Desk out for the lads.. aka butchered bits from IKEA = retro computer desk.

iainjh

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AmiBayer
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and some retro filth.

I needed a new desk to get the computers out AND more accessible ... but what desk has the space to suit 35-year old computers x15, all plugged in? And fit in a sane area of the 'office'? Plus a desk would force some focus in my collection.. I just couldn't find one, and if I made it, would it be badly made/ and crap?

Brainwave 1: IKEA.. but not for a desk. Brainwave 3: Homebase.. Certain DIY stores cut wood, and straight! Homebase often have massive saw benches for this.

Enter 1 x IKEA coffee table (neber assembled, it provided the matt black desk top just under 2m long) 4 x IKEA table legs and 8 IKEA wardrobe shelves. Plus 2 x IKEA wall shelves in black/brown to match the top, plus IKEA 9cm short legs (they have a range) to stack a 2nd row and an LCD TV at the rear.

I chose lower shelves to be an 'oak' colour only to match the uprights which were cut perfectly straight from Homebase.

The uprights and 3 of the IKEA shelves quickly made a strong frame to fit a number of 'drawer slides' into, using 90-degree corner fixings. The side uprights were cut to length of the IKEA table legs so the overall height was right.

For the computer shelves, I marked the sides for a uniform height gap between, and sawed 10mm off each width. Mounted shelves on a 'drawer slider' pair. Shelves slide out 5"+ so computers can 'stack up' out the way, but each is still accessible.

There's plenty of room for wires and plugs. All 14(?) computers are plugged in and wired up to one TV Via 2 scart blocks and a couple s-video splitter cables. Switched 6-gang sockets means those computers without power switches can be left plugged in, but switched on when required.

it just about fits :) There's even a few small shelves for cr&p at the back on the right. Out of the way.

Altogether a success though I ruined it slightly by adding a wide and deep sliding shelf to the right to jam in my ST. Too low, and visually too much. Next time I'd have made the whole desk wider.

Wife acceptance factor = high. Lots of stuff in a small space. Usable. But i've not shown you the real mess around the rest of the office ha :)


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anyway, there's my effort. show us yours! :)
 
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Nice one and all those retro computer that had the soul where pc of today doesnt have that!
 
Asked to add a pic of the drawer slide so here it is. The big slide on right goes out 30 cm. I stupidly put the roughest cut at the top so its visible. Doh.

Tell the the homebase bloke to GO SLOW.

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Brilliant, my wife recognized IKEA stuff at first sight :LOL:
 
Yeah, neat - hats off to you, Iain.

A fine piece of furniture for retro cave 'compression' and no mistake.

I thought I'd done reasonably OK squeezing an Atari 130XE, Oric Atmos, Beeb, ZX81, Amiga 500, Amiga 1200, seven floppy disk drives and a PC into 3 'midi' sized desks but your construct beats me hands down.

Cool, fella.

Will learn some lessons from that build -
GOOD MAN!

BAZ67
 
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