Custom Computer Desk

Well guys, here is our first build write up! 

So a friend of ours asked us to build him a custom desk. He wanted to have his computer tower on one side and since it would be somewhat enclosed he wanted some venting thru the side, some shelving storage and some storage for different sized drawing paper. He also wanted something for various pens and pencil crayons. I went off some of the rough sketches and measurements he had and went into sketchup and came out with this mock-up. On the right "leg" where the tower is going to sit, there will be a cutout of his skull logo that will have a screen behind it to work as airflow ventilation, as well as a door at the back to access the back of his computer tower.

We decided to make the desk out of MDF. Once I had all the measurements I started cutting all the pieces down to size and cutting the dados into the pieces that needed them. Since this was my first project I wanted to document, I got carried away with the building and didn't take as many photo's of the build as I wanted. I got the two side "legs" assembled and decided instead of cutting the skull vent logo out of the 5/8" MDF I would cut out a square window and inset a thinner piece of hardboard that would have the logo cut out of 1/8" Hardboard. ​

I then assembled the top "cubby" that would hold his paper, and the pen/pencil holder. ​

I then cut out a long dish to hold some of the pencils and such that he would be using, as well as cutting some grooves in a piece of MDF that would hold all his rulers.

I added a lip around the top of the desk, then used wood filler on all the holes and edges. Then it was a ton of sanding. I finally broke down and bought a dusk mask. After all that was done I did a dry fit to see if everything fit together.

Then it was onto priming.

Then it was onto Paint. I did 2 coats on everything and even though I know red usually doesn't cover well, with the tinted grey primer it almost covered on the first coat. It definitely needed a second. I did the top and the accessories in a dark grey color.

Once the Paint had cured I applied 4 coats of Polycrylic, lightly sanding between each coat on the top and the keyboard tray. I had to apply it with a brush because I was getting too many bubbles trying to apply it with a roller. After the Polycrylic was cured it looked pretty good but I could still see the brush strokes. So I got some high grit sandpaper and wet sanded the top and applied some car polish afterwards which gave it a nice glossy finish.

After that it was onto assembly!

The skull vent logo was cut out on the X-carve CNC using 1/8" Hardboard. I also carved a back panel that had a vent style design and sandwiched some speaker fabric between them. ​

I then inlaid some cork in the tray for the misc. pens/pencils to give it a nice finished look.

And Finally the finished piece. ​

We are really happy with the way it turned out. Let us know what you think and if you would like to see more of these build write ups.