Folding Desk

There have been a few times where I've had to temporarily set up "shop" (my workstation) in different places around the house.  For example, when we have a visitor and the bedroom immediately next to the workstation is occupied and the time they wake up doesn't match.

These situations have usually had me splitting the expanding table and attaching a dual monitor stand in between the two haves, then pushing back together and setting up in the kitchen.

I have a folding drafting table, and I wanted something similar I could use for a workstation.  I was severely tempted to just purchase a butcher block top along with a folding stand, but if you know me, if I'm going to put one together, I might as well go all the way.  I had some aluminum extrusion laying about for a different project that ended up not being used, so my brain said.... why not?

 I set about designing the desk in my head, and then just threw it together.  Here's what you'll need (with modifications from what I did because you likely will make changes).  Since I was doing this with 2020 series extrusion, my bolts and nuts were all M5.

• 3 fir boards 2x6 that are 10 feet long
• Biscuits
• Wood glue
  
• 2x 48" horizontal extrusion rails for the main body (mine were shorter, and you'll see overlap on the folding ends later, which messes with my CDO, er,  OCD)
• 1x 43" slanted extrusion rail to stabilize the main body (you might want to do two of these in opposite directions, with one cut in the middle)
• 4x 23.5" horizontal extrusion rails for the folding ends
• 2x 27" slanted extrusion rails to stabilize the folding ends
  
• 6x 29" vertical extrusion rails for the height of the desk
• 6x 45-degree brackets for the extrusion rail
• 6x 135-degree brackets for the extrusion rail
• 12x corner hardware brackets
• 76 bolts (I had 40 for the piano hinges, so your mileage may vary depending on your hinges)
• 76 washers
• 76 extrusion nuts
• 2x Piano hinges about 20" long
• 12x extrusion end caps
  

Tools you'll need :

• A square
• Allen keys for the bolts
• A biscuit cutter
• A chop saw for the boards
• A band saw to cut the extrusion to length (and some angled cuts)
• Panel clamps (I used quick clamps along with off-cut boards to keep flat and Saranwrap to keep those off cuts from sticking to the glued up surface)
• Sanding pads
• Planes (optional)
  

First, cut the extrusion to the lengths you need.

Second, for the slanted pieces, cut the folding ends to 45 degree angles (angles are NOT parallel for these, but opposite of each other).  The main body angles ARE parallel.

Third, start bolting each frame it all together.

Fourth, install the hinges (but don't tighten quite yet).  With the folding area in place, open one end perpendicular to the main body and get it square and vertical to the floor.  While in that position, tighten the open ends' hinges to secure it in place.  Repeat for the other folding end.

You should now have a folding rack and desk base.

Yes, notice the folded ends overlapping.  This is because my desk was less than the 48" I've now recommended above.  But it's still "functional".  Anyway, back to the build.

Next, cut the fir 2x6 boards in half.  This should fit the span of the desk.  Line them up in position on the desk surface, and mark and cut for biscuits.

Then, glue it all up and wait.

With the surface glued up, it's time to finish it.  Granted, you don't have to, but you won't be using the desk to write with the way 2x6's have curved corners.  I'd recommend you use the hand planer to get it flat, and then sand and finish.  However, you may want to simply pour epoxy in (sealing the ends, of course) until you build it up far enough to have a flat surface.  My unfinished, but usable workstation :

I used lacquer spray to somewhat seal the bottom (I did not spray the top), and then taped the bottom and edges so I didn't have epoxy run all over.  While there, I also hammered some small gears, screws, etc into the surface.  All of that was filled with a metallic bronze epoxy mixture, then sanded.  I went to 220 grit top, bottom, and edges, then went 800 grit on the top and edges.  Then I lacquered the whole thing (yes, even the bottom again).  Once done, I hit it briefly with 2000 grit sand paper to knock off the little spikes that form (this spray can lacquer isn't the greatest and smoothest finish after spraying).

That gave me a phenomenal surface that won't poke holes in paper, and won't snag on clothes.  It also has a great look to it.  The epoxy will look black or dark unless the light hits it at a specific angle, so everything blends together in a fantastic way. 

I will have to build the nipples for the bottom of the table, the threaded tubes to make it a standing desk, and the fixtures for the top of the stand itself.  I whipped up the specs for machining the 12 remaining parts required (for what I'm doing at least - you COULD adjust with a top hinge and make it only a fully folding sitting desk.  I want the option of standing, so I'm manufacturing a few pieces yet.

This will work well for me when I need to be on the move.  

Chess - Ah, Nuts!

A group of chess enthusiasts returned to their hotel room after a tournament, and were still standing in the lobby while bragging about the defeats of their opponents.  After an hour of loud nerds, the manager told them they needed to disperse.

"But, why?"

"Because," he replied, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."

Perhaps, I had better apologize for the pun. I'm not sorry for it, but I will apologize.

I'm one of "those" kinds of people who loves chess, cars, and I do spend my fair share of time on Pinterest.  I spend little precious time playing video games, and a lot of time just exploring.  And, while in Pinterest, I have seen numerous instances of chess sets made out of fasteners (you know, nuts-and-bolts kinds of things).

Now, a little insight into me in general - I have chess sets.  I have chess sets my dad gave to me when I was 8 or 9 years old.  I have marble chess sets, glass chess sets, wood chess sets (a folding one, and a wall hanging one), and I had a friend make a set for my dad in a machining class out of aluminum (it's anodized blue and clear - it is a beauty).  I'd even made my own by using an existing set and creating molds, and casing my own out of green and gold resin (I made a folding chess board back in 8th grade wood shop class - it is definitely rough, but I'm keeping it as is).  I have sets for Lord of the Rings, and I'd like some other resin-cast variations.  Simply put, I LOVE chess sets!

But I do not have my own metal set, and these looked intriguing.  I wanted one.  The materials are not a cheap way to get into the game - trust me, you can find MUCH better options out there (that are even regulation sizes and a bit more portable for things like chess in the park) as cheap as $21.

So, I decided to try my hand at it, just because they look pretty darn cool.  Here's what I ordered :

• 10 brass M10-1.5 20mm bolts (for 8 pawns and 2 knights)
• 2 brass M10-1.5 25mm bolts (for 2 rooks)
• 4 brass M10-1.5 40mm bolts (for 2 bishops, a queen and a king)
• 10 brass acorn nuts for the pawns and bishops
• 4 brass M10-1.5 nuts (simply to lock some other parts to the bolts)
• 3 "castle" M10-1.5 nuts - if you find these in brass, I'd be surprised, so you are looking for actual castle nuts with a gold tint - it's close enough for the boys my wife dates
• 2 brass lamp rings (these were M10-1.0, because you will not find these with a 1.5 thread - but that's okay, because you're just going to tighten them on anyway (without the nuts to lock them) as far as they'll go.
• 1 brass flange nut (for the queen)
  

Repeat the purchase for the other color (I went with black to give it a good contrast - for machining, you basically have brass/gold, black oxide, polished stainless, or just a steel).  I've thrown it all into an amazon list if you are extra lazy.  Just know this is not exactly cheap.

Now, it is time for assembly.

For a pawn, just take 8 of the 20mm bolts, and tighten the acorn nut on as tight as you can by hand.  Maybe a little tighter, but this isn't structural, so you don't need to worry about it being really tight.

For a rook, spin onto the 30mm bolt a regular nut, followed by one of the "castle" nuts (they are officially called "castellated" nuts, and they are used with cotter pins to keep a nut from spinning off of a thread for shafts in things like cars).  Put the peaks upward, and when you have all rooks top nuts in the right position, bring the other nut against it to lock it in place.

For the knights, just thread the lamp rings on.  The improper thread size will lock them in place fairly quickly.

Bishops, treat JUST like the pawns, but with the 40mm bolts.

For the king, just like the rook but with a 40mm bolt.

And for the queen, use a flange nut upside down and a lock nut.

 

The set doesn't look bad at all in the above photo, (it is incomplete, e.g. the queen is not done).  Additionally, I assembled some black pieces, because contrast between black and gold is just... beautiful.

If you look closely enough, there are still some parts missing (black rooks and king are both missing the "crown", brass queen is missing the flange nut).  Once those arrived, it was relatively easy to complete the set.

Still, I'm debating in my head around making a chess board using gold and black without machining one from stock and going through the black oxide process, etc.  Still working on that thought, but it might ultimately come to that.