The Story of My Desk • Hacker News Board

Re: The Story of My Desk

#101

Post by guynamedloren » Fri, Oct 18, 2013, 5:37 PM UTC

jsnrkd wrote: post #99

guynamedloren wrote: post #25

Woodworking is a fantastic outlet for creativity, and seriously underrated/underappreciated. Great way to take a break from coding. Extremely rewarding, and not very difficult to learn the basics, either. Since we're sharing, here's a couple things I've made around the house: https://scontent-b-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/302582_2063... https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/309672_1015...

Totally agree. Check out my pieces too! http://jsndev.net/portfolio/table/ http://jsndev.net/portfolio/coffee_table/

Looks good! Are those designs, by chance, from ana-white.com? My brother's made some similar pieces. Really nice.

Re: The Story of My Desk

#102

Post by sivetic » Sat, Oct 19, 2013, 3:34 AM UTC

dfc wrote: post #83

sivetic wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both are hand planes, with #7 being a "jointing" plane. Smartass remark aside, I've successfully jointed with a table saw and a router, and planed with a drum sander.

It was not a smart ass remark. There are a lot of people that enjoy using hand tools. Its not just a nostalgia thing. The reduction in dust and danger is a giant draw for many people. The one power tool I really want is a band saw. How difficult was using the drun sander?

I was actually referring to the first part of my comment as a smart-ass remark. There is definitely something to be said about the process of using hand tools. I own a #4 and a #5, along with a rabbeting plane, but I never managed to put in enough effort to learn how to properly use either one. I could get a half-decent result, but never a result that would rival my planer.

Using a drum sander to plane was easy - no different than a planer, though far slower (and safer if you ever decide to feed end-grain through it .. tip: do not attempt to feed end grain through a planer, as it may lead to disastrous results).

A band saw would be a nice addition depending on the type of work you're interested in. It's probably one of the harder power tools to replace with a hand-tool equivalent, though I've seen some very nice results with hand saws. None by myself of course :p

Re: The Story of My Desk

#103

Post by sivetic » Sat, Oct 19, 2013, 3:37 AM UTC

vailripper wrote: post #87

swalsh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been thinking about making a kind of greene and greene inspired side table for my front entry... of course arts and crafts styles in general have a lot of the breadboard ends. Do you have more information on techniques to avoid cracks?

Look into the wood whisperer. He has done a lot of Greene & Greene projects in fantastic detail: http://thewoodwhispererguild.com/members/

The Wood Whisperer was one of the major reasons I got into wood working, and his end-grain boards were the first project I ever made. Makes me miss spending time on those projects :(

Re: The Story of My Desk

#104

Post by sivetic » Sat, Oct 19, 2013, 3:41 AM UTC

cfinke wrote: post #48

As long as we're sharing pictures of our homemade desks, here's mine: http://i.imgur.com/vFAThh.jpg Oak, oak, oak, and more oak. I love oak. And here's a full build album, including pictures of my wife's desk on the other side of the room: http://imgur.com/a/HTxXk Everything was done by hand except for the cabinet boxes above the corner desk and the cabinet doors, which I had made by a local cabinetry shop, since I d…

I generally prefer the curlier kinds of maple, or walnut/cherry, but I have to commend you for an excellent execution of a project!

Re: The Story of My Desk

#105

Post by madoublet » Sun, Oct 20, 2013, 2:23 AM UTC

dugmartin wrote: post #92

madoublet wrote: post #28

This turned out really good. I had a similar journey a few years back where I took a class and built a custom headboard. It was a lot of fun. The two "hacks" that I got out of the experience were to (1) use biscuit joints (in replace of dowels). And, (2) to buy a Kreg jig. These two things made putting together just about anything a lot easier.

I also recommend the Kreg jig. I just built two desks for my office with doors for the tops and the legs and rails joined with a Kreg jig. They went together very quickly and the Kreg joints are very solid.

Very cool.

Re: The Story of My Desk

#106

Post by swah » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 1:56 PM UTC

jlongster wrote: post #4

swah wrote: post #3

What about dimensions? This table seems very tall.

Good point. I updated the post with this: It's 5' long, 25" deep, and 32" tall. It came out a little taller than expected because I put feet screws in the bottom of the legs so that I could make the table even. Those screws added almost an inch. I just have to raise my chair a little bit though.

I'm 6"2 or something, and calculated that my ideal table would be around 26-27"! Mine is 29" now and integrated into the wall... and I suffer with the pronation. (Of course the chair is always maxed out)