We’ve seen many a desk PC through the years, however this wooden gaming PC setup is in a unique ballpark. Reader Martin McDonald wished to construct a nook desk to deal with his two-monitor PC setup, but additionally to make use of for marking up giant paper design work. The result’s this distinctive piece of carpentry, with automated monitor lifts and a devoted management console.
Because of our quickly rising PC constructing Fb web page, we’ve seen many {custom} gaming PCs, from mods primarily based on present case designs to scratch PC builds. You possibly can even submit yours for consideration proper right here. Right here we discuss to Martin about how he made this wooden gaming desk PC construct.
: So how did this mission begin? Why did you need to construct a picket PC desk with motorized monitor lifts?
Martin: We had simply moved home, and a number of our furnishings is produced from pure wooden with copper accents. Nonetheless, the PC desk I had on the time was white, so it didn’t match with the opposite furnishings, plus I wished to take a seat going through into the lounge, quite than a wall.
Additionally, one of many issues that at all times bugs me about pc setups is the screens. They’re large slabs of black that take up house and block your view, and I need to have the ability to use the total measurement of the desk after I’m marking up drawings or doing design work on paper, so a elevate mechanism was the way in which forwards.
What’s your background in furnishings making??
I acquired into it round seven years in the past with my first construct, after not doing any woodwork since I used to be in school. I wanted a PC on the time, however didn’t have house for a standard desk setup, so I got here up with a design for a espresso desk with a touch-screen PC and Xbox 360 inside it, which I might use whereas sitting on my couch.
How did you go about planning how it will all match collectively?
All my designs begin with the house the place it’s going to be situated. I take a photograph of the world, and draw a tough sketch of the place the setup can be situated and the way I need it to look. Then I draw all of it up in CAD in 3D so, I can see the way it will match and the place fixings and helps have to go.
Being a design engineer for my nine-to-five job actually helps. The designs are likely to evolve barely as they go alongside, as I’m at all times asking myself how I’m truly going to realize what I need. The CAD drawings actually assist throughout development, as I can explode them from the 3D mannequin to make slicing diagrams with the appropriate measurements.
We love the management console. How does it work?
I’ve two younger youngsters, and so they at all times need to get on Daddy’s pc. On earlier builds, I’ve saved them away by making the method of switching on the PC much less apparent than a easy energy button, however they quickly work issues out as they become older. Together with a 7-inch monitor on this construct, there’s a centrally mounted key swap that’s wired to a double-pull double-throw swap, and to a momentary swap. If the bottom line is eliminated, or within the off place, nothing works.
What does the console unit management?
I take advantage of the 7-inch display screen for PC stats, and the switches management the up/down on the monitor lifts and PC energy.
We watched the video of the monitor lifts, and it’s cool how they stand up from the flush desk floor. How did you go about making the elevate system?
I began by looking out on Google and YouTube to see what others had achieved, however then ended up developing with a technique that hadn’t been achieved earlier than to suit what I wanted. Practically each kind of hidden monitor or TV elevate I noticed had a hinged flap to cowl the elevate, or a chunk of spare wooden to be eliminated, however I couldn’t actually do this because the desk was L-shaped.
Initially the monitor containers had been going to be produced from aluminum, however after just a few points with weight and the lifting pressure of the actuators, I needed to go along with picket surrounds as a substitute. The actuators push on the highest of the field, with the screens connected through the VESA mounts to the perimeters of the containers. There are helps underneath the desk that permit the screens to remain in place as they transfer.
The lifts look a bit sluggish within the video. Is there any option to pace them up?
I’ve acquired just a few feedback concerning the pace of the elevate, however it’s been calculated to be at its quickest. If it goes any sooner, the pressure of the actuator, plus the burden of the monitor field, will pop the joints on the containers or bend the wooden. That is how I spotted that aluminum wasn’t an appropriate materials for this – even with welded joints at a sure pace, the lifting pressure both bent the aluminum or popped the joints.
Inform us about constructing the desk. What woods and instruments did you employ, and the way is all of it secured collectively?
The desktop is produced from a single maple slab, the trunk is produced from a sycamore tree and the monitor containers are produced from pine. The desk is joined with dowels and wooden glue, and primarily supported by the 2 logs. I didn’t have a workshop for this construct, so I solely used hand energy instruments – a round noticed, a router, a jigsaw, a drill, and a rotary sander.
You’ve drilled via the console from the underside for cable routing – is there any related inside cable routing in the remainder of the desk?
The one different inside cabling is for the powered USB hub that sits within the different nook. One of many different design factors was that different folks in the home would be capable to use the desk for laptops if I’m not utilizing it. I lower out a gap within the log for the hub, then routed a channel for energy cables on the underside of the log. All the opposite cables are tied and clipped to the underside of the desk and hidden behind the mesh.
Why did you select the Phanteks Evolv Shift X, and had been you tempted to make your personal picket PC enclosure to suit the theme?
No. The thought of this desk was to be a chunk of furnishings quite than displaying off any PC internals. In addition to the Shift X being the one case available on the market that would slot in the house, it’s additionally one of many cleanest and understated-looking circumstances in my view.
You’ve constructed just a few items of PC furnishings – inform us about a few of your favorites.
Martin: I’ve acquired a tender spot for all my builds. Each has had a design that no one else has achieved earlier than, and I’ve discovered lots about totally different constructing strategies and dealing with totally different supplies alongside the way in which.
There’s one known as the Captain’s Chair, for example, the place I needed to educate myself upholstery to go together with the woodwork, and making this present desk construct was the primary time I’ve used epoxy resin. My Pedestal Desk might be my favourite although. I took an outdated desk I discovered on eBay, and put a PC inside one of many pedestals, so it was all hidden – it was a really clear and easy construct.
How large is the entire desk unit when it’s all arrange?
The desk has a 1,400 x 1,400mm L form, and it measures 800mm excessive to the desktop – with the screens up, it provides one other 500mm. The sycamore log within the nook goes virtually all the way in which to the ceiling, with a top of two,150mm.
How lengthy did it take you to finish the entire desk construct?
From design to completion took round six months. Nonetheless, as I didn’t have a workshop on the time, I used to be restricted to constructing it outdoors on weekends with good climate. The precise time spent on constructing the desk was most likely round 14 days.
Are you fully pleased with the tip outcome, or do you want you’d achieved a few of it otherwise on reflection?
Ideally, I’d like to have made the aluminum monitor containers work, particularly after I’d spent a lot cash on the custom-cut items. There are additionally a few little mods I’d have made if I might do it once more. Nonetheless, it’s excellent as a nook for work and taking part in video games, and it’s an exquisite slab of wooden on which to work as nicely.
Maple Nook desk PC specs
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700 X
- GPU: Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 590 8GB AMD fiftieth Anniversary Version
- Case: Phanteks Evolv Shift X
- Storage: WD Blue 500GB SSD, 2TB exhausting drive
- Reminiscence: 64GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3600MHz
- Displays: 2 x Acer KG1 27in 240Hz, 7-inch 1080p display screen
- Extras: Logitech C920 HD Webcam, SteelSeries Arctis 5 with GameDAC, Apex Professional TKL, Rival 700 and QCK Prism
- Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 I Aorus Professional WiFi
- PSU: Corsair SF750
- Cooling: NZXT Kraken X62 all-in-one CPU cooler
Wow, a lot work has gone into this Martin – we’re in awe of your carpentry abilities, and the motorized monitor lifts are simply sensible. We’d like to see any future woodwork PC tasks you do.
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