Another hobby. Desk & Vanity unit.

Hi,

I've moved on a bit since detesting woodwork lessons at school and being bottom of the school when I failed my leaving exam; I was pleased to be clear of it and the useless bullying teacher.

Over 25 years ago whilst at work a guy asked if I'd make him a farmhouse table to which I agreed; I showed him catalogues and he chose the styly also giving me the measurements. The price in the catalogue was £360 so he agreed to pay half this at £180 with a handshake. Bron and I weren't at all religious and never celebrated religious holidays; I spent three days at Christmas making the table.

Resuming work in the New Year I let this guy know his table was now ready for him to collect; his reply "I've seen one in a store up town at £170".

I used this table for many years until a visit to Boundary Mills in Colne fired up my imagination; in the toilets the doors and walls were finished in a beautiful sheet material and I thought if I can get hold of some of this it would make a wonderful desk so back home I emailed Boundary Mills explaining id like to buy some of this if they could please identify it? Amazingly I received a quick reply email from a lady stating she'd been in touch with the contractors who installed it and would get back to me with the details which she kindly did.

Fortunately after much web browsing I found a company in Morley not too far away that stocked Formica and they had this in stock so I ordered two extremely large sheets and collected it in our small Toyota Aygo car; I thought I might need it delivering but I'd never seen Formica sheets rolled up in seconds; two guys aligned both sheets on a large table and simply pushed them forward resulting in them being rolled then secured; they only just squeezed into the Aygo but now I had the Formica. It's heavy unwieldy sheet material to handle

I set about designing and dimensioning my new desk; I chose English top quality oak for the frames and 18mm thick MDF as substrate for the panels ensuring the panels were thick enough not to distort once the Formica was added.

Following are pictures but not in order but I'll try because it would take forever to organize them;


Sawn English oak as bought needing dimensioning.


Being planed;thicknessed on my industrial combination woodworking machine; I restored and converted the machine to run on 240V single phase upgrading the power feed to the thicknesser but this was another project.


Planed all round; now I was making progress.


Getting ready for ripping to width. This machine had 3 x 3hp 3phase motors.


Machined components. A lot of the hard work now done but more needing dimensioning the very heavy 8' x 4' sheets of MDF.


Laying up; this is how Formica is laid up; contact adhesive is applied to both the formica and substrate surfaces and allowed to become touch dry; this is the heartstopping stage; if the Formica now touches it can't be released hence the slats to keep both surfaces seperated until fully aligned; one mistake here would be costly and ruin a few hours work; starting at one end the first slat is carefully removed making absolutely certain the Formica is aligned then each slat is removed in turn whilst a roller applies pressure by hand to get the Formica down without air pockets. The Formica was cut slightly large allowing a trimming router to be run around.


Laid up; The top panel is let into rebates around the frame; now it's coming together and getting heavy to move around without causing damage, the desk was to be made of three sections. two pedestal sides and top.

My desk was planned very carefully indeed; I didn't want lots of hanging cables for things like computer; monitor and printer etc so I designed a row of single 13A sockets into the back of the top as seen; this is unique to me. the single cable shown hanging on the right powers the lot. The sockets are connected in parallel.


Right hand pedestal with shelf and for door.


Left pedestal open for computer ventilation. These too are heavy and solid.


One of the woodturned knobs in keeping with the desk design; these knobs also had front Formica inserts. Going that bit further is always worth the time and effort. Woodturning isn't a problem and very enjoyable.

Oh dear ran out of permitted pictures so the finished desk is shown in the next post.

Kind regards, Col.

 

Hi,

Continuation.


Here's the desk I wanted; it's definitely a one off; the oak is finished with Matt polyurethane varnish brushed on for durabilty; the drawers hold things like memory sticks and address books ect. the cupboard holds printer paper and boxes of CD/DVD's. I thoroughly enjoyed making this desk which I'm sitting at typing now.

I think in total it cost around £200; the farmhouse table was sold for £125 so in the end it worked out very well indeed.

Time now to settle down before bedtime to a Sci-Fi movie on YouTube I started watching earlier during tea time. These projects keep my head and hands busy and next up is the new shower vanity unit I made as a present for Bron when Bron became too ill to use the bath and I installed a walk in shower for her; Bron will always be my wife and best friend but only in spirit now; we couldn't do enough for each other and it was a pleasure to do this kind of project for her; I miss her so very much.

Vanity unit to follow perhaps tomorrow.

Kind regards, Col.

 

LOVE that desk @Retired

 

Hi,

Now for the floating vanity unit. The measurments I chose were 1200mm long x 400mm deep x 400mm tall. With the basin the height was 530mm.

https://www.bathroomcity.co.uk/prod...mm-wall-sink-unit-drawers-shelves-quartz-grey

These floating vanity units come in all price ranges but I was designing and making my own so only the cost of materials were involved; it was a labour of love. I'm not a bathroom designer and at first found it difficult working out measurements whilst the bath etc were still in place. The new quadrant shower took a lot of time trying to fit in the largest whilst allowing for the vanity unit; the shower; quadrant; square; rectangular? The quadrant was chosen to save a bit of needed floor space due to Bron being so ill.

I drew the plan out on paper as a sketch adding dimensions and eventually got everything to fit; any mistake at this stage would be catastophic later. I wanted this vanity unit to be special for Bron and it would be unique being a one off.

Not wanting sharp corners and with space to use the basin and and toilet the design was at last finalized and the shower unit was ordered as was the thermostatic shower which I thought was a brilliant design proving a lot easier to install than I imagined. The bath was a nightmare to remove; it weighed 150kg and I ended up having to cut it into three sections using my 9" angle grinder; it was a truly awful noisy; dirty job.


This was horrible; the bath had been plastered in and wouldn't clear the two restraining walls. I used a sack cart not being strong enough to lift and carry each section; it was wheeled to the driveway and a local scrap man collected it free of charge; the guy collecting it simply picked up each section and dumped it into his pickup he was away in less than five minutes; I struggled to remove each section with the sack cart but then I'm built like a stick insect. I never want to do this again.


I was left with this once the bath was removed. The tiles were removed then I plastered the walls.

To make the job so much more difficult the bath drain outlet pipe was the wrong diameter to suit the new shower; of couse the pipe had to be larger; this meant clearing the adjoining rear extension room in order to lift the carpet and a large section of floor boards to gain access to the main sewer pipe. I ended up removing half this floor then spending ages with my heavy SDS drill in chisel mode struggling under a joist to enlarge the pipe hole through solid stone; oh boy this job was fighting me all the way.

The basin & shower outlets connected but I wasn't silly enough to put the floor back down until the shower and vanity were fully installed and tested; I'd been caught out too many times.

More floor boards being lifted; the joists were a real pain getting in the way.

I've had practice at plastering but it's always a messy; dusty job; I was pleased to get this out of the way and letting the plaster dry. The window frame and surround I made and installed years ago.


Lots more time spent plumbing in copper tube and basin connectors; as usual a joist added to the fun toally in the way. The tubing was fully plastered into the wall but first it was wrapped in polythene sheeting; plaster attacks copper. Space was very limited; part of the brick wall had to be chopped out in order to recess the pipes before plastering; the pipes had to clear the bricks below but also clear under the floorboards; this job was testing me.


Copper tube bending saving lots of solder joints.

I paid the council £11 to collect the old basin arranging the date leaving it at the bottom of the pathway next to the drive; I saw a large white van arrive and the basin was taken but before the agreed date; on the agreed date the council arrived; the basin had been stolen.

I'm allowed twelve images and have posted nine so I'll stop here and move onto the vanity unit at my next posting; lots of work as seen was needed before I could finally install the unit but now I was into woodworking which is far more pleasant than playing about with plaster and installing pipework.

More to follow.

Kind regards, Col.

 

So do I.
My OH loves messing about with wood but not to your standard @Retired!!
Well done.

 

Hi,

Many thanks for your kindness @Valley Gardener. It's taken many years and endless mistakes to get where I am now but it's been interesting and highly rewarding. Bron was always fully supporting me knowing after I'd created a mess things would be much better. Bron never once complained; just the opposite; she did a lot of heavy work whilst between us we replaced the bungalow and two roomed extension roofs; Bron filled the skips and filled bags with plasterboard when I kicked in two ceilings.

Now at last the floating vanity unit. Not in order but plenty pictures;


Assembly under way in the workshop.


I wanted the end nearest the toilet to be rounded for Bron's safety and for more floor space but this proved very difficult indeed.


I tried bending very thin plywood; MDF with saw kerfs allowing it to bend but didn't work but then I thought why not try using the spare sheets of red Formica I had to hand. I carefully measured allowing extra for later trimming to top and bottom; I'd cut grooves in the framework whilst machining in readiness for whatever I used to tuck into thereby ensuring the troublesome ends wouldn't open out at a later date. Three thicknesses of Formica were cut to form a glued sandwich; here the three are unglued being tested for fit whilst being trimmed allowing them to fit snugly around the curved frame members. The curved frames where cut using a powerful Makita router mounted on a circle cutting jig I made; both pieces were identical. Formica is both very strong but fragile if roughly handled prone to cracking.


Here the Formica sandwich layers are fully glued and being glued to the unit whilst the glue remains wet; this curved end was the hardest part of the job to complete; I have lots of wood veneer but it would have taken a great deal of time and work to complete this curve I could also have coopered using thin wooden strips but then smoothing to create a perfect curve would be time consuming; at this point I hoped this Formica idea would work.



Now I wanted curved frame rails for the top and bottom of the curved panel; I tried using some of the kerfed MDF as seen which again was useless. I made a safety narrow cutting guide to run hardwood through my home made saw bench the strips can be seen.


Now I needed a former to bend the thin strips around whilst being glued to correct curve; all this was by trial and error to get measurements bang on; the top panel was to have an overhang to the curved end and front so it needed to be taken into consideration. 18mm thic plywood and any offcuts I had to hand were pressed into service; it was cut oversize and securely screwed again as a sandwich then carefully cut out using the bandsaw.


A waste of money but worth a try.


Great care was needed in order not to break the thin strips as they were thoroughly glued; bent and secured around the former; I could have steamed the strips but again it would take a lot of extra time; I did this twice needing two curved frame members. Both were trimmed to width once the glue had set on the bandsaw and the sawn edges made smooth before gluing in place on the unit.


It worked like a dream but just making these two frame members took time and effort also much thought.


One being glued and screwed.


One of the door frames glued; 6mm thick MDF was used for the back flush panels; simple half lap joints were cut on the bandsaw for the corner joints but arranged in such a way that the MDF back overlay panel formed a sandwich strengthening the joints; I was looking and planning every little detail.


The back of the unit after painting; this base unit was fully sealed with top quality Benjamin Moore exterior paint receiving a number of coats after all the unit was to be mounted in a shower room where exposed timber would be sure to suffer.

Another twelve pictures added with only the final pictures to add in the next post.

Kind regards, Col.

 

Hi,

The final part.


The top panel fully completed; the back and underside are fully sealed with multiple coats of paint.


At last in all its glory ready for instaling and the new basin with taps fitting.



Fully fitted. No pipework to be seen.


Wall cupboard I made and installed over 30 years ago given a makeover.


The window frame was also made by me and installed now painted to match everything else; The side LED lights and ceiling LED panel light were wired in by me; I added a new double gang light switch on the wall just outside the bathroom switching either the wall or ceiling lights on together or singly. It's another wet black hole today so the picture quality is suffering but as can be seen the design works very well indeed giving the image of a much larger floor area and the curved shower enclosure together with curved vanity unit gave Bron plenty of room to move around in. The floor covering took a lot of laying but I managed it and it was selected to match.


The new cover for the cistern which is easily removed allowing access to the ball valve and float units. Bron's finishing touches are seen. The wallpaper was specially chosen and when hung I gave it two coats of decorators varnish to seal it.


Plastic wall paneling and ceiling panels were cheap and finish the job off nicely.

It gave me immense satisfaction to help Bron in any way I possibly could; I was pleased she could use the shower a number of times before she heartbreakingly passed away in March this year. I love you Bron and always will.

Kind regards, Col.

 

A birthday card for my Granddaughter

Have I put this on the wrong thread?

 

Hi,

It's very welcome @Valley Gardener I'm pleased to see it; I'm sure your granddaughter will love it; a very happy birthday to her.

A Cute Kitten Wishes Happy Birthday.

Kind regards, Col.