Design Help On Desk!

Kris Petrosky

Member
Messages
58
Location
Rochester Hills, Michigan
Hey guys. I have an old desk that my dad got from work or something. I feel bad for it since it was made out of mahogany and then kinda slapped together. :(
So I'm trying to fix it up and turn it into a fancy work desk. I'm essentially a technophile so the "electronics" built in is a totally cool concept for me. BUT with the same of the two base towers I don't know how to make it look more fancy. So far it looks pretty plain since all the "mess" on it will be hidden. Any ideas would be appreciated especially for the cabinetry portion.

Also, for the card reader/cd drive portion, what would the thing I need be called where when you press on it, it'll pop up on its own, something to do with hydraulics maybe? Non-electric though.

Finally, Any idea what type of wood that is? My dad and I think it is mahogany but not exactly sure.

Desk Design Part 1.jpgDesk Design Part 2.jpgDesk Design.jpgDesk Image 1.jpgDesk Image 2.jpgDesk Image 3.jpgDesk Image 4.jpgDesk Image 5.jpg
 
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Wow, that's quite an undertaking. Very cool with all the lifts and such.:thumb:

That poor desk has seen better days. Corrugated nails! :eek::doh:You have quite the project there.

As for the wood, hard to say from the photos. Did you determine it might be mahogany from the frame or from some veneered panels? The reason I ask is that I have restored/re-purposed a few older pieces like large radio cabinets and they had beautiful mahogany veneered panels but the frames surrounding the panels were poplar stained to resemble mahogany.
 
Wow, that's quite an undertaking. Very cool with all the lifts and such.:thumb:

That poor desk has seen better days. Corrugated nails! :eek::doh:You have quite the project there.

As for the wood, hard to say from the photos. Did you determine it might be mahogany from the frame or from some veneered panels? The reason I ask is that I have restored/re-purposed a few older pieces like large radio cabinets and they had beautiful mahogany veneered panels but the frames surrounding the panels were poplar stained to resemble mahogany.

I don't know, i was going based on what my dad thought it was, maybe it is just veneered panels. Would it be good to just go with veneer anyways instead of buying mahogany, cause it would cost like $1000 for the extra mahogany i would need
o.o

Also, got any ideas for the cabinet pieces? XD
 
Kris, On the drawing are the two end pieces the two drawer cabinets that are pictured? If so, my first thought is that the work surface is too low. Normal work surface height would be around 30" or so, about the height of the two cabinets. As for the top, you could probably find a veneered plywood and edge the front side with solid wood to save yourself some cost. Stain matching another species, such as popular would also save you some.
 
Actually standing upright those cabinets are 36" tall. The top in the image is situated at 29", the same as the desk I'm currently sitting at. They were actually meant to be laid flat and thus they were 3ft. deep but, they way they adjusted the height was using some really ugly "lift blocks." They were to lazy to make the cabinets tall enough I guess. lol
 
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