I always wanted to clean all those dusty cable on the ground near my computer case.

Best solution, for me, is to integrate the computer in a good looking custom made desk and by good looking, i mean a discret non-rgb PC desk without glass and flashing lights.

I like it simple and with wood, a lot of wood...

You can see in the picture above two 3D renders of what i imagined and the result a few weeks later, i'm more than happy with it.

For the furniture, i choose ash with some walnut stick to make a good contrast.

I have an entire very well equiped fablab at my disposition.

All the woodworking machine

, a big laser cutter (150w) and a large CNC too.

I needed all these machines like you will see in the next chapters.

Step 1: Design and 3D Modeling

The start of any project, small or big one, is always the same...

Some hours on Fusion360 to have a good idea of what i want and finally what i need.

The renders in a 3D modeler is very nice way to be sure about the final aspect of my different project.

There is 2 big steps in this project :

The desk, finally, would have been the easy part. Considering that i have access to all the important woodworking machine, the plate and the box/drawers took less than a week (3/4 hours a day).

The hard and complicated part was to design then fabricate the computer case, that's why the laser cutter and the cnc were essential for that project.

Step 2: The Desk

The desk is quite simple, a box (45° joints) with 4 drawers, a thick plate (custom made for that

alcove in my place) and some cnc machined feet to keep the plate on the box.

The furniture itself is very classic except the walnut stick i put everywhere on the desk, like a walnut blade wich separate it in two parts.

These walnut parts are not inlays, each board of the furniture have been cut, then i glued those sticks before clamp and plane it again.

A boring process but i like the final aspect.

Then i cnc machined these two feet wich take place between the box and the plate, you can see the fusion360 cam in the picture above then the final results, i definitly love cnc machine...

Step 3: The Computer Case

I first realize the front panel of the pc drawers, where i had to encrust, the power and reset button and two USB 3.0 ports, i complicate the things, with ash inlay inside the walnut stick and around the walnut button, again thanks to the cnc for that.

I'm quite happy with the button himselves, i engrave (laser cutter) the power and reset sign then i melt some tin inside the etching before sanding it down, it gives that silvery finish you can see in the fifth picture.

The top and the bottom of the case are made by laser cutted 4mm plexiglass sheets, and the sides are made by one large aluminium cnc cutted piece then folded (you can see the folding fusion360 plan in sixth picture).

I first wanted laser cut that piece in a 1mm steel sheet (our laser machine is an hybrid so we can cut metal with it) cause it would have been really easier like that but we were out of oxygen (oxidizer) to do it, so i did it with (bad) aluminium and cnc machine.

That case was a very big pain in the ........., the computer inside is quite a good machine (i5 10600k, asus z490 and RTX3070) so i needed a good ventilation to avoid overheated.

All these in a 36cm*35cm*16cm (L*l*h) box, so i made a lots of tests.

In a few words i spend almost twice the time for the case than for desk!!!!