Introduction: Desk Organiser

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I made a desktop organiser to hold my watch, glasses, sunglass, wallet and earphones. I needed a central place on my desk to keep these items and safe and easily accessible. Having an organiser of this sort allows me to always know where these items are when I am at home. A desktop organiser that specifically held all these items securely in one place was not available for purchase, so I constructed my own.

Supplies

Rubber

Ruler

Square

Pencils

Planning Paper

Tasmanian Oak

Handsaw

Bandsaw

Wood Glue

Drill

Domino

Orbital Sander

Hand Held Router

Laser Cutter

Stain

Lacquer

Paint Brush

Screws

Drop saw

Table saw

Vice

Vacuum cleaner

Double sided tape

Dowel

Stanley knife

Clamps

Step 1: Design Plan and Measurement Guide

Draw on paper measurements of timber required for project, including length, width, thickness of all pieces of timber required.

Step 2: Organising and Cutting Wood

Using a square, ruler and pencil, draw measurements for the project onto required wood pieces. Take a piece of Tasmanian Oak wood approx.1600mm x 160mm and measure 680mm from one end of the wood and draw a vertical line. From the vertical line, measure 861.5mm and draw another vertical line. Cut the wood on both vertical lines with a drop saw. Use a surface planer to thin out the 680mm x 160mm piece of wood to 10mm thickness. Take the 680mm x 160mm piece of wood and use a bandsaw to cut the following:

  • Watch holder - 4 x (60mm x 60mm)
  • Sunglasses - (110mm x 180mm)
  • Glasses - (90mm x 180mm)
  • Tower - 4 x (40mm x 260mm)

Now take the 861.5mm x 160mm piece of wood and use the table saw to cut the width down to 155mm. Use the bandsaw to cut the following:

  • Base - (381.5mm x 155mm)
  • Back for shelves - 2 x (240mm x 90mm)

Ensure all pieces of timber needed for the project are cut accurately to size.

Step 3: Sanding

Use a sander to smooth out and straighten rough edges being careful not to over-sand, keeping dimensions accurate.

Step 4: Templates

Create templates for trenching using Illustrator, upload the file to the laser cutter and print out using the laser cutter.

Attachments

Step 5: Trenching

Take the templates, router, double sided tape, vacuum cleaner and set up for trenching. Use the double sided tape to tape the templates to each piece of wood that they match. Using the tape to stick the piece of wood to the table to stabilise it so it does not move while using router. Plug the router into an outlet and connect the hose from the vacuum cleaner to the router's dust collector. Place the router on/against the template and cut a 5mm deep trench to hold the wallet, earphones, glass and sunglasses.

Step 6: Domino

Take the domino machine, vacuum and clamps and set up the domino to the right measurement for dominoing the back for the shelves 2 x (240mm x 90mm) so you can create a piece of board that is 240mm x 180mm. Plug the domino into an outlet and plug the vacuum hose into the domino machine to collect dust. Proceed to set the domino machine to the right settings to match the wood. Line up the two pieces of wood and mark two places to domino. Match the line on the domino to the markings on the wood and drill x4. Collect the fitting and cut it to size so each piece slots together nicely. Take the glue and place it the holes created by the domino and place a thin line of glue on one of the side. Grab a scrap piece of wood and place it onto of the piece of wood and clamp it down on its edge (this is so the join you have just created doesn't bow the wood), now clamp the scrap wood to the new piece of wood and then clamp the 2 piece of wood together to make a whole.

Step 7: Tower/Watch Holder

Collect the 4 pieces of (60mm x 60mm) wood - glue and clamp together to create a 60mm x 60mm x 40mm watch holder. Collect the 4 pieces of (40mm x 260mm) wood - glue and clamp together to create the tower which will support the watch holder. Ensure the glue dries completely. Drill approximately 15mm into each piece of wood and insert a 30mm piece of dowel into one side with glue. Place glue in the other hole so that the piece of dowel can connect the two pieces of wood together. Push the wood together and clamp, letting the glue dry completely.

Step 8: Drilling and Screwing

Collect drills, screws, rulers, squares, pencils, rubbers, glue and clamps.

Backboard - measure 40mm from the top of the piece of wood used for the backboard and mark. Measure 140mm from the top on the same piece of wood and mark. Measure 45mm in from both ends at 40mm and 140mm vertically and mark for drilling. Drill holes.

Shelves (x2) - drill side of shelves 5mm from the top and 45mm from each end, being careful not to crack the wood.

Base - drill holes as follows: 95mm from the end and drill a hole, add another 45mm and drill another hole and then add another 45mm and drill a third hole.

Backboard - put backboard into vice and place the base on top of the backboard. Drill through holes as marked on base, reaching through the bottom on the backboard.

Tower - drill 22.5mm in from the side of the base of the desk organiser and then 10mm in from that 22.5mm and drill a hole there through into the bottom of the tower and then measure 10mm more up from the last hole and drill a hole there again into the bottom of the tower.

Place all screws in drilled holes to assemble the desk organiser.

Step 9: Gluing, Screwing and Final Sanding

At each point where a piece of wood joins to another using a screw, add a thin layer of glue and place the screws into the holes and let the glue set. Once glue has completely dried, sand over the entire project with fine sandpaper, creating a smooth surface. Remove all dust from the project.

Step 10: Lacquer and Staining

Place paper towels on table to protect it from staining product. Stain entire project evenly using paint brush to apply rich walnut stain. Once dry, apply a second coat of stain and when that dries, apply a final coat of lacquer and let set.