Desk Building. Looking for folks who've done it before!

[rattran]

After slicing my leg open on an unnoticeably chipped glass coffee table a few years ago I've developed a distinct aversion to any glass furniture.

A glass desk just seems like begging for a humorous demise.

[Draegan]

I have an old glass desk but the support frame for it really doesn't allow for your legs to go underneath.  Crappy POS.

[CmdrSlack]

I got a pretty spiffy teacher's desk in 2001. My dad's school was updating the furniture, and I grabbed this maybe late 60's early 70's era desk. It's pretty heavy, but it has some nice drawer space and one of those cool pull-out "workspace" platforms. I think we already packed the charger for the camera, and I am not digging through a ton of boxes to look for it.

Here's roughly what it looks like, except mine is all wood with a blonde veneer on the desktop and edges, and a blonde finish on the legs and drawers, brass fixtures, etc.




It's fine for our needs and is small enough to fit in the space it must fit at our new place. My main concern is that there's not enough desktop space. I've had the same CRT monitor since 1998. I looked at Best Buy's website as a simple "price check" and it seems that I can drop about $150-$199 and get a decent flat monitor. My rig is circa SWG launch so it's not like I need some ridiculous uber monitor, and I think that I can get some decent desk space back if I have the smaller footprint monitor.

I'm just wondering if going cheap like the Jerker or that other Ikea desk with no drawers is worth it if I can drop about what I'd spend on a desk with drawers at Ikea on a 21st century monitor.

[Draegan]

I've got a new design in mind, but I'm trying to think of the easiest materials too work with other than wood.  I'm think about building a frame and the only material off the top of my head that I can think of is PVC pipe.

Any ideas?

[Salamok]

I've got a new design in mind, but I'm trying to think of the easiest materials too work with other than wood.  I'm think about building a frame and the only material off the top of my head that I can think of is PVC pipe.

Any ideas?

copper tubing would probably make a cooler looking frame, pick up a propane torch and some solder...  be sure and use the rigid stuff not the easy bend, one is type L the other is type M I can never keep em straight (I think you want type M). 

steampunk all the way!

Maybe go a few sheets of 1/4" tinted plexi for the surface...

[Sky]

Copper is expensive right now, the theft of choice for shady contractors.

[Selby]

I'm just wondering if going cheap like the Jerker or that other Ikea desk with no drawers is worth it if I can drop about what I'd spend on a desk with drawers at Ikea on a 21st century monitor.

Keep the old teacher's\government worker's desk and get a flat panel monitor.  They will last forever and multiple moves.  I tried to get one from my place of employment (with drawers\shelves on top across the back as well) that they were literally throwing in the trash, but they wouldn't give it to me since it was technically "required to be disposed of since accounting has it written down that way."

I love my old 19 inch monitors that I spent alot of money on back in 2000, but they just take up too much desk space to be used every day anymore.  My office is shared with the other half and space is at a serious premium here in SoCal.

[Signe]

Copper is expensive right now, the theft of choice for shady contractors.

And Verizon!

[Teleku]

Copper is expensive right now, the theft of choice for shady contractors.

And Verizon!

And China.

[Merusk]

Copper is expensive right now, the theft of choice for shady contractors.

And Verizon!

And China.

And, hell, just plain thieves.   We've had 3 houses this year where they've gone in and ripped out the HVAC and electrical wiring for the copper.

[Adam Tiler]

I use a 120 lb. unfinished teak monstrosity that my great-grandfather owned. It's in excellent condition, has tons of space, and could also serve as a tornado shelter.

[Salamok]

Copper is expensive right now, the theft of choice for shady contractors.

in the quantities needed to frame out a desk it wouldn't be that much more than pvc

[Nebu]

I picked up THIS workstation for $150 on sale and am fairly pleased with it.  For the price, I couldn't find better.



Easy to assemble and is pretty solid.  The glass tops are nice as well.

[schild]

That's a newer model of what I had in Maryland. It's actually pretty nice. Not as sturdy as 2 jerkers though.

[Nebu]

Not as sturdy as 2 jerkers though.

True.  I bought this for the combination of cost and convenience.  I build my own stereo stands, but had no desire to build a workstation.  I know, I'm nuts.

[schild]

There's a huge difference between stereo stands and a desk.

[Nebu]

There's a huge difference between stereo stands and a desk.

There is, but I'm betting that we're thinking about them quite differently.  Stereo stands require a ridiculous amount of attention to detail when done properly.  Workstations just require them to be solid and level.  Of course, I'm an audio nut. 

[schild]

There's a huge difference between stereo stands and a desk.

There is, but I'm betting that we're thinking about them quite differently.  Stereo stands require a ridiculous amount of attention to detail when done properly.  Workstations just require them to be solid and level.  Of course, I'm an audio nut. 

I hear denon has some new cables for you.

[Nebu]

I hear denon has some new cables for you.

Funny guy.  I've been building my own cables for years as well.  I can make them using solid silver or gold wire for about the same as that Recoton or Monster crap people spend good money on at Best Buy.  Cables do make a difference by the way... the science of that is easy to prove.  Whether or not humans can discern the difference is the issue. 

[Samwise]

Cables do make a difference by the way... the science of that is easy to prove.  Whether or not humans can discern the difference is the issue. 

Science could prove that pretty easily too... has anyone ever done any double-blind trials on copper vs. gold cable or whatever?  Be interesting to test some "audiophiles" and see if they can actually tell the difference.

[Signe]

What a good buy for $150!  It might not be the prettiest desk ever, but it's big and cheap and easy to wipe clean! 

[ClydeJr]

Once you're done building your desk, don't forget to name it: Blogadilla Swedish Furniture Name Generator

I need to start working on the Kliddejr desk soon.

[Sky]

I think the jerker is an apt name for a computar desk. Upgrade to the wanker!

[JoeTF]

Cables do make a difference by the way... the science of that is easy to prove.  Whether or not humans can discern the difference is the issue. 

Then please, prove it.

[Nebu]

Then please, prove it.

How fundamental would you like me to start?  Conductance, EMF, or the Electromotive series would be good jumping off points.  Understanding the reasoning behind the development of CAT5 cable may also be helpful.  Also look at why CAT5 slows down after 100m.


Note: I'm sure an EE on the forums can do a much more elegant job of explaining all this than I can.

[Trippy]

Then please, prove it.

It's easy. You connect one end to a signal generator and connect the other end to a signal analyzer and examine the differences from the reference signal. There will be differences in the output waveforms between different cables like so:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-268788.php

(This is with video not audio but the same concepts apply).

[Nebu]

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/hdmi-cable-battlemodo/the-truth-about-monster-cable-part-2-268788.php

(This is with video not audio but the same concepts apply).

Very nice.  Thanks for the link.

[Selby]

Note: I'm sure an EE on the forums can do a much more elegant job of explaining all this than I can.

There's not really much of a reason to go into it.  Signal strength degrades over length, the center strand setup and count play a role in how the inductance and resistance of the wire behave and how much degradation you get, and the cable terminators also influence the same.  The bigger question, as you put it, is can a human ear actually discern enough of those differences to justify the cable price?  Sure you can get a more perfect square\sin wave that degrades a few 100µV less than a cheaper cable and is slightly more immune to outside interference (EMI\noise), but does that honestly translate into enough of a true loss of data that a $200 cable will make up for?

[Salamok]

Note: I'm sure an EE on the forums can do a much more elegant job of explaining all this than I can.

There's not really much of a reason to go into it.  Signal strength degrades over length, the center strand setup and count play a role in how the inductance and resistance of the wire behave and how much degradation you get, and the cable terminators also influence the same.  The bigger question, as you put it, is can a human ear actually discern enough of those differences to justify the cable price?  Sure you can get a more perfect square\sin wave that degrades a few 100µV less than a cheaper cable and is slightly more immune to outside interference (EMI\noise), but does that honestly translate into enough of a true loss of data that a $200 cable will make up for?

If it's a digital signal I would say there is no difference in the end product, at some point doesn't the signal purity become good enough and improvements beyond that just don't matter other than maybe distance or bandwidth which i doubt are factors here.  For example a fuzzy looking peak (ie 1) is still recognizable as a 1 and once it gets interpreted as such it becomes a crystal clear 1 same as if it wasn't fuzzy to begin with.  didn't read the original article so I may be off base on what type of signal they are transmitting over this $500 ethernet cable, i'm just assuming it is a binary data stream.

[Draegan]

I picked up THIS workstation for $150 on sale and am fairly pleased with it.  For the price, I couldn't find better.



Easy to assemble and is pretty solid.  The glass tops are nice as well.

I went out to Office Depot to find a desk chair and I actually sat at that desk.  It was pretty nice.

[Nebu]

Office Max had a desk that I also liked from Sharper Image that I also liked (like a glass/Steelcase hybrid) but it was really expensive (like $300) when you got all of it together.  I'd provide a link, but Sharper Image is doing something with their site.

[Draegan]

I liked someone's idea of a "steam punk" style desk.  Copper piping etc.  I havn't had time to look into materials yet.

[Sky]

[Draegan]

That's way too complicated for me.

[Sky]

By complicated, you mean awesome!