Project - Man Cave

[FUBAR]

I like the pedal board idea ... still not 100% sure what i'm going to do in that respect, but that's something that can be worried about later.

[FUBAR]

This is now well & truly on hold until I've costed up sorting out the IROC.  Real cars absolutely must take priority over computer generated ones.

[art b]

[FUBAR]

[Roadkill]

Ryan.  

I may be able to acquire some brand new worktop for you - FOC for this project.

Give me a call as soon as you can and I'll see what I can do but may be able to squeeze in 1-2 full lengths . . . definitely will be off-cuts . . . you'll need to make a cutting list and I'll see if I can tailor what I'm doing to suit you.

[FUBAR]

Like my kitchen

[Roadkill]

I'll be ordering materials when I get back from holiday (the 12th) so will give you a call then . . .

[FUBAR]

Ok, bit of an update on this, the original plan for the corner desk which was very flight sim orientated and a little awkward has been scrapped, completely.  Mainly because it was a very single-use Behemoth of a creation and I decided it was a bit too "specialised".
Since then its now just got rather pricey...

Today the wheels have been properly set in motion for the redecoration and revamping of my spare room into my hobby room, spending has been rapid this evening, but I get my bonus next week so all is well.  This thread should probably be renamed Project - Man cave now!!

• 1st port of call was to buy some curtains I actually like to replace the ones I was lent by my folks 3 years ago for the spare room and landing windows... Circa £200 sorted that.


• 2nd was to place another order with www.tlc-direct.co.uk for the electrical bits I needed, this includes a bunch of Chrome sockets and switches, desk lighting, extra lighting for my Die-cast display cabinet and associated sundries... Circa £220 sorted that out. (this is a great source for electrical stuff btw, especially if you want 'fancy' sockets & switches, they have loads of choice)


• 3rd port of call was the Ikea website to buy the drawer units and cabinets needed to build the desk this lot came to £535!! but its their better quality 'Maximera' units which are really good.


• 4th was ebay to buy some Display port cable adapters so that I can mount my Monitor on the wall, this came to about £15 in total.  Frustratingly though NOBODY seems to make display port cables that end in a 90deg end which I needed so I had to buy a 90-deg gender-bender adapter and an extension cable to make this work.  :rtfm: cable makers, people tend to mount 'displays' on walls with limited clearance behind the screen, make some 'effin 90deg cables would you!!

This was today... wallet is now crying a bit  :'(

Still to come is the purchase of a very large Breakfast bar worktop from http://www.laminatekitchenworktops.co.uk/ which is another £290 including delivery to make the desk surface.  I can't use a normal worktop because I want it to be a very deep desk and trying to find worktops deeper than 600mm is nigh-on impossible, especially when a 750mm depth is called for.  So when this is delivered I've got to spend a lot of time measuring & cutting it up.
Then there's the rest of the decorating costs, emulsion & gloss paint, rollers, beers etc.

The end result will be a split-level desk / workbench which will nicely house my PC and RC Car hobbies and give me a great workspace for getting back into building my Plastic model kits of Muscle cars  :up:
My PC will also then be out of my living room giving me a proper dining area and my Die-cast cabinet moved into this area where it will actually get seen and enjoyed.

Schedule?  I'm hoping this will all be completed by April.

[ianjpage]

Cool sounds like a few weeks of fun for ya there :up:

[Roadkill]

This thread should probably be renamed Project - Man cave now!!

Done.

Sounds cool.  Every man needs a cave . . .

[FUBAR]

Worktop has been ordered today for delivery on the 26th, and the electrical stuff has arrived as well today, so i'm going to have a busy weekend building this lot at the end of the month!

[ianjpage]

:up: shout if you need a hand!

[FUBAR]

A before Pic:


Well now the project is well & truly under way, nearly all of the decorating is done, just a bit of undercoating & glossing to do on the bits of the room not affected by the desk build, so door and window.
All the sockets have been changed for Chrome & Black faceplates to match the network plates I added when I moved in, new LED spotlight has been wired in and the "Feature Wall" painted a nice purple colour :cool:


The core of the new desk is built and the modifications are now being done to accommodate the 750mm deep worktop.  This includes wiring conduits behind the desk which are being made from 68mm guttering sections and mounted with downpipe clips to the back of the desk.  I also needed some extra wood in the same colour to fill 2 sides in this extra depth so popped to Ikea to buy the cabinet legs I forgot to order, luckily they had a single door in their bargain bin area that was the right colour, £2, job done :)

I've also started cutting the worktop sections, a BIG thankyou to Dean for lending me his Circular saw to do this job, its working brilliantly and has saved me a Hugh amount of time and back-ache!! :) :up:
I need to finish all the desk mods before I can do the last cut, so need to borrow the saw for a bit longer if that's ok?

More to come...

[Roadkill]

so need to borrow the saw for a bit longer if that's ok?

I may need it back before but can drop it off again, after . . . I'll let you know if I'm desperate for it.  :)

[FUBAR]

Ducting is now completed, & the desk is ready to move into its permanent position:


Never fitted guttering to furniture before... or a house for that matter :rofls:

[art b]

Like..

[FUBAR]

Getting there:



but not quite done yet, cable holes need to be drilled in the back of the worktop, edging strip needs to be glued on, Lighting needs wiring up and a power socket added and plinths need fitting.

+ I've still got to undercoat and gloss the inside of the door and the window, and put up the new curtains.

[ianjpage]

looking really good :up:

[FUBAR]

I have a choice to make and as a result a question...
I want to wall mount my monitor, I have the bracket to do this but have 2 options for running the cables to this and a light mounted under the shelf which will be above it:

1: The easy option is to run a D-Line conduit straight down from the middle of the screen/shelf and into the desk to hide the cables, this can either be white and then painted to match the wall, which is probably not going to be a durable finish.  Or can be a black plastic conduit which will be obvious but durable.

2: The more difficult option is to run the cables inside the wall.  This will be very tricky to install but the end result would be a lot neater.

I'm 100% certain the wall is hollow.
I'm 90% certain there's not a vertical beam in the exact centre of the footwell, but there will be one, or very possibly 2 in there somewhere because I *think* these are put in by builders at 600mm centres and the footwell is 955mm wide.
This leads me to my question, what is the best way to find out if there are any horizontal braces in this section of wall without cutting it all open?

I have an idea... but want to know if there's a better way:
I'd drill a small hole in the wall under the desk where cables would exit (this is mostly hidden and could be patched with little consequence if the plan doesn't work) I could then shine a very bright bicycle light through this hole. Then, up in the loft the top of the wall structure is easily accessible, measuring carefully I could drill a hole through the top of the wall beam and peek through, if I can see light, there's no horizontals in that section :up:, if I can't there is one in there somewhere so it's a No-go :down:...

will this work?

*If* that works whats the best way to pull cables through? anyone got any top tips?

[FUBAR]

My method worked but not how I would have liked, there is a Horizontal brace in the way, so cable will have to be run on the outside :sad: oh well.

[FUBAR]

Tasks done this evening:

I got the wall inspected, as above.
I put up the shelf above the monitor and fitted the ultra low-profile LED lighting strip to the underside of it (Pics later) I also moved in my 2 model cars to sit on their new shelf :up:
The electrics are now fitted to the desk on the single unit on the RHS, these will be under the desk surface:


The power socket is just to have some handy power under the desk, good for soldering irons, dremels etc while making model kits :)
The light switch is plugged into the wall and controls 2 different sets of optional LED lighting, the 'work light' mounted under the shelf and some blue LED plinth lights around the base of the desk, just for pimpin' factor :)

[FUBAR]

Well, Its nearly finished:


Few jobs left to do but the bulk of it is there now and the desk is useable :cool::up:

[ianjpage]

That looks really good - nice home for the Baja :up:

[Incursus]

Like.  :up:

[Cunning Plan]

Really good dude!

But what is the green plate under the cabinet as I have labelled below? Is the skirting-board missing? ???