Child's Computer Desk

[Brice Burrell]

Child's Computer Desk​

This project is a simple computer desk for a neighborhood kid. I made it from leftover materials I had laying around, some #2 1X6 pine and some birch plywood. I think the design has some nice visual appeal even though its construction is fairly straight forward. With this being the internet it would be easy for me to tell you this project went off without a hitch, but that wouldn't be the truth. I made a few mistakes by rushing things (I should know better). In the end everything worked out and I had a good time none the less.

This project started where almost all of my projects start, with Google SketchUp. If you aren't familiar with this program it's a 3D modeling program that's pretty simple to use, and best of all it is free. This program allows me to completely design a project in three dimensions. This gives me a chance to work out design elements, scale, colors, you name it, and all without cutting up any of my materials. This greatly reduces construction time and helps prevent mistakes during the actual built. Above is a rendering of the SketchUp model.

With everything worked out in SketchUp I started by rough cutting the #2 1X6 pine and gluing up the four legs and two stretchers. Each leg and stretcher is made up of three pieces glued together making the pieces 2 1/4" thick. This was a bit challenging because this stock had been sitting in my basement for months so it was twisted. Nothing a few good clamps couldn't take care of. To help speed the application of the glue I poured the glue out of a gallon container and spread it with one of those large plastic Bondo applicators. I wasn't to careful with the glue since it cleans up easily.

The next step was to cut the pieces to size. That started with cutting a straight line on of the edges so I could place the clean edge against the miter saw fence. I used my TS55 and short guide rail to true up the edges. Then to the Kapex to cut to length and shape. The legs have a parallelogram shape and the stretchers a trapezoid.

Here are the pieces laid out so you can see the rough shape I started with.

I attached the legs to the stretchers with Domino tenons, four 10mm X 50mm tenons in each leg/stretcher joint. I'm sure I could have used smaller tenons but since the 10mm cutter was already in my Domino I thought why not.

A few strategically placed Qwas Dogs meant I didn't need to clamp the pieces down to cut the mortises. No clamping made the mortising process much quicker. This was the first time I'd used them. I had no idea such a simple little fixture like these Qwas dogs could be so useful. I used these things throughout this project, great product for sure.

Here's what I ended up with, doubled stacked Domino mortises.

I always do a test fit. However, in cases like this with several large tenons I don't drive the pieces together, I just makes sure the mortises are aligned.

Since the edges will be cut off I decides to cut shoulders in the legs so the clamps could get a better purchase.

Here's the template of the legs. I traced the template on each leg then rough cut the assembly on the band saw. I stayed away from the line by about 1/16" since I cut the legs to the final shape by template routing.

Photos and text by Brice Burrell, Copyright 2010

 

[Mac]

Am loving how detailed this is and how useful the pictures are Brice, they really show how you're using your tools and bench.  Keep it coming!
[thanks]

Rick

 

[butzla]

Brice,  Great project!  Your design is elegant in it's simplicity.  And your pictures and documentation are very clear.  I'm looking forward to more.  My daughter's been hinting about a new desk.  I'll be watching this thread!

 

[Brice Burrell]

Brice,
Well photographted and concise.  Looking forward to more.

Great tip on notching the legs to provide parallel clamping surfaces.  So many times you see wedges, etc. to compensate.  This way seems so much simpler and more reliable.  Did you plan this from the beginning - oversizing the legs to allow for the notches?

Joe

Of course I did. [wink] No, I didn't plan for it, it was one of these things that just happened to work out.

I hope to have the next installment up sometime later tonight.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Continued...

Here's one of the legs roughed out.

Since I didn't have a pattern bit long enough to make the cut in one pass I needed two bits (a top and bottom bearing bit) and two passes to complete the cut. I used the template and a top bearing pattern bit to make the first pass. Then I removed the template and flipped the piece over and used a bottom bearing pattern bit to finish the cut. Here I'm using the OF2200 with the table widener base.

I was called away from the project as I finished gluing up one set of legs, so only one set was ready to go. Having parts of a project get out of order is one thing I generally try to avoid. I ended up using two router so I didn't have to keep changing the bits out when I was ready to work on the second set.

Here it is routed to final shape. One thing to caution you about is be careful when routing curves like this because you can get some chipping. I took it slow and chipping was very minimal.

Okay, I said I made some mistakes along the way in this project. Well, here's one of them. I allowed the router to tip while pattern routing. That cut into the piece so I needed to make a repair. A little Bondo to the rescue.

Since I had the Bondo out I decided to go over the knot holes and any other blemishes. I don't think I would have bothered doing it otherwise. So, in this a mistake ended up improving the project.

One more step on the legs and that's rounding over the edges. I used the OF 1010 with table widener and a 3/8" round over bit. I had to take off the chip catcher in order to rout the inside area where the leg meets the stretcher. The chips were flying then but the dust collection was exceptional with the rest of the routing with the catcher installed.

I worked on the top next. It's an oval shape and you need a number of layout marks to draw an oval. I used the Festool/Stabila level to help with the layout. On the top of this level there is a centerline and rulers on each side. The measurements go out from the center making layouts from centerpoints a breeze. Here's a great webpage I found that helped with the layout, Oval Layout Calculator.

I got sort of busy so I don't have pictures of shaping of the oval. I followed pretty much procedure as I used on the legs. I made a template, traced it, then roughed out the shape and finished it off by pattern routing the final shape.

Here's another confession, I made a mistake here too. When I made the SketchUp model I based the scale of the desk with the impression I had a wider piece of plywood for the top than I really did. The piece I had was about 4" too narrow. I looked at changing the dimensions of the oval but it looked out of scale with the legs. So I decided to keep the dimensions pretty close to the originals and have a flat spot in the back of the oval.

I used iron on edge banding and trimmed it up with the MFK 700. The MFK worked beautifully on the oval. You can see the flat spot on the back side of the oval in this picture.

Next is the small shelf for the monitor. I needed to both rip and crosscut this pieces but instead of taking the time to setup the fence and guide rail on my MFT I use Qwas dogs and Qwas rail dogs.

With the holes in the MFT top all being perfectly cut on a CNC machine it's like having a built-in square on your MFT table. I placed the Qwas dogs down to act as a fence and attached the rail dogs in the clamp groove on the bottom of my guide rail, then drop the dogs in the holes. This made a perfectly square cut without any hassle. This was a big time saver in my project since I needed all of the table space of my MFT but still had to make crosscuts. Setting up the fence/guide rail and squaring then up several times during this project would been very time consuming. With the Qwas products it only took seconds.

After cutting the piece to size I rounded off the corners with the jigsaw. This piece is something else I was a little disappointing with. It's not the best looking piece of birch ply but it's what I had laying around.

I'm trimming the edge banding, again, the MFK 700 shines here. I used a Festool sanding block with 180 grit Brilliant 2 to finish off the edge band.

Photos and text by Brice Burrell, Copyright 2010

 

[Frank Pellow]

Brice, I very much liked the design of the desk when you showed us a photo in the other thread.

Now, I am very much enjoying the desription of how you built it.

Thanks! 

 

[Brice Burrell]

Brice,
Frank stated it well.

I think I need some Qwas dogs.  I often work with the MFT "stripped down" and would love the convenience of these for quick setups without the need for reattaching the fence.  This situation alone justifies their purchase to me.

Joe

Joe, I saw the discussions about the Qwas products here and over on talkFestool but honestly I didn't appreciate the significance of them. I used to keep the fence and guide rail on my (old style) MFT at all times because it was somewhat of a hassle to get in perfectly square. Now, I'm really loving the extra table space using MFT stripped down. I've found another use for the dogs that I'll show in the next installment.

I included a bit of extra explanation of the Qwas dogs out of genuine enthusiasm for the products. But, in the interest of full disclosure, the Qwas products shown here were provided to me for review purposes. While this isn't a review of these dogs I wanted to up front with you guys.   

 

[woodguy7]

Looking good Brice.  I couldn't help notice some of your labels hanging off.  Try the 2 part mitre bond that is used on kitchens.  A little bit on the systainer & the spray on the back of the label then squeegie it into place.  Works a treat, just don't put 2 much super glue on.

Woodguy.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Continued...

I decided to mount the monitor shelf with Domino tenons. First, I laid out the locations of the mortises on the bottom side of the shelf. The setup I used to correctly index the Domino was the Qwas dogs to hold the piece and the rail dogs in a short MFS profile. The profiles acted a straight edge or guide to index the Domino at a perfect right angle to the back of the piece. I transferred the center marks of mortises from the work piece to the blue painter's tape on the MFS profile. Then I aligned the center line on Domino's base with my pencil lines on the tape and just like that I've got perfectly placed mortises in the field of my work piece.

Here's a shot of the mortises. This technique makes it really easy to cut mortises when you aren't indexing the Domino off the edge of the work piece. You could substitute the MFS profile with a guide rail, using the back edge of the rail to index the Domino. That's how I used to do this except I used the MFT fence and guide rail mounted on the table. I like using the MFS profile a little better because it doesn't have the foam grip tape that the guide rails have. This makes it easier to slide the work piece under the profile to fine tune the alignment.

This technique could be used on the side panels of a bookcase to attach the shelves or any other time you need to cut mortises in the middle of your piece.

Same process on the desk top but with a longer MFS profile. I used painter's tape to draw to layout lines since the piece already had finish on it and the lines would be visible.

After the mortises are cut, pull off the tape and the layout lines are gone. I like doing this because I've gotten into trouble in the past with small light pencil lines and with a piece this far along it would be a shame to ruin it now.

Here is the monitor shelf on the desk top.

I'm drilling a hole in the bottom of the legs for leveling feet in this picture. I used a doweling jig and 3/8" drill bit. If you closely you'll see the new imperial Centrotec drill bit set, I'm loving imperial sized the hole with my T15.

The whole leg assembly and top are held together by pocket screws. I attached long stretchers to legs to make the assembly able to stand up, that made it easier to prime. With two coats of Zinsser shellac primer that I tinted to help prevent any knot holes from bleeding through will give the piece some color. Then I drilled the rest of the pocket holes.

With the top attached the desk is finished. The construction time on this project was only a few hours but with the laminating of the legs, clamping time for the legs assemblies and drying time for the primer and polyurethane it stretched out over a weekend (Friday night through Sunday morning).

For me, the beauty of this project was a design that took advantage of the relatively simple construction techniques to maximize visual appeal. Sure, I made a few mistakes along the way. Over coming your mistakes is part of building almost every project. The project turned out fine and I had a good time so I'd call this one a success.

Photos and text by Brice Burrell, Copyright 2010

Here's a link to the SketchUp file, Child's Computer Desk SketchUp file.

 

[frehouseremdlin]

Brice,

Great work, on the piece and the documentation. Like you said mistakes are part of everyday building and like I've always heard, "If  your not screwing up, you're not doin anything"

Keep up the good work

Brett

 

[bruegf]

Brice,

What a great thing to do for a neighborhood kid, plus a nifty little project.  I've got a nephew that wouild love one those in a couple more years.

As usual, another nice write-up as well.  Thanks for sharing.

Fred

 

[Yuri]

Great write up Brice,
Thanks for sharing. I'm wondering why did you decide to paint the legs, they would look much nicer in stain. Not being critical just curious.

Thanks

 

[Brice Burrell]

Great write up Brice,
Thanks for sharing. I'm wondering why did you decide to paint the legs, they would look much nicer in stain. Not being critical just curious.

Thanks

Fair question. The wood used was #2 pine, that's a lower grade wood with knots. While these knots don't look bad on a country style piece, this desk is more modern or sleek looking for that kind of rustic look. Besides, my Bono repair made it impossible to leave the wood natural. I suppose if anyone wants to make their own version of this desk they could leave the wood natural.

And [thanks] for all the kind works guys! 

 

[Frank Pellow]

Brice,

Great work, on the piece and the documentation. Like you said mistakes are part of everyday building and like I've always heard, "If  your not screwing up, you're not doin anything"

Keep up the good work

Brett

Brett, thanks for the quote "If  your not screwing up, you're not doin anything".    I will remember it the next time that I screw up -which probably means the next time that I I work on a project -like this afternoon.

 

[Yuri]

Brice,

That's what I thought, Good Job again!!!

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Brice,

Great writeup and photos on a great project for a child.  And thanks for posting the SketchUp files.

How do you align the Qwas dogs that connect to the Guide Rail or MFS extrusion?  I'm assuming they can slide along the T-slot, but if loose, doesn't that allow some undesired wiggle in use?  Do you twist them to lock them in position?  If so, how fiddly are they to get in the right position?  Lastly, I have three old style MFTs and the holes in each are of different sizes.  I can barely force my Festool Clamping Elements through the holes in one of the MFT 800s I own whereas in another the fit is rather loose.  That would seem to not bode well for my use of Qwas dogs, unless each was specifically sized for the holes in a particular MFT top.

I deal with my somewhat frequent installation and removal of the cross cutting setup on my MFT 1080 primarily by using my Woodpeckers 18 inch carpenter's 45-45-90 triangle to quickly set up the Guide Rail square to the fence, but I very much like the speed of your alternative setup and ability to quickly return to an open top table!!

Dave R.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Dave, with the rail dogs there is a small lip slightly with a diameter slightly smaller than the width of the shoulders of the T-slot. A hex bolt in the top fits in the T-slot and you just twist to tighten the dog down. See image below.

[attachthumb=#]

There is a small amount of slop in the fit of the dog to rail connection. I've found I can push the lip of the dog to one side on both dogs to nullify this slop. As for the fit of the dogs in the MFT holes, again there is some slop. I understand the older MFT holes are slightly smaller and I believe the dogs don't fit. This can be fixed with a little sanding. For the smallish pieces I cut so far with the Qwas setup I found this slop to negligible. If you were to use this setup with the full long length of the MFT to cut wide pieces maybe there could be a meaningful error, I don't know. I intend to test this out as time allows.   

 

[Mr. Jeff Smith]

Hi Brice,

The insight from the text alone is helpful as I plan to build a desk for my daughter soon.  Any chance you have the pics from this project you could reshare here or send via email?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Brice Burrell]

Hi Brice,

The insight from the text alone is helpful as I plan to build a desk for my daughter soon.  Any chance you have the pics from this project you could reshare here or send via email?

Thanks,
Jeff

I'll shoot you a pdf file.  If you don't see an email from me with the "Child's Computer Desk" in the subject, check your spam box. 

 

[mhch]

It seems to me that the sketchup model still exists in the 3D warehouse ..