Executive Desk
My current computer desk is one that I bought all the way back in 2009 when we were still living in our townhouse in Maryland. At the time, I was very much an IT nerd with monitors and computer towers all over the place in my office.
The above pics show the current state of my home office desk. The cables are absolutely out of control, and everything is just too exposed for a desk that is the focal point when entering the room.
This desk has moved a couple of times since I first bought it, and it shows. Given that I am no longer in the IT field full-time anymore, and I have since rid myself of most of the computer equipment I had (thanks to Lisa’s cousin Bill and eBay), this desk does not suit my needs any more.
My current setup consists of two 24” monitors, one flanking each side of my Dell 7460 All-in-One (AIO). In addition, on the two platforms I have a CyberPower UPS on one and a Dell OptiPlex 9010 (test machine) and Dymo LabelWriter on the other. On top of my desk, no matter how hard I try, things just seem to accumulate over time. I have a number of USB thumb drives, two staplers, a tape dispenser, and a whole lot of Post-It notes scattered everywhere.
Since I have my own workshop, and I’ve got some specific needs in mind, it would be pointless to search for a new desk at a retail store. My big problem, though, is I have a hard time coming up with my own designs when it comes to furniture.
I’ve been following Mark Spagnuolo at The Wood Whisperer for a little while, and when I saw the Executive Desk he made, I knew that was exactly what I was looking for. I really liked the overall look and having one side with drawers and one with a door to house some of my equipment. I decided to go ahead and purchase the lessons and accompanying plans through the Wood Whisperer Guild.
Marc Spagnuolo’s Executive Desk
The plans came with a Sketchup drawing so I quickly brought that up and began seeing what I could modify to work in my space (I started my own drawing from scratch). I decided to swap the location of the cabinet with the door to the left side. Because of what I have planned for this space, it is better-served sitting on the left.
While I really liked the look of Marc’s desk, some of the methods needed to make his design were above my experience level, and I was not wanting to try a lot of different techniques at this time. In addition, there were a few designs that I did not want to include in my desk as compared to Marc’s, including a hidden drawer and hidden wireless charging (not needed for me). Here is what I ultimately settled on.
Marc’s plan called for making the majority of the desk out of one species of wood. I, instead, chose to go with walnut for the large panels of the cabinets (minus the backs) and cable channel. For the cabinet backs, top, drawers, drawer fronts, door frame, and trim, I selected hard maple. I really liked the contrast between the two woods. The majority of the project will be plywood, especially the large panels. The only places where actual hardwood will be used are the door frame, drawer fronts, trim, and top. For any of the expose plywood edges, I plan on applying iron-on edge banding.
I opted to make the cabinets using simple dadoes instead of dominoes or dowels like Marc did for his desk. This is much easier for me and will make for a rock solid base.
On the left, the cabinet will house (bottom to top) my CyberPower UPS, and two Synology boxes. The two black panels on the door are actually a pair of fine metal mesh sheets that will be painted black. The thinking here is to allow good air flow for the Synology boxes, while acting like a bit of a dust collection screen at the same time. The door will be inset and will swing out far enough to allow the Synology boxes to slide out on their respective trays. On the left side of the left cabinet, there will be a fan and fan controller installed to assist in exhausting the warm air created by the Synology boxes.
On the right, there will be three drawers. The bottom drawer will store my Dell test computer, the middle drawer will have the Dymo LabelWriter, and the top one will store a lot of my miscellaneous items (USB drives, cables, etc.). The top section will be a type of false drawer front that will have an outlet and USB hub installed directly on the face. This will allow me to charge things via either method, or plug in the Dymo or test computer more easily.
The center section has a channel which will help in containing all of the cables running between the cabinets. Just in front of the cable channel, the blue box is a small Netgear 8-port switch to allow network connectivity. I will be running an ethernet cable in through the grommet hole in the bottom of the left cabinet. This is also where the power cable for the UPS runs to the wall outlet.
The backs of the cabinets are mostly plain right now. I have a plan for those much later. The top of the desk has a removable insert to allow the running of cables into the channel. I have the insert in a contrasting color (walnut vs. hard maple) to add a bit of visual appeal.
The two cabinets came together rather quickly and easily. What took the most time was doing the layout and the cutting of the two holes for the exhaust fan and the fan controller. I wanted to make sure that neither would interfere where I had drawer slides planned for the Synology boxes. It also took a while to get a proper fit of the fan and controller. This project was also the first time I used iron-on edge banding. I used the FastCap Tool Kit for edge banding and it worked out great.
When it came time to think about the hinges for the door, I needed some specific ones that would allow for an inset door to swing out of the way far enough to allow a drawer to pass by. There’s one little problem with that…I couldn’t find those types of hinges anywhere. This really put me in a bit of a bind.
My only alternative was to forgo the inset doors and drawers and go with full overlays instead. I went into Sketchup and worked everything out before I started any work in the shop.
The redesigned door and drawers. I think I actually like the full-overlay look better, to be honest.
One thing I quickly realized, in redesigning the door, was that the two mesh sheets I had in mind were not going to work anymore. I wanted to keep the rails and stiles of the door the same width of 2-1/2”, and with the extra width required for the rails to compensate for the full overlay, this meant that my 12” x 12” mesh sheets were going to be just a bit too narrow. I was in a bit of a pickle here.
I remember seeing another woodworker on YouTube using patterned sheet metal from Home Depot for a project. I figured this would be good enough as it would still allow decent air flow. I could just spray paint the sheet metal black like I had planned for the mesh.
This was my original idea for the sheet metal in the door.
When I got to Home Depot, I noticed they had a few other options for sheet metal panels, and one in particular caught my eye. It was a different pattern entirely than the other I had in mind, and it was in a Venetian bronze finish. I thought this was a way better look and it didn’t require any additional effort prior to install (I hate using spray paint anyway).
One last thing I decided to do with the door was to eliminate the middle rail and just have the one piece of sheet metal filling the void instead of two. It looked nicer and required less work.
As for the hinges, I knew hinges like the ones I’d now need were in existence as I had two sets of them in operation in my workshop on my Rockler Workbench. I headed down to Rockler and grabbed a set of hinges (and some other things…more on that later).
The door itself wasn’t too difficult to assemble. I decided to use loose tenons like I did on my Air Force Seal picture frame a couple years ago. I hadn’t used my Mortise Master in a while so it took me a little bit to get back into the swing of things again. Once it was dialed in, I was able to quickly get the mortises done and the door glued up. After letting the glue set overnight, the following morning I finished prepping and installing the door.
To install the sheet metal panel, I thought about holding it in place with some quarter-round strips pin-nailed in place. Instead I opted to use some flexible points like I use for picture frames. I had to crank up the tension on the point shooter to get them installed into the hard maple door frame, and even then they didn’t do in as far as I would have liked. They overhang just a tiny bit over the lip of the frame, but they just aren’t noticeable from the front with the dark sheet metal panel.
The drawer construction was a slight variation to my typical shop drawers. While I still employed pocket screws to assemble them, the drawer bottoms were set in grooves instead of attached to the bottom of the boxes. This made for easy assembly and yielded the best drawers I’ve ever made.
At this point, the desk is nearly complete. All that was left to do was the glue-up for the top itself. Going into this project, I knew I was going to have a hard time squaring up lumber without a jointer, especially pieces that would be over 6’ in length. When I bought all of my supplies from Hardwood Lumber & Millwork (HLM), I paid the extra few bucks and had them mill my hard maple on both faces. This meant I could much more easily straighten the sides using a combination of a track saw and my table saw. For the most part, this worked out quite well (for the most part).
This top would allow me to FINALLY use the Woodpeckers Clampzilla clamps I bought long before I started this project. In addition, I broke out my biscuit joiner for the first time since my failed Hall Bench project almost three years ago now. I must say, it’s not a tool that I use very often, but much like the drum sander, it sure comes in handy when you need it.
Clampzilla XL for the win on this glue-up. At over 36” wide, I needed every inch these clamps had to offer.
The glue-up went pretty smooth for once (not typical for me), and after a TON of sanding and some roundovers on the edges, the top was completed, and this project was in the home stretch. I opted not to add the curved details on the top like I had in my Sketchup drawing or on Marc’s original plans. I didn’t think they fit with the overall look of the rest of the desk. I think just the simple 1/4” roundovers was just enough.
Oh yeah, I’ve failed to talk about the trim which goes around both cabinets. It’s a pretty simple profile of just a 1/4” chamfer cut on my router table. I cut all of the miters on my table saw and the miters themselves came out great. Installing the trim was a whole different matter (too much to get into). I’ll just say that some of the corners aren’t perfect and leave it at that.
This is one of the mitered corners that actually looks good. Because of the difficulties in gluing the trim in place (the cabinets had a couple of issues), I opted to screw it to the cabinet from the inside.
When it came time to choosing a finish for my new desk, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to go with in the beginning. I thought about trying Rubio Monocoat (which I could have bought at HLM while I was getting my lumber), but I opted to try Odie’s Oil instead. It’s one of the simpler finishes to apply and it’s a very safe finish to use (no gloves or respirators needed). I picked up a jar while I was at Rockler getting my hinges.
I will say that I was applying finish to the majority of the pieces prior to final assembly to make it easier on myself in the end. It actually took me longer to apply finish to one of the cabinets than it did for the entire top, and I applied finish to the ENTIRE top. I must say that I’m very satisfied with the final results using Odie’s Oil. It’s easy to apply and is pretty much fool-proof. I opted to go with only a single coat, but two might have been a bit better.
I realize there is one aspect of the desk I haven’t addressed much to this point, and it is the middle panel that spans the distance between the two cabinets. Before I started this project, figuring out how I was going to attach that to the sides was always my biggest sticking point. I really didn’t want to use hardware like the cams and screws used in Ikea furniture. I didn’t really want any hardware showing in the finished piece. After stewing on it for a number of days, the final design came to me. I wouldn’t really attach the panel at all. All I would have to do is run a dado on the outside panels of each cabinet, and the panel would simply sit in those dadoes and rest on top of the trim. The panel would be held in place by gravity, and once the top is secured in place to the cabinets, the panel cannot move…problem solved.
Speaking of attaching the top, there are any number of ways to secure a top to a cabinet, always keeping in mind that the wood needs to be able to move with the seasons. My choice for fastening were Izzy Swan skirt washers by FastCap.
Here you can see the skirt washers in place. I probably didn’t need this many, but that top isn’t going to budge.
As can be seen on the left side of the cabinet, there is a power cord running from a power strip to the front of the desk. This is for the outlet that is installed in the front of the desk.
A view from behind shows the outlet on the right and my USB 3.0 hub on the left. I cut an opening in the false front for both prior to securing it in place with the angle brackets seen on the sides and top. The hub has a small bracket to keep it from being pushed in from the front, and I zip-tied it to that small shelf to prevent it from being pulled out. The zip tie isn’t perfect in holding it in place, but it works well enough.
The outlet is a one-gang box with a standard 120V/15A power outlet. The outlet and face plate are both black to go with the overall color scheme. As for the wiring, I took a 14-AWG power tool power cord sold at Lowe’s and connected that to the outlet with some wire spade connectors. Since the wires for the cord were stranded copper, the spade connectors make for a much more secure means of fastening the cable to the outlet screws. The cord is run through a grommet on the side and run along the cable channel to a power strip. I realize I’m not a licensed electrician, but I am comfortable enough with this type of work to feel it is safe. If you are not, hire a licensed electrician.
With all of that said, the desk is finally complete and in place in my office. The cabinets must weigh close to 50 lbs or more a piece, and the top is a two-person transport (probably 80+ lbs.).
The Executive Desk in place in my office, sans monitors and other accouterments.
Here you can see the outlet on the left and the USB hub on the right. The hub will connect to my Dell AIO just as it had before. For the drawer pulls I chose Brainerd Vuelo Bronze with Copper Highlights Arch Handle Drawer Pulls
Here you can see the full panel for the sheet metal. I think it looks really nice as one continuous piece, and the color goes really well with the overall look. The door knob is the Brainerd Sophia 1-1/4-in Bronze with Copper Highlights. I installed drawer slides that were longer than I needed so that I could more easily work on the Synology boxes in the future. I actually can’t pull them out all the way currently because the metal file cabinet is in the way.
The exhaust fan and fan controller on the left side of the left cabinet. When running, the fan noise isn’t noticeable over the fans for the Synology Boxes. The fan is an AC Infinity AIRPLATE T3, Quiet Cooling Fan System 6" with Thermostat Control.
Here is the desk with my monitors and Dell AIO in their proper places. The cable management looks WAY better now than it did before.
Here you can see the removable insert that covers the opening for access to the cable channel. I decided to go with a hard maple insert instead of the walnut like I originally planned. Lisa suggested I go with the hard maple, and I think she was right. I think the walnut would have drawn too much attention to the insert.
In the end, the cables still look like a jumbled mess, but they are at least contained and out of sight now. Here you can see the Netgear switch attached to the left cabinet. The cable channel is held in place with two maple triangular braces that are sitting on screws via a t-slot in the back of the braces. Made of hard maple, they almost blend into the middle panel, even though I didn’t apply finish to them.
The big payoff is that all of that open space on the backs of the maple panels was done by design. They were to be covered by some of my Air Force memorabilia. In the middle is the Air Force seal cross stitch that Lisa made for me a couple of years ago (frame by me, of course). On the left is a gold pan I received as a going away gift from my operations watch team in Alaska. On the right is another going away gift, a picture of the radio antenna that we used for work. The frame for this picture will eventually be remade as I’m not too keen on this one (doesn’t match the desk or my other frame and it’s of poor quality).
This was the first real furniture project I’ve ever completed. It took me a month-and-a-half and was over three years in the making. I’m very happy with the overall result. There are, of course, little things here and there that only I notice that just bug the hell out of me, but I’m not going to let those ruin this beautiful desk that I made with my own two hands. As I have stated in my previous post, this is piece #1 of 5 for furniture for my home office remodel. It’s going to be a few weeks before I start back up on my office furniture due to other upcoming commitments.
With the completion of the Executive Desk, this is by far my biggest win to date in my woodworking journey. Save for a few snags, this project came together just like I drew it up in Sketchup. I’m going to bask in this victory for quite some time.
