Project Of The Day : Weeze's Office

[shilala]

I just started working on a whole new office for the Queen of my double-wide.
I've done a bunch of this type of thread, but I don't think I've ever taken one from concept forward.
When I look at projects, I always ask questions about how guys came to their idea, what inspired them, how they designed and laid things out, things of that nature. That's how I learn more and more about designing/building things.

Initially we thought we wanted cabinetry. I gathered up a bunch of info, laid everything out, priced it out, set it aside for about 6 months, and lost all the paperwork. :)
Then I thought I'd like furniture far more than cabinets. Custom, matching stuff that we can take along with us if we move, or sell if we don't. It'll all be heirloom quality stuff and it'd fetch a very good price.
Then we decided on cabinets again.
Then we switched back to furniture again.
Now I'm designing all the pieces of furniture.

There will be 2 desks, each 5 1/2 feet long. Then there's a cabinet that's essentially be a print center. There's a massive corner piece for storage.
The corner piece pretty much drives the bus. I have to mock it up on the floor to see how it'll work, make adjustments, then design it.
The desks I can design in my head and take them right to software. The print stand is easy, too.

Once I've designed each piece, I'll do what's called "taking off material". I'll lay out exactly the sizes of lumber I need, itemize them, and head to the mill for half a day of picking.
When I get the lumber home I'll start making sawdust.
I'll build all the parts for the 2 desks first, build and finish one, take it in the house, then build and finish the other. Subject to change.

That's all for now, I'll just drop one pic of concept and layout and check back in later.
I've never built any of these things, so go easy on me. :D

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/85EE495E-ED78-461B-A994-B4660A9476BC-1069-0000037F02E8F0E6.jpg

Weeze did not dig the Han Solo in Carbonite desk that was the obvious first choice.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2009/11/desk1web-1.jpg

[elderboy02]

Cant wait to see what you build. You sir are a craftsman :tu

[Gophernut]

Weeze did not dig the Han Solo in Carbonite desk that was the obvious first choice.

http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2009/11/desk1web-1.jpg

Women. If I live to be 100 yrs old, I'll never figure them out. Looking forward to watching this thread!

[chaase321]

Gonna look really nice Scott! Can't wait

[maninblack]

Excited to see what you come up with Scott!

[shilala]

All my elevations are finished. The cool thing about this software is that once I've created every elevation, I can take off a parts list relatively easily. I do have to remember to add a couple inches to the tenoned pieces because I didn't reflect them in my drawings.

The "parts list" will reflect every single piece of wood in this desk, as well as each piece's dimensions. If someone else wanted to build this desk, they could easily do it with a picture of the finished desk, the elevations, and the parts list.
I could find desk plans that I could purchase. They don't include elevations, or they are very poor and basic. They're almost always wrong, too. That generally comes from drawing things on paper with dimensions. It's really hard not to transpose a number or get a wrong dimension because you can't stack parts in your head as you build, or easily back-check, or keep a fast workflow where you don't forget things.
When a designer begins cutting parts they'll normally catch it, but don't go back and adjust plans because it's a huge amount of work. Then the parts list doesn't match the drawing at that point, so things become a bit messy, but they'll still sell the plans because they're within a margin of error that's considered acceptable.
With plans, I can't build exactly what I want, either. So I just do everything from scratch. It's easier.
If I weren't so lazy I'd take notes along the way, and when I build the desk, take notes and explain how I put stuff together. That would make for the best plans in the world and I could sell them very easily. I don't want to. :D

I may take off the parts list today, but I have the flu and I'm stupid. I'll probably forge ahead, then check my work when my head clears.
Then I can figure out how much lumber I need and head to the Amish Sawmill, not get enough lumber, come home, start working, and wish I'd have gotten more lumber.

I have to build two of these desks. Mine is going to be a little different than Lisa's, but I probably won't draw it.
There are a lot of huge panels in this project, so it'll be slow going. I'm looking forward to seeing how long it takes by tracking progress in this thread.

Here's a couple pics of the elevations. I'll add a parts list later just to give you an idea of what it takes and how it's done.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/E50584B0-E350-4132-BA13-986055860D93-2514-00000762E7E4D6BA.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/08CCBDE9-2C23-4B1B-BBFF-3121045CFE26-2514-00000762F4A6A3A2.jpg

[x man]

wow

[shilala]

I finished up the parts list. Next I'll print it and try to lay out my board footage. That's gonna be tough. There's a LOT of lumber in these two desks. Heck, there's a lot of lumber just in the desktops. :)
Once I get that list together I'll go fetch my trailer and head to the mill. Maybe tomorrow.
Thing is that it's up to about 45* here now and the roads are going to be a sloppy mess. I'll have to wrap this lumber or let it get all muddy, not that that matters. It'll just dull my planer blades, that's why it's best to keep it clean.

Anyways, here's a parts list just to give you an idea of how easy it looks. It takes a lot of brain time to get from concept to parts list. Now I can just go back to being a dimbo and watch Family Guy and sports radio all day while I work. :D

Oh, I wanted to mention what the "g" means in the measurements. It's just a note for me so that when I make the piece I get the grain correct. The grain is intended to span that specific dimension.
Ya can't have grain running left and right where it's supposed to go up and down, it looks awful. That'd be a lot of wasted work and the piece would get cut up for smaller parts. I try to avoid that, but I screw up every now and then. It's hard to think of all that stuff all the time while you're working.

Large Panels

8 - 26g x 25.5 x .75
sides and centers for 2 desks, 4 get panelized
2 - 26g x 28 x .75
center Fronts for 2 desks, get panelized
4 - 26g x 18 x .75
left and right front, 2 desks, all get panelized
2 - 68g x 26.5 x 1.0
desktops, get routered reveal, top ground for bartop
4 - 26.5g x 20.5 x .75
pedestals for 2 desks, get routered reveal
2 - 28g x 24 x .75
center drawer frame bottom, 2 desks

Small Parts

8 - 19.5g x 2.25 x .75
base fronts and backs, 2 desks, get 45'd, make long
8 - 25.5g x 2.25 x .75
base fronts and backs, 2 desks, get 45'd, make long
4 - 28g x 3 x .75
center drawer fill, top and bottom, 2 desks
4 - 3.5g x 3 x .75
center drawer fill, left and right, 2 desks

Face Frame Parts

8 - 26g x 1.5 x .75
left and right risers, 6 receive mortises
14 - 15g x 1.5 x .75
all receive tenons, make 2" long

Drawer Fronts

6 - 17g x 5.625 .75
3 - 17g x 11.75 x .75
1 - 24g x 17 x .75 (door front, my desk)
2 - 27g x 4 x .75

Drawer Glides and hardware

11 - pairs Knapt & Vogt 24" glides (3 sets over 100 pounds)
22 - Anachrome front brackets
22 - Anachrome rear brackets
1 - pair socket hinges (or create wood hinges)
56 - 1" screws (center drawer fill)

[Dave128]

Looking good, Scott.

[chaase321]

oh to have your imaginative talents! About the time you are finishing this they will be finished with building my house..you can come make my office :D

[shilala]

I wasn't in the shop last week, I wasn't feeling good, so no updates to mention. I just studied and did a couple software instructional vids for the guys at at the CNC board where I learn tons of stuff.

I took the boy to fetch lumber this morning. I got a crazy deal on 3 1/2' shorts, like $1.25 a bd/ft for cherry. It's around $4.00 bd/ft when I buy long boards and cut them up.
The cool thing is that all my panels are like 28" tall, so this not only saved me money, but a LOT of work. It's only like 1/16" over 3/4", so I have to plane it very little.
I dragged home a good $2000 of lumber for $600 cause I hit a few discounts for volume, too.
I didn't expect there to be any shorts at all because I cleaned them out last time I was there. When I saw how many were there, I couldn't believe it.
I'll have enough to do both desks and start the the other two pieces I have to do. That's a kickass Monday, right there. :D

[shilala]

I forgot to post a pic of the giant pile of wood that I'm so tickled about...

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/F1147FBF-59DE-417B-A750-F5E64D537B41-8048-000016AEE554F456.jpg

[14holestogie]

Nice score, Scott. :tu

[Zane]

Can't wait to see it finished!

[IBQTEE1]

Looking forward to watching this project.

[shilala]

I got that whole crazy pile planed down to 3/4". It's all within .002, I didn't think that was possible. I recently tore the planer apart, cleaned it up and put new blades in her. What a difference!!!
I did leave a pile of stuff at .85" for drawer fronts. I'd like them to be a little thicker than my last ones. That extra tenth of an inch will help a lot. I'll keep any graphics I do shorter, so the whole drawer front will have a nice, heavy feel. I got away with light drawer fronts on the lingerie dresser, but it's not gonna fly here.

Now I have to surface each side of these boards. I'll cut every edge off a couple times to square them. It's gonna take a long time, but then all the lumber will be "grab and go". I won't have to set up to saw or plane except when I make the desktops.

Here's the stuff all cleaned up. I took 8 giant green garbage bags of sawdust off of these boards. That's a lot of sawdust. :D

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/703AA817-C4F8-4201-8D6D-73807519B43C-8720-0000193F0438244B.jpg

[363]

Nice!

[shilala]

Hmmm. New links at photobucket. Let's see if this works after I tweak it...

Here's a pic you can compare to the pile of lumber above. They're all the parts in the parts list, short one top. Almost enough parts to build two giant desks.
I've decided to put a little shelf in the foot space, but it'll get screwed in. I can do that later.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/47031B4F-B98A-4EE7-B3E5-0303A5CE75E1-7524-0000054D8EA377B8_zpse17b68e9.jpg

[shilala]

This is a pic of parts. Specifically the face frames. These are the panels where the drawers will slide in someday. Probably around July at the rate I've been moving.

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/679BE002-4F36-4154-8048-D937E38F6CC6-7524-0000054D8ADFA8EF_zpsbe0b9172.jpg

[shilala]

I try to make myself bleed at least once a day. I keep bandaids right in front of me here at my desk in the shop just to make sure I don't bleed out on any specific day. Actually I don't care about that at all, sanding blood off of panels is just extra work. :D

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/87E55D3C-7BC5-495A-858B-CB3EA7BDAE2F-7524-0000054D1CE542FE_zps9d1c27d1.jpg

[shilala]

Lastly is a mod I had to do to endure sanding all these panels.
I have a very good hepa filter sanding system vacuum deal that staves off the emphysema pretty well. Plus a 2 micron air filter on the ceiling. Plus a big dust collector. Plus I wear a dust mask. All that cause I've had pneumonia twice and worked in really nasty construction climates for lots of years. My lung xrays look really shitty, so I go to great lengths to take care of them nowadays.
My belt sander defies all that healthy stuff. It just has a bag on it and it throws dust everywhere. When the shop is closed up it's a huge problem.
So I modified the pig by making an adapter plate that allows me to plug in my hepa vac. It's still not remotely ideal, but it'll do. I just need to switch from a dust mask to a respirator when I'm sanding. OOooo, fun.
So here's the genius modification...

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/D536EABE-F7F6-4673-8047-7D80A4C680FC-7524-0000054D0493B6F3_zps28f8d48c.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/2CF5C596-E4A9-4C26-813D-6266564A1E20-7524-0000054D08C2EDF6_zps85553217.jpg

[shilala]

I almost forgot this pic. It's the whole reason I updated the thread.
I finally started putting the desk together. Whew. It's like it's been forever.
This pic is the left side of Weeze's desk. It is huge. I knew these desks were going to be big, but I'm pretty shocked. Weeze is thrilled, it's exactly what she wanted. :)

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/3A48EE63-FCFF-4E4F-A2DB-9164D162C34D-7524-0000054D82599B30_zps9efb8800.jpg

[AdamJoshua]

How's she going to use it with all those rods and blue handle things on it ?

But this is hot..

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/2CF5C596-E4A9-4C26-813D-6266564A1E20-7524-0000054D08C2EDF6_zps85553217.jpg

:r


(pens suck)

[shilala]

I knew you'd enjoy the belt sander, stud. :lr

[AdamJoshua]

A belt sander COMBINED with a vacuum .. every young boy's dream! :r

[shilala]

That made me lol for real.
If I could work in one of these (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmSYnOvEueo), there's be no reason to leave the house.

[dwoodward]

Your belt sander reminds me of what we did with a floor grinder at work. We were not allowed to use water on this job as it was a mess free work place or something. It was creating so much dust because of it that we'd have to stop every 15 minutes and let the place air out, so we strapped a shop vac w/ filter to it using a couple ratchet straps. Worked a charm and we finished the job in one go afterwards lol.

[AdamJoshua]

That made me lol for real.
If I could work in one of these (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmSYnOvEueo), there's be no reason to leave the house.

You've been married so long that having someone yell at you and tell you to take out the trash is foreplay? :r :r :r

[shilala]

Just some update pics.
This is desk #1, it's for Weeze. I'm making the last 2 drawer fronts now, then I need to make the drawer boxes. I have to make the sliding keyboard tray, too.
I'm going to be doing final sanding and staining on the carcass in the coming days and should have this whole thing wrapped up before too awful long. Then I'll set to putting my desk together. Then I'm going to take a break and build a doghouse, dog pan, and a big landing off the back deck.

So here's today's pics...

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zps27741b42.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zpsfc6c9de0.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zpsd5fd877c.jpg

[Dave128]

Sweet!

[Blueface]

Scott, I am beyond impressed.
Nice work.

[ucla695]

It's coming along incredibly well! You have some great skillz.

[Mattso3000]

Wow. Looks great Scott.

[shilala]

Just a couple update pics. First coat of stain.
Today I'll sand drawer fronts and start making drawer boxes, or at least start figuring out the layout and make up the wood for them.
Etc., etc...

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zpse7543df5.jpg

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zps12c8a115.jpg

[AdamJoshua]

Reallly nice Scott, I can almost picture little John John plaing under it with the middle panel open.....what a refernce god I'm old :r

[Dave128]

Looking great, Scott! :tu

[RevSmoke]

Nice job, Scott.

[Zane]

Scott it's great to see someone putting together some great quality furniture. You do great things!

[shilala]

The desk is done!!! :tu
We moved it in the house Sunday but I still had a few little adjustments and doo-dads to work out. I tried to take pics but they basically suck because of the lighting in here right now. I'll get gooder pics later.
I also got some "before" pics of Weeze's sprawling desk area. I'll get after pics tonight when she'd done moving into her new desk. She's excited. :)

[shilala]

I forgot finished pics, so here they come...

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zps3598534c.jpg (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/scottshilala/media/null_zps3598534c.jpg.html)

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zps338afd1b.jpg (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/scottshilala/media/null_zps338afd1b.jpg.html)

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zps1acdb299.jpg (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/scottshilala/media/null_zps1acdb299.jpg.html)

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zpsa0cb8db3.jpg (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/scottshilala/media/null_zpsa0cb8db3.jpg.html)

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zpse36eb425.jpg (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/scottshilala/media/null_zpse36eb425.jpg.html)

[shilala]

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zpsb5e2c73f.jpg (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/scottshilala/media/null_zpsb5e2c73f.jpg.html)

http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad96/scottshilala/null_zps67acdddb.jpg (http://s925.photobucket.com/user/scottshilala/media/null_zps67acdddb.jpg.html)

[shilala]

Some of those pics are awful, sorry. You should get the gist of it.
Weeze didn't get moved into it last night, I'm guessing we'll get that done this weekend. I'll post before and after pic when she's all moved in.
I only have a dozen more pieces to make for the office. At the rate I'm moving I should be all done by 2020. Stay tuned!!! :D

[stearns]

thats puurty :tu

[shilala]

It weighs about 800 pounds, Ben. It should survive any laser beams that get thrown at it.

[BHalbrooks]

Awesome work.

[Dave128]

Very nice work, Scott!

[shilala]

Thanks guys!!! :tu
I'm just glad it's out of my shop and my scooter is back in. I think I might sneak out for a little ride later. I still forget it's here cause I waited so long to bring it home. :)

[stearns]

It weighs about 800 pounds, Ben. It should survive any laser beams that get thrown at it.

definitely most of the smaller lasers :tu

[MrClean]

Scott that is truely a beautiful piece of furniture! I hope someday to have the tools and a shop area to be able to make stuff like that. Awesome work sir!

[pektel]

Very nice work, Scott. :tu

Looks like you put that CNC machine to use on the cathedral "wainscot panels", eh?

I wish I had the extra time to work on fun stuff like this. My most "fun" project recently was refinishing a wagon for my kids. In fact, still needs one more coat or paint, decals/stencils, and reassembly.

[shilala]

Looks like you put that CNC machine to use on the cathedral "wainscot panels", eh?

I wish I had the extra time to work on fun stuff like this. My most "fun" project recently was refinishing a wagon for my kids. In fact, still needs one more coat or paint, decals/stencils, and reassembly.
Sure did, Peter. Most every piece was cut on the CNC machine. It does a very nice job holding dimensions and doing multiple operations at once.
I mostly use the table saw for sizing rough lumber and making odd pieces that aren't worth setting up on the machine. I use it for adjustments to large pieces when necessary, too.

There's just as much fun, if not more, in short projects than these big ones. Stuff like this tends to hang over your head, especially when it drags on for 6 months. :D
I like stuff that takes a month or so. As I get better designing and building, it should take far less time to get things done. Making each panel out of skinny lumber is labor-intensive, slow and boring, and the hours of sanding are brutal, but it is what it is. The final results are outstanding, so it's worth the effort.

I've considered using planes because I've saved so much sanding time by using my chisels, but good planes are around $350 each. I'd need at least 3 kinds to make any headway, and a thousand bucks for 3 hand tools is really, really tough to lay down.

[RHNewfie]

That's pretty amazing right there!

[kelmac07]

Amazing work Scott. I'm sure Lisa is extremely happy. :tu :tu

[Blueface]

Scott,
Let me know when you take your furniture building on the road, to take advantage of some "southern" woods, like in South Florida. I'll be waiting.
I wish I could do stuff like that.