Homemade desk/workstation...

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johnnypraze

johnnypraze

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My current desk is a large corner desk that I have positioned against a wall which is taking up way too much space. I need something new.

I plan on building a new desk out of 3/4" MDF/Particle board as I have 4 8'x4' sheets from a vocal booth I'm tearing down.

Has anyone built one in the past with info, or have a guide on building one out of such materials?

I just thought I'd ask before doing one myself.

My original plan was to build one similar to these...
279827.jpg
 
We are talking economies of scale here. There is no way you can make that desk for less money that what it is sold for (less than $200 if I recall), especially if you have to go out and buy tools you do not already have.
 
Funny thing, the desk you have pictured is the one I replaced when I built my custom desk for my Mackie. I had to take out the middle support on that one to get the board to fit on it, which then made the racks unusable. Great desk, sturdy as hell...I'm using it as my computer desk now since I built the custom desk for my board.
 
brzilian said:
We are talking economies of scale here. There is no way you can make that desk for less money that what it is sold for (less than $200 if I recall), especially if you have to go out and buy tools you do not already have.
Click to expand...

I have the tools and the particle board. I'm not going to be laminating it, at first anyway, so the only thing I would be buying is casters, something for the legs, and maybe some rack rails. So I'm not looking at more then $40.

I did a search but came up with only a few diagrams and a lot of dead links.
 
johnnypraze said:
My current desk is a large corner desk that I have positioned against a wall which is taking up way too much space. I need something new. I plan on building a new desk out of 3/4" MDF/Particle board as I have 4 8'x4' sheets from a vocal booth I'm tearing down. Has anyone built one in the past with info, or have a guide on building one out of such materials?
Click to expand...
I built one! :eek:
It was featured in MAKE-ezine in December.
Here is the link to photos and instructions:
http://mysite.verizon.net/homestudioguy/id18.html
It's a pretty big unit and I have just recently pared it down in size.
However, the concept may give you some ideas though!
Have Fun!!! :D
 
homestudioguy said:
I built one! :eek:
It was featured in MAKE-ezine in December.
Here is the link to photos and instructions:
http://mysite.verizon.net/homestudioguy/id18.html
It's a pretty big unit and I have just recently pared it down in size.
However, the concept may give you some ideas though!
Have Fun!!! :D
Click to expand...

I do like the look of yours, I was checking it out earlier. I would have to make some mods, as I'm trying to get rid of a corner desk now...

Did you just paint the top or what?
 
johnnypraze said:
I do like the look of yours, I was checking it out earlier. I would have to make some mods, as I'm trying to get rid of a corner desk now...
Did you just paint the top or what?
Click to expand...
It's kind of crazy but there have been over 8000 people from all over the world check this thing out :eek:
Actually, this unit would work well on a flat wall and give you room for monitors on stands behind the desk.
It needs a lot of space to work that way though.
The top has about 4 coats of an oxblood minwax stain with a couple of coats of minwax clear satin polyurethane.
My room is only 11' X 11' and I am reconfiguring the equipment and room.
I have just cut about 13 inches off of each "wing-section" and about 10 inches off the back of the desk.
I also just built a 24 space rolling rack and 2-42" high monitor stands which will give me more table-top space for my laptop and music paper for writing.
I'll be getting new photos up sometime in the next week or 2.
Thanks! :D
 
I have some resources and tutorials for you online, too. It's pretty easy to do and you can get exactly what you want. You can even have some lumberyards cut the wood for you into the rigth sizes so all you have to do is assemble it. I would definately recommend using plywood instead of MDF, though. Pros and cons of each are discussed a bit here.

How to Build a Studio Desk - A step-by-step tutorial for building a custom studio keyboard stand and equipment rack on a tight budget with seventh-grade-shop-class skills, and without having to handle any dangerous saw blades.
All About Racks and Rack Rails - Everything you need to know about racks and rack rails for your home studio or pro audio studio -- especially if you're considering building it yourself.
Custom DIY Studio Rack & Workstation Tips, Tricks & Ideas - Lots of helpful tips, tricks and ideas you can use when building your own custom studio furniture
Recording Studio Workstation & Rack Plans - Studio furniture you can build yourself!

homestudioguy's tutorial is also great. There may be a few more out there too if you poke around enough.
 
alexfranke said:
homestudioguy's tutorial is also great. There may be a few more out there too if you poke around enough.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Alex!
Thanks for sharing your great stuff too!! :D
 
Yesterday I finished my new desk. Here are some pictures.
The room is just temporary without any acoustic treatment. Soon we will move to a new house where it will be solved.

First the drawing :-)

Stul3.JPG


Stul1.JPG


Stul5.JPG


Stul6.JPG


Stul8.JPG


Stul9.JPG


Stul10.JPG


Today I will have to buy and install any brackets between the legs to make it more solid.
 
Yesterday I made a following fixation by an aluminium stripes to have the table more solid. Now it does not move at all.

Stul11.JPG


Stul12.JPG
 
on a semi-related note, i was helping a friend flip a condo, we did almost everything ourselves. i was in charge of almost everyhitng, because i have a lot of carpentry experience and tons of tools.

anyways, he had this cheap craftsman(crapsman as i call them) table saw, everytime we tried to rip stuff down it wobbled like crazy. so one day while he was out buying supplies, i took some of the 1 5/8 metal studs we had(whole condo was like that) and made it stronger by cross barcing it. i totally destroyed his table saw by adding all this extra stuff to it hahaha. but it made it way stronger, it looked like crap but it was now functional.

sorry, i know its not related, but the way you mounted that metal to make it stronger reminded me of that day.

ok bye
 
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