desk of steel

[licenseless]

so... my last mod went off pretty well... but to make it better i had to teach my self how to weld...

and... yeah... I literally have grown addicted to welding... and now I could care less if I ever finish that case simply because my computer works well enough and I have started my new hobby (that actually pays)

Welding was something I wanted to learn. Now I can weld and have been going crazy.

This project will be not a computer but a computer desk

I am actually commissioned to make this for some one. We are going to work together on this to create something crazy. Not just a computer desk but something to feel more militaristic than any desk should... HOPEFULLY!!!

so the guy came by and checked out a few things I have done
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7333/12736061325_4b43a96562_z.jpg
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2863/12736186753_55d02b5394_z.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5546/12736051705_d9b421d228_z.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7449/12736309803_f26394d377_z.jpg

(that last one was a shameless plug... i know hahahahahahahah)

so we came up with this great idea to push for the minimalist type desk with 3 legs but is still stable and industrial.

all mods start with a sketch
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5476/12736570014_bd098970b0_z.jpg

but soon gets modded hahhahahah
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2853/12736265233_07ae3e23ee_z.jpg

and then modded again
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3721/12736265153_9e660cd884_z.jpg

so he liked both mods and needed two desks anyways. I am making a very plain jane desk and a semi complex version.

so... this is where it starts... after you get your design you put your order in... and throw hundreds of dollars down the drain expecting it to work out fine...

you tell your wife oh yeah babe this is going to fine i promise im going to bring home a profit... i promise this Saturn Vue loaded with metal is for a good cause... now promise me you wont kill me in my sleep hahahaha

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1/16668_10202961967911385_181927242_n.jpg

i need a welder stand hahahahah
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7436/12736815614_31d3b5a73f_z.jpg

lets do this

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7314/12736812814_d358fdee27_z.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/12736337565_be37ea149f_z.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7361/12736503503_8a9b18f9d9_z.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7372/12736813894_ebbeb4503f_z.jpg


holy crap... did both frames up this way... so I have both desk frames tacked up and ready for finish welds and grinding.

will it fit in the door... OF COURSE IT WILL WIFE... IM A FREAKING GENIUS!!! phew
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3711/12736814974_e9ce2d5816_z.jpg

i slid the two pieces of sheet metal on top to get a look at it and see if I need the supports underneath it...
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5531/12736339185_a078849a76_c.jpg

let me know what ya think... am I on the right track to something you guys would buy ahhahahaha

i dont want to give away the final design... because I think the customer will probably change it up some.

hes talking about adding an ammo can... and needs me to purchase a bunch of rivets... plus hes also asking me if i can do some hand painting pinups hahahahahah i think i might be able to ... we will see

i will say this... he wants me to put a piece on the side...

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5482/12736574284_2cf3a9bf9a_z.jpg

also... for those of you who are thinking about doing work for money... i would suggest you pay attention to this next bit...

first off... if you weren paying attention to the pictures i have above about how the desk looks... then you will see that even after i have showed the costumer this... he still hand draws it different...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7346/12738406774_040f1640e7_c.jpg

Why? its not cuase hes dumb... its because people see things differently...

even if you thuroughly explain something... it doesnt sink into most people until they see it... its just how we work... so doing a rendering and maybe doing a mock up is best...

I had so much trouble explaining what my 2 legged coffee table was supposed to look like that before I could get some one to buy it... I had to do a mach up on it...

this should have been enough... in my eyes... to explain it to some one... trust me... its not
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5523/12736574544_d9b7de0054_z.jpg

so I did this (plus to see if it would work in my own head)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3760/12736516594_8a95afa5ac_z.jpg

and of course... proof to the costumer that it is really stable hahahahahah

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/12736049495_7220ac83b2_z.jpg

anyways...

as this desk unfolds you guys might laugh... or you could get jealous...

its going to even have a cable rail... so you can ziptie your cable off with it hahahahahah so everything stays together ahahahah

i like playing with metal... should be my new signature ahahahah

[licenseless]

aight... well as you can see... it still getting dark at 530 to 6 o'clock... so... im using my photography lights for my green screen for this hahahahahahaha
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3738/12759190965_269e418019_c.jpg

and its 32 degrees out side... f'ing cold

I was just able to box up the lower shelves real quick... and put the sheetmetal top on...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7339/12759637604_13ccae3bff_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7336/12759333123_e4314326bc_z.jpg

as you can see here... i have good penetration... notice you arent seeing any of the blueing... well thats cause its 32 freaking degrees out and the metal is cooling off before it can get to those tempatures around the welds hahahahahha
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7314/12759189295_c9de2dc42c_z.jpg

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2835/12759636004_665e27667f_z.jpg

there are two shelves... but i got a phone call this after noon... as i stated before in the previous post... if you want to do something custom... you need to be able to explain your self real well to the customer... fortunately for me i have a great customer who is also understanding of change and is willing to wait for the changes to take place... some times you get a customer who wants you to change things up but doesnt care if its going to take longer... they want it NOW!!!

I tend to try to avoid such customers hahahahah BUT for this one he wanted to make a change... he ended up buying two ammo cans and wants to turn the left shelf into a place he can put his cans... which means he doesnt need the shelf... but he wants to know how well i can paint for the pinup girl on the side... so i will be turning the second self into a small picture for my self... but he will get to see my work... so its going to be a pinup shelf hahahahaah

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2824/12759635334_17f44ae317_z.jpg

as you know its 32 degrees out side... so... I had to bring everything in side for a half hour... rush out side... paint it... then after 5 minutes bring it back inside... so it can stay warm... fortunately i havent painted the underside... so that wasnt that difficult...

the shelves them self will actually be getting rivets on the edges but they are just for looks... they will techinally be functional... but i rather tack it all down to make sure it is stable during the painting process and everything else... thing of the rivets as bling hahahahhha i am kidding... please dont do that

so both desks (stupid word) have there tops sitting on them... and just hanging out in my basement...its kind of cool to see a project slowly come together... even if its just desks for a gaming rig... and not an actual gaming rig it self...

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1/1505491_10203012727660347_1950343407_n.jpg

as you can see on the ground behind the rig... i have support braces for the top of the desk... and some extra metal for a beer glass shelf i am making for my self hahahahhahaha plus a plant stand... and the starts of an entertainment center...

i have so much damn metal my basement will be like walking into an industrial village hahahahahah

[TheMainMan]

It's pretty cool to see this come together. I would love to have the space to weld but somehow I think that would violate the terms of my apartment lease... :D

[licenseless]

It's pretty cool to see this come together. I would love to have the space to weld but somehow I think that would violate the terms of my apartment lease... :D

hahahahah im in a town house... my neighbors hate me... but my land lord likes my homebrew so hes says "**** them. if the HOA didnt see this coming then **** them too"

hahahahah living like a rock star hahahaha i wish

[d_stilgar]

I hope I get some more space when I move. I'd love to do more projects, and bigger projects.

This is looking awesome. I can't wait to see it finished.

[licenseless]

well... ms is kicking in... so i got to get this one done before next week... crap is starting to take over...

fortunately it is coming a long nicely... and the guy who is buying it is going to paint it... so my end is almost done...

customer asked for me to put in two extra things for this build... first the cable guide on the back of the main leg... so he can zip tie cables to it.
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2870/13339070894_b231f0c639_c.jpg

well... the supports for the top went in real easy
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3674/13364606145_76dc637a7e_c.jpg

then slapped the top on with a bunch of spot welds on the underside...
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7097/13364968214_def0c45823_c.jpg
it will get rivets later so the spot welds are just to hold it until it is riveted...

as you can see... i was having trouble getting the shelves to hold up properly so i could weld it while it was level... crap load of tiny metal shims every where... plus larger pipes as you can see
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3730/13364965714_bab2ee0e63_c.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3693/13364967014_cb8b4b6c45_c.jpg
those pictures where taken before i put in the last shims...

the second thing the customer wanted extra was a head set holder... so i mocked up a simple head set holder... gamers gotta game hahahah
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3758/13364597905_fc7c4fe0b5_c.jpg

duct tape rules... wanted to make sure the guy liked it... so i had to have it in place...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/robertfischer/13364963444/sizes/c/in/photostream/

as you can see... its pretty much done...
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7210/13364961314_f0c8c7c307_c.jpg
you can also see my attempt at a pin up for a test run for the big side piece went so bad that i sanded the **** out of it... hahahaha didnt like it... will be painted over later

also... in cause you are wondering... yes... the shelves hold up nicely... this is where i have been putting my welder when im not working on these things... that welder ways about 40 to 50 pounds... and the shelf doesnt budge
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7341/13364595465_2cde3739fa_c.jpg

now for the most annoying... yet... most appealing part
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3689/13364602065_0f910bd843_c.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3744/13364971774_b4b23c8f26_c.jpg
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https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7403/13364970194_d6fcb75bb9_c.jpg
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3782/13364970934_54f9953f04_c.jpg

if you didnt know... black sharpie is the worst to use on metal... silver... is the best... it doesnt dry out from the metal... and it can be pretty bright at times... wouldnt expect it... but it works way better than wax/soup or black sharpie... or even crappy pencil

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2819/13365302324_6e909dbf71_c.jpg

well thats it for now... after we finish up the final touches then we will see where we go from here

[d_stilgar]

It's looking really awesome. I can't wait to see it finished.

[licenseless]

Hes supposed to swing by tomorrow night... so we can hash out some details. Like ... how the heck we are moving it hahahahahahah. And where the ammo cans will go. We might make up some brackets for them.

Once we add some finishing putty and paint ... this thing will be cool as hell.

[licenseless]

Finally got a chance to grab the gussets.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2930/13632993354_c83ab018ca_o.jpg

Cut the corners up... riveted it down... then finished all the hard edges around the whole thing

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/13633026544_0cdcd52ea5_o.jpg

Im stoked

He comes to get it for paint this weekend

[Stonerboy779]

That's a lot of rivits haha interested to see how it looks after paint.

[licenseless]

That's a lot of rivits haha interested to see how it looks after paint.

me too hahahahah

he took it off my hands saturday... and picked up his second desk sunday (I made two because he wanted a second one with out rivets just for a work bench)

he already has the base coat down... he should have the first layers of paint by the end of this week... and maybe the stencils on too... we will see

my part is done... but i will go back and see the finished product and help him out with final set up... and see if he wants to get the monitor stands later or not

[licenseless]

oh man... i forgot to post the pictures i have of this desk. maybe next time ill setup my camera... and get a few legit shots

but this is how it turned out
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3850/14878119468_fc7ceca867_b.jpg

as you can see... our goal was not to put a final coat on it... but to slowly let the paint strip away... then either laquer it so the petina is stuck... or add more paint and let it fade away again and do mulitple coats similar to how actual military vehicles are taken care of

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3869/15061690651_0284b54381_b.jpg

im happy with the finished product

[Airbozo]

Very cool work!

You picked up the welding bit fast eh?

[OvRiDe]

That looks awesome! Great color scheme/theme

[d_stilgar]

Awesome! It's great to see finished pics. I also like that it looks like there's some legit paint wear on the front rivets. Nice!

[Snowman]

Nice work. I see your pit on a desk


and of course... proof to the costumer that it is really stable hahahahahah

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7418/12736049495_7220ac83b2_z.jpg


and raise you a pit on the roof
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F8sZuO4L17w/U_eHe5ey2GI/AAAAAAAADLc/AqgD0SM7nGo/w541-h721-no/14%2B-%2B1