Bruce H. McIntosh

It's been a busy week or two at Stately Eight Bit Manor, allowing for funerals and work and various other stuff. We've got this big party Saturday night, and suemac wants everything shipshape. That means I've been working in overdrive on the new desk...



The left wing piece, top stained and polyurethaned, and the edges puttied and painted black. This will be a work area for test gear and electronics being fixed.


This is the right wing piece. The PC's keyboard and display will go on the diagonal, and most of the radios will stack up on the right end.


Here's the left wing in place, resting on the lateral file I got with a discount coupon on top of the on-sale price at Office Cheapot. I tore heck out of the interior of the Taurus getting it in and out when I brought it home. The pile of cable is the antenna feedlines for the ham radio gear.


Here's the center piece, which was cut out of the original computer desk that I built when we were still at the old house. Like the other two tops, it started life as a solid core interior door. I've got the previous finish sanded off, and the edges puttied so they're smooth.


And here it is with the edges sanded and a coat of stain on the top. Tomorrow and Thursday I'll get 4 coats of poly on it, then paint the edges.


Since I'm running out of time to build the cabinets that go under the center and right pieces, I threw together some quick and dirty legs out of 2x4s, glued and screwed together.


Luckily for me, I had a couple cans of semi-gloss black spray paint on hand. From plain to snazzy in just a few minutes! I have to wait until tomorrow to paint the undersides of the long pieces.


Thursday I should be able to set up the right wing piece and get the radios and computers up and running once more. To hide all the cables and mess, I'll line up a string of Ikea CD cabinets along the back side of the right wing piece. Friday I'll bring in the middle bit and bracket it to the wing pieces. Dad's old Collins HF gear will line up on that piece.