Articulated clipboard, iPad cradle & G5
Articulated arms & a mess, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
What a mess, and yes that’s my desk. The clipboard to the left is one of a kind that I found at a flee market. Apparently made by a chemist. The iPad cradle to the right is made from a wall bracket for a flat screen and a piece of an iPad stand made by my friend Brian: http://www.industryworks.com/Industryworks/Home.html
The G5 and monitor where a gift from Greg, thankx. However the hard drive had been removed long ago. I bought a new drive and it didn’t work. Had it tested, it’s fine. Talked to the folks at the Apple store and an Apple expert. Useless. Took a week to find the info. The drive must be 1.5 Gb/s or less or it won’t be seen by the computer. Returned drive and got another. Required a jumper on the back. Installed OS 10.4 while I looked for a copy of OS 10.5. The OS 10.5 disks that came with computers will only work on that model. It took a month to find an update disk. Thankx Tom. I had to use an external enclosure to load the new OS. When booting up the G5 doesn’t see the internal drive but will see the external FireWire drive. If I boot up while holding down option, the drive shows up right away. I think that the drive starts up fast, sees the jumper, then slows down. That small amount of time makes the computer miss the drive. I must have formatted that drive 7 times. There were more problems but I don’t want to bore you any more. What’s important is that I can now sync my iPad.
Desk part 6
Desk part 6, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
This may be the only time I will ever see my desk uncluttered, so I took a picture. The two lamps were once sun tanning devices. The world clock was made by Seiko and has a touch sensor interface. Next we have Vault Boy, my trusty companion. The monitor is flanked by an aneroid barometer and my Waltham pocket watch. A Pilot stapler by Ace Fastener Corp. of Chicago is next. The Konami mug contains a latte. The ink well feeds the rapidograph and sports new month tags. The center of the desk has the freshly finished tags for the desk drawers: air, earth, fire, water. The trackball awaits control. In the distance, my Samson mixer and a pile of electronic junk. I out did myself on the desk. I’m having a hell of a time taking a good picture of it. Every day I sit at it makes me smile.
Desk part 5
I blog from my new desk, and it is good. I had to take this picture at twilight, with a flash. The keyboard tray retracts into the desk, and with a click, locks. To activate, push on center front and the tray will pop out, via a push latch. The entire keyboard contraption is complicated and problematic. I made a design error that made it difficult to adjust, but not impossible. The last thing I need to do is adjust the trackball. It currently is as high as it can go. This causes a squeal when the ball is spun quickly. This is easily fixed. I would like to state how black this desk is. It’s as black as Hotblack Desiato’s black stunt ship. Which, being so black, was difficult to work on. I had to use flashlights to see what I was doing. The vinegar/steel wool solution, wasn’t the solution, nor was Jel’d Stain by Wood-kote. That product is awful. I found that Mohawk stain made the oak as black as my heart. The drawer labels will be: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Color Tag on black paper. The proportions I choose turned out to be perfect. It’s very comfortable and the trackball is in the right place. Good thing too, it would be a problem to move those holes.
Desk part 4
Desk part 4, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
Well, I was pissed that I made an error on the trackball hole. But, with some of my mad skills, I managed to fix it. There’s still way too much to do, but I’ll keep chipping away on it. Everything is stained, except the underside of the top. Pulls and tags need to be reattached, in new locations. Spacers and metal brackets need installing, and the entire drawer contraption needs to be built. Also. more coats of sealant.
Desk part 3
Desk part 3, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
My excitement about this project has turned to frustration. I fear that this desk has too much character, not unlike its creator. A crack in the rear left of the top, uneven sanding of file cabinet has made it necessary to unsquare the rear right back of the top, problems removing sealant, running low on black stain, imperfections, and my back hurts. The thing that sent me over the edge is the top lip of the trackball hole. I feel a little better now that I’ve thought of a way to fix it. On the positive side, the drawer repairs have turned out well, I had enough black stain, the tweaking of the case worked, the trackball will be higher then the standalone case, the keyboard drawer will be slick, and it will be done next week. The trickiest part will be the keyboard drawer, but it’s a low stress item, unlike the trackball hole, god damn it….
Desk part 2
Desk part 2, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
Did quite a bit on this today. The sides have been added. They’re made from oak used to flavor wine. The top was assembled from pieces of oak that were once the lids of wine barrels. After a few hours of drying, I went to another shop and ran it through a time saver. Money well spent. It’s totally flat. The top will get a skirt to make it four inches thick. The skirt, drawer, trackball hole, and door are a little tricky so I’ll wait till I’m rested. After that, fine sanding, ebonizing, and sealant. Then the pulls are reattached at a higher point. I’m going to look into using a chemical to make the brass black. Lastly the trackball will be installed.
Desk part 1
Desk part 1, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.
I was given two for these file cabinets, and only two side panels. I put the best parts together and now have one proper unit. This one, with chips, no panels, and discoloration is going to become a desk to replace my drafting table, which I also made. I spent three hours today on it so far. The lip that runs along the top and back was routed off. I then cut the unit in half, right below the full extension slides of the second drawer down. The top part will become the left side of the desk. It received oak pieces, on the bottom, to bring it up to the proper height. The lower unit had pieces added to its top, for the same reason. I got lucky, the location of the four recessed panels on the back ended up the same on both units. The two rounded edges on the top where routed off and an oak strip added. Lastly, a rough sanding was done to remove the stain, and even out the surface. The ebonizing compound was tested on the new and old wood before assembling , to see that they would match. The compound is made from steel wool soaked in white vinegar. The longer it ages, the stronger it gets. The compound is clear and reacts with the tannin in the wood. The desk will have a trackball built in, a hidden panel to hide the computer, and a drawer for a keyboard. The top will be made from the lids of wine barrels, the sides from wine oak flavor sticks, and will be completely black.
