I'm starting a thread here so we can play, "How big is it?"

I can't believe I just spent 2 weeks (between other jobs) building this bench, and it is not generously large! Maybe plywood should be available in 10 foot lengths

No. If it was 10 feet long I couldn't open the door to that room.

I'm trying to make a place where I can have 2 functional computers and room to work on a sick computer. As you can see, the space on the left would be rather tight to try to fit a third computer on this bench. All this work and I'm still going to have to put the printer on a side table.

On the other hand, the lower surface is exactly the right height for typing and the upper surface is exactly the right height for looking at the monitors. At least I got those parts right

For a bonus, other people saw what I was building, and I got 3 orders for carpentry work!
I guess some people don't have a carpenter gene.

ps, I can get it out of that room. Everything is held together with screws so it can be disassembled.

So...bottom line...size matters.
How big is yours?

 

Sweet bench!

I'm starting a thread here so we can play, "How big is it?"
[...]
So...bottom line...size matters.
How big is yours?

Are we just talking big benches, or any old big thing? The place I'm going in the morning has a CNC lathe about 2 stories tall and probably 100ft long; I could snap a pic if that counts.

 

I'm trying to make a place where I can have 2 functional computers and room to work on a sick computer. As you can see, the space on the left would be rather tight to try to fit a third computer on this bench. All this work and I'm still going to have to put the printer on a side table.

You can save some room by using a KVM switch so you won't need a 3rd keyboard, mouse and monitor. You might also be able to remove the second monitor, keyboard and mouse if you don't need to see what the second computer is doing all the time.

 

The 2 working computers are 1) my every day computer, and 2) an old XP computer that has programs that won't run on Vista unless I buy new copies that are designed to run in Vista. I haven't tried "run as" to see if my old stuff will run in Vista. I guess I should try that.

I guess a KVM switch is about "Ksomething Video Monitor". Wanna tell me about that?

and yes, pix of big machines are fun. Once upon a time I worked at RCA and it looked like they were using a locomotive to make injected plastic (high frequency audio) speaker horns. I was amazed at the idea that they were using a machine that cost most of a million dollars to make plastic parts worth about $20 each.

 

The 2 working computers are 1) my every day computer, and 2) an old XP computer that has programs that won't run on Vista unless I buy new copies that are designed to run in Vista. I haven't tried "run as" to see if my old stuff will run in Vista. I guess I should try that.

I guess a KVM switch is about "Ksomething Video Monitor". Wanna tell me about that?

and yes, pix of big machines are fun. Once upon a time I worked at RCA and it looked like they were using a locomotive to make injected plastic (high frequency audio) speaker horns. I was amazed at the idea that they were using a machine that cost most of a million dollars to make plastic parts worth about $20 each.

Keyboard Video Mouse...I use one on my bench, frees up a lot of room.
Let's see if I can find the one I have.

 

Here is a selection of 4-way KVM switches. They come with the cables to connect all the computers up, but they all have the same interface (PS2 or USB), so you might need to buy a converter for one of your computers.
I have 2 computers using PS2 connections with 2 wireless USB mice, so when I switch computers, I need to switch mice.

 

Apparently MCM Electronics site is having problems now. That's where I got mine ($27), but you can get them anywhere. when you pick one make sure it's PS2 or USB, according to your needs.


edit: I guess I pretty much just repeated what was just posted above .....

 

All of my stuff can do USB. I can't remember repairing a computer that couldn't use a USB mouse and keyboard. This could work.

 

I definitely do not have the carpentry gene, and want it. Oh well.

 

As promised, the B.A. CNC lathe. My 100ft estimate may have been a little hyperbolic, but it's still pretty darn big. You could climb up in there and do wind sprints.

 

Sweet, the largest lathe I ever set-up and ran, was around 26 feet long.

Those were the days...

 

Old story from a father in law...A Genuine Engineer was hired to set up a lathe to make the operator redundant/expendable/unemployed. The operator was scolded for recalibrating to account for wear on the cutting tool edges. He spent the next week letting the lathe make junk and dropping the results in the scrap bin. The Engineer was then fired.

I expect by now, you microprocessor guys have taught the machines to recalibrate to account for wear on the cutting edges.

 

...
I expect by now, you microprocessor guys have taught the machines to recalibrate to account for wear on the cutting edges.

On my home made CNC machine I have a tool height detector plate that autodetects tool height to 0.01mm (the machine movement resolution) so it auto calibrates for which tool and the height it was clamped in the collet.

On the movement axes I added electronic home switches to position the machine better than 0.01mm, AND wrote the software so these auto-detect and auto-correct for thermal expansion in the machine.

No need for tool wear compensation on a small rotary tool bit, any sign of wear and it is blunt and will fail to cut nice and start to cook. A big old lathe can tolerate some tool wear though.

 

Desk came out great.
I have to ask how much was the wood/what kind and the use of the cnc machines?

How much was the wood finisher and what kind did you uses ?

 

I moved the printer and shifted everything to the right, and it's working. Those tall things are CD towers for my backup copies and software programs. The UPS is hiding under the far end of the bench. It powers a 5 foot strip of outlets, and there are still 3 unused outlets. One for the next sicko computer that needs help and 2 that don't seem to have a purpose. That seems like a good result. The filing cabinets that used to hold up a piece of plywood that was pretending to be a workbench need to find some other place to live. I spent about $100, not counting screws. But then, I don't count screws because I keep about 16 boxes of them in stock for my paying jobs.

All in all, it's more convenient and MUCH nicer looking.

Edit: In answer to Mathematics. 5 "whitewood pine" 2x4's and one sheet of 3/4 AC plywood. Latex paint in coffee brown and very light blue. The whitewood is very light weight wood. Easy to work with. If I needed strength, I would have used Southern Yellow pine. When we meet it in an attic, we call it petrified yellow pine because you can't pound a 16p or 20p nail into it without drilling a pilot hole! The fins holding up the top layer were made of scraps I had laying around.

 

so how much in total for the materials to make the desk.
And how long did it take you
Also with what tools did you uses was it all from scratch or did you uses some cnc machine.

Another off the subject thing is your picture would be a fractal if one could see the image in the computer screen a little better

Great job

 

so how much in total for the materials to make the desk.

Post #15, $100

And how long did it take you

Post #1, 2 weeks, between other jobs.

Also with what tools did you uses was it all from scratch or did you uses some cnc machine.

I used a 5 horsepower table saw (which I designed) with a plywood blade, a cross cutting blade, and a dado head, a battery operated drill to put the screws in, and a cord type drill to make pilot holes. I used a circular saw with a plywood blade to make the first long cut to split the plywood into 2 long pieces. I also used a tape measure, a small square, a framing square, some sandpaper, and a pencil. Two clamps made things hold still while I put the screws in, and a paint brush to put the paint on. I also used a calculator to find the length of the diagonal braces.

Another off the subject thing is your picture would be a fractal if one could see the image in the computer screen a little better

Great job

There were no, "programmable" machines. Just me, a couple of saws, a couple of drills, a couple of clamps, and a couple of squares. Strictly old school. I wouldn't even begin to know how to tell a cnc machine to make a desk.

 

I guess I'm a carpenter this month.

I just built a, "Dog Wash" stand. How big is it? A 20 inch wide strip of 1/2 BC plywood, 8 feet long, three or four two by fours, a 3 foot section of one inch square tubing with lots of holes in it, a closed loop with machine bolt threaded shank and a snap-on cotter pin to set the loop at different heights, and lots of screws. The metal tube is to hook the dogs to while washing them. I'll give it 2 or 3 coats of polyurethane with a dark stain color in it. That will make it mostly waterproof and not show dirt very much. I might have to add some cleats on the ramp if the dogs find it too slippery.

My favorite part is the hinge between the platform and the ramp. It's a piece of 1/2 inch metal rod, press fit into 4 holes in the 2x2's that frame the plywood pieces.

The ramp is for the dogs to walk up because the dog owner has a bad hip. The working surface is 20 inches by 30 inches because that's big enough for the dogs.

 

On my home made CNC machine I have a tool height detector plate that autodetects tool height to 0.01mm (the machine movement resolution) so it auto calibrates for which tool and the height it was clamped in the collet.

Hola RB,

Is it a mechanical or electronic sensor?

Any circuit that I could look at?

 

I might have to add some cleats on the ramp if the dogs find it too slippery.

You can get some sand and mix it with the polyurethane when you cover the top side of the ramp.