worry with using plywood of any sort. Unless I find something at the local lumber store that would make things a bit easier. But yeah, my original plans were to use 2x8's and trim them down to size via table saw.


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## cadaveca (Oct 20, 2012)

good expensive plywood is actually pretty decent stuff. You're probably sitting or standing on a bunch of the mid-grade stuff, too, since many house in North America use plywood construction.

in a 4x8 sheet, plywood is actaully stronger than a sheet of "true wood" of equal thickness, since plywood uses criss-crossed layers that add strength.


Spend a good penny, and take the time to pick your sheets out, and you'll have some awesome-looking wood.

To deal with edges, you can get iron-on(or similar) veneer, or use dimensional wood for edges.

You could easily buy 3 sheets of plywood, a bit veneer, and spend $150. At least, locally. Does that sound like cheapo wood?


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 20, 2012)

cadaveca said:


> good expensive plywood is actually pretty decent stuff. You're probably sitting or standing on a bunch of the mid-grade stuff, too, since many house in North America use plywood construction.
> 
> in a 4x8 sheet, plywood is actaully stronger than a sheet of "true wood" of equal thickness, since plywood uses criss-crossed layers that add strength.
> 
> ...



Yeah I think I may go with 3/4 inch ply wood, also going to make a cleaner model, now that I know what how I'm going about this and what my dimensions are more or less.

also I'm not going to skimp out wood if im housing a $1000 computer and $500 water cooling system lol.


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## ALMOSTunseen (Oct 20, 2012)

What you could do, this is just aesthetical preference, is if you are getting a tube res, you could put it above the desk, next to your screen, as that would look pretty cool.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 20, 2012)

ALMOSTunseen said:


> What you could do, this is just aesthetical preference, is if you are getting a tube res, you could put it above the desk, next to your screen, as that would look pretty cool.



Yeah I had that in the back of my mind too. Gunna work on the model when I get off of work I. About 4 hours.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 21, 2012)

Did a much better model. Now that I'm semi familiar with sketch up, i got the dimensions exactly how I want, and did the right components making it easier to make changes. getting my new motherboard sometime next week, if my paycheck is right


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## MT Alex (Oct 21, 2012)

Your desk top should have reveal all the way around the carcass, usually it's an inch and a quarter.  Take a look at other pieces of furniture around your house, you will see what I mean.  This is done not only for looks, but also for fudging purposes.  It may seem simple enough but flushing a top exactly with a carcass is not an easy task.  Also, usually this nosing reveal is made of solid wood to hide the stratified looking edges of the ply top.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 21, 2012)

MT Alex said:


> Your desk top should have reveal all the way around the carcass, usually it's an inch and a quarter.  Take a look at other pieces of furniture around your house, you will see what I mean.  This is done not only for looks, but also for fudging purposes.  It may seem simple enough but flushing a top exactly with a carcass is not an easy task.  Also, usually this nosing reveal is made of solid wood to hide the stratified looking edges of the ply top.



I think I know what you mean, but my glass is going to on the edges, going to veneer the edges and put some rubber stoppers between the veneer and glass. Get what I'm saying?


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## MT Alex (Oct 21, 2012)

Veneer is less than a 1/16 of an inch thick.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 21, 2012)

MT Alex said:


> Veneer is less than a 1/16 of an inch thick.



I think one of us is lost. This is what I'm looking at,






\

I believe your looking at something like this






That was my original idea, but I would rater let the glass rest on it, the glass is going to be 1/2 inch thick so it should hold its self down for the most part. And the veneer will do a good job of covering up the nasty part of the ply wood.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 22, 2012)

Well I was going buy plywood today, but of course, my kitten gets sick. So thats half my paycheck gone to the kitten. Yeah vet prices. So hopefully next week... or possibly buying some wood with my little money left.


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## ALMOSTunseen (Oct 22, 2012)

Hope the kitten gets better 
Can't wait to see this build, I always like combination desk/computers. But with the glass, this is gonna be cool.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 22, 2012)

ALMOSTunseen said:


> http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Crol8Omzgd8/SSx8xswLBJI/AAAAAAAABjI/2cFqVNrLem0/s400/sick_kitten.jpg
> Hope the kitten gets better
> Can't wait to see this build, I always like combination desk/computers. But with the glass, this is gonna be cool.



Def. Thanks for the feedback. Wan't to get started more than anything.


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## t77snapshot (Oct 22, 2012)

The draft is look'in good so far! I love desk mods and I don't see very many of them. The first pc-desk I saw was MoonPig's Desk Mod  which he built back in 09', then later went water cooling. There was one guy on the forums (L .. something) who constructed the most inspiring deskmod ever! but I can find it. 

Anyway yeah, _Subbed!_ Can't wait to see what becomes of your desk project TNA


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## ALMOSTunseen (Oct 22, 2012)

t77snapshot said:


> (L .. something)


l3p
He posted in this .


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 22, 2012)

t77snapshot said:


> The draft is look'in good so far! I love desk mods and I don't see very many of them. The first pc-desk I saw was MoonPig's Desk Mod  which he built back in 09', then later went water cooling. There was one guy on the forums (L .. something) who constructed the most inspiring deskmod ever! but I can find it.
> 
> Anyway yeah, _Subbed!_ Can't wait to see what becomes of your desk project TNA



The l3p d3sk was actually my inspiration, I don't have the money and resources of course to make mine as nice as his of course, but I'll try


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## t77snapshot (Oct 23, 2012)

ALMOSTunseen said:


> l3p
> He posted in this .



*l3p* that's it! I didn't realize he was the first post.  



TheNamezAustin said:


> The l3p d3sk was actually my inspiration, I don't have the money and resources of course to make mine as nice as his of course, but I'll try


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 23, 2012)

So it might be looking like i may just be building this computer from the ground up, the only remnant from my current rig will probably be my hard drive. Never really realized I was running a first gen i5, so I'm probably going to be saving up to get the mobo, and might as well save that little bit more for the i7. With a 680 on my mind and corsair dominator ram on my mind, this could take a while to get all my components in order. The only thing I wont be buying again is my power supply, harddrive, and diskdrive. There is pros and cons to this. Pros, I can wait and see what new technology is coming out if any within the next month or so, also the pc it self will overall be a better computer. Cons, heavily delays the time in which this build will take.

What do you guys think, should I work on the build piece by piece or wait and see, save, and order everything at once. I'm leaning towards saving and buying at once (this might be good with holiday sells coming in)... one thing I can say for sure is its time to ask the boss for some double shifts on the weekends


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## ALMOSTunseen (Oct 23, 2012)

TheNamezAustin said:


> So it might be looking like i may just be building this computer from the ground up, the only remnant from my current rig will probably be my hard drive. Never really realized I was running a first gen i5, so I'm probably going to be saving up to get the mobo, and might as well save that little bit more for the i7. With a 680 on my mind and corsair dominator ram on my mind, this could take a while to get all my components in order. The only thing I wont be buying again is my power supply, harddrive, and diskdrive. There is pros and cons to this. Pros, I can wait and see what new technology is coming out if any within the next month or so, also the pc it self will overall be a better computer. Cons, heavily delays the time in which this build will take.
> 
> What do you guys think, should I work on the build piece by piece or wait and see, save, and order everything at once. I'm leaning towards saving and buying at once (this might be good with holiday sells coming in)... one thing I can say for sure is its time to ask the boss for some double shifts on the weekends


I think it would be good to just get the desk, done and built. Then after christmas, after all the companies are trying to get rid of their old stock, buy your parts.


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## TheNamezAustin (Oct 23, 2012)

ALMOSTunseen said:


> I think it would be good to just get the desk, done and built. Then after christmas, after all the companies are trying to get rid of their old stock, buy your parts.



Yeah defiantly, still going to built the desk some of the desk, I don't want screw it all together then have that situation where the motherboard doesn't fit like I thought it would or anything like that. I just want everything to fit perfectly and nice. Buy as for basic cuts and installing where I want to put my fans.


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## ALMOSTunseen (Oct 23, 2012)

TheNamezAustin said:


> Yeah defiantly, still going to built the desk some of the desk, I don't want screw it all together then have that situation where the motherboard doesn't fit like I thought it would or anything like that. I just want everything to fit perfectly and nice. Buy as for basic cuts and installing where I want to put my fans.


Yeah, just build the desk, and drill holes and cut cable slots later.


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