Woodworking - Computer Table

This page tells the fascinating story of the creation of the computer table for my mom. I was explaining all the cool things I was learning about making furniture to my mother. I suggested she may be able to use a better computer table than the one she had (some old particle board/formica crap). We agreed on a design and I went about construction in February 2006. Finished in mid April, though lots of that time was taken waiting for mail order parts (grain filler). I hope she likes it - she has to pay for materials!

The first step was to make legs. I ripped 1x6's in half and glued and clamped three of what was left to make some 2 1/4 square legs. Next I had to cut these to 2" square. Then I had to make a jig to taper them to to 1 1/4 square at the bottom. The jig took me most of a day to figure out. Anyway, once I had it both pushing the wood and holding it down, it was a no brainer, except for remembering which sides needed to be tapered (just two).

This is a finished leg.

The next major step was to make the aprons that go around the base of the table top and hold the legs. They were pretty straightforward. The tough part was drilling holes for dowels and not going too deep. I had to buy another jig for that work.

Here I test fit the front left corner. The flat piece on the right is glued to the little piece above it. That whole assembly 's for the keyboard tray to slide on and to stop it at the right spot. It also dowels into the apron and leg on each side.

Here's the completed dry fit. I'm using the table top as the base here to make sure it all fits. Note the cuts in the things going across - that's where the tray slider will rest.

The official, final glue up begins. Did you know that glue is stronger than wood. That's assuming Norm Abrams is doing it. We'll see how true it is after this baby gets dropped and bashed around a bit.

Here's the glued up keyboard tray. I ripped the crappy edges off a bunch of boards and made a bunch of 3" boards. Then I edge glued them and clamped them to make this. Someone told me to put wax paper between the gluees and the wood that holds the gluees in place so they don't bond into a big cellulotic mess.

The keyboard tray sanded, trimmed, and photographed. It came out real good even though I don't have eight or nine c-notes tied up in planers (machines that flaten boards) and joiners (machines that flaten boards and board edges).

After the keyboard tray is mounted on its tracks. These tracks should probably have gone on the sides, but that would have taken another 2 1/2" of tray width. With this wireless keyboard, its a pretty small space to move the mouse around as is.

Same test showing the clearance the mouse gets. Looks like there won't be much room for a mouse pad. Thanks for the optical mice.

Everything glued and assembled. Now I just have to prime and paint the bottom (after removing the top and disassembling the tray) and finishing the top. Since the top is oak, I decided to use some grain filler and red oak stain to bring out a rich deep luxurious texture.

Build me a Letter