StarDestroyer.Net BBS

In order of appearance: ugly organizer shelf I built today; computer desk my brother and I built over Thanksgiving break; bookshelves, desk, and bed I built over the summer. (A friend helped with the prettier bookshelf and the bed -- the neat headboard was his idea.)

You're a real man's man, man. Actually, that is totally cool, you can create furniture with your own hands like a god rather than buying them overpricedly from crappy places like stores or something.

They're sturdy, right?

Sturdy? You better believe it, buddy. It's all made from 2x4s, screwed in too many places to be anything but sturdy.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:They're sturdy, right?

Surlethe used real hard wood not some wimpy slabs of fibreboard to make them.

Congrats for them.

Surlethe wrote:Sturdy? You better believe it, buddy. It's all made from 2x4s, screwed in too many places to be anything but sturdy.

Nice work! I was wondering why everything had that same blocky look to it, and that's when I took a more careful look and realized it was all made from 2x4s. Did you rob a construction site at night or something?

folti78 wrote:Surlethe used real hard wood not some wimpy slabs of fibreboard to make them.

Congrats for them.

Softwood, actually. Almost all 2x4s are either spruce, fir, or pine. They also come in cedar & redwood for use in decks, though as far as I know those aren't nearly as common as the first three and far more expensive as well.

The bookshelves and the dark wood chairs are awesome, they look excellent .

DEATH wrote:The bookshelves and the dark wood chairs are awesome, they look excellent .

Thanks, but I didn't build those chairs. They came with the dining room table as hand-me-downs from my parents.

aerius wrote:Nice work! I was wondering why everything had that same blocky look to it, and that's when I took a more careful look and realized it was all made from 2x4s. Did you rob a construction site at night or something?

Hah - actually, Lowe's charges about $2 for an 8' 2x4. So the material for the bookshelves cost all of $30; with some sandpaper, a can of polyurethane stain, some cheap paintbrushes, and patience, they look great.

Some joinery would spruce (heh) that up a lot, but still, nice work. It'll last you a good long while, and it's certainly satisfying to build for yourself.

Do I espy a subtle brag in the second and fourth photos from the bottom, on the floor at the head of the bed?

Simplicius wrote:Some joinery would spruce (heh) that up a lot, but still, nice work. It'll last you a good long while, and it's certainly satisfying to build for yourself.

I considered countersinking the screws and covering them over with dowel rods or wood putty, but I figured that it would be too much extra work. An exception: as a concession to appearances: my brother and I built the computer desk so that all the screws are from the inside -- a pain in the ass to put together, but it looks really tight.

Do I espy a subtle brag in the second and fourth photos from the bottom, on the floor at the head of the bed?

... quite possibly.

Actually, I didn't even notice that until after I'd posted the pictures on Facebook. My wife and I had a good laugh over it.

Surlethe wrote:

Simplicius wrote:Some joinery would spruce (heh) that up a lot, but still, nice work. It'll last you a good long while, and it's certainly satisfying to build for yourself.

I considered countersinking the screws and covering them over with dowel rods or wood putty, but I figured that it would be too much extra work. An exception: as a concession to appearances: my brother and I built the computer desk so that all the screws are from the inside -- a pain in the ass to put together, but it looks really tight.

I believe he means stuff like this where you cut the wood so it interlocks and provides more area for gluing and screwing. It's more solid and won't work loose when the wood dries out, shrinks, warps or does other funny things.

Screwing is better than gluing.

You can disassemble bolted-together items later, which can come in very handy for many reasons. And if anything does shift over time, you can just tighten the bolts.

Great work on the furniture, Surlethe!

Darth Wong wrote:Screwing is better than gluing.

You can disassemble bolted-together items later, which can come in very handy for many reasons. And if anything does shift over time, you can just tighten the bolts.

Depends on what you do and how good the joinery is. My grandfather was a carpenter and some of the stuff he did was glued together joinery and it couldn't have been any more solid with screws. The opposite in fact, because the structure required for the screws vs doing a join there would have made it weaker.

I'm sorry Surly, but the first thing I thought was 'wow, this place is fucking messy'.

Nice work though.

Ford Prefect wrote:I'm sorry Surly, but the first thing I thought was 'wow, this place is fucking messy'.

Nice work though.

Hah! I thought it was quite neat! Compared to my home, at least. Don't even mention the apartment, I don't know how that place got to be such a mess, considering I'm not even living there full time, and there's no furniture there beyond a few stools, chairs, and a sofa-bed.

Thanks for the kudos, everyone.

Ford Prefect wrote:I'm sorry Surly, but the first thing I thought was 'wow, this place is fucking messy'.

We were actually in the middle of a cleaning spree at the time. After the pictures were taken, we finished putting everything back into the closet, and the day after I took the pictures, we completely reorganized the bookshelves and cleaned the study upstairs. The computer desk's significantly cleaner, too.

Surlethe wrote:Thanks for the kudos, everyone.

Ford Prefect wrote:I'm sorry Surly, but the first thing I thought was 'wow, this place is fucking messy'.

We were actually in the middle of a cleaning spree at the time. After the pictures were taken, we finished putting everything back into the closet, and the day after I took the pictures, we completely reorganized the bookshelves and cleaned the study upstairs. The computer desk's significantly cleaner, too.

I was about to say "good luck baby-proofing the place"

I slightly disapprove about your choice for a computer desk. The keyboard and mouse should be level, thus requiring the minimum amount of movement when switching between the two. That might be only me though.
Also, does the comp air properly?

Besides that, it looks like a cozy den.

Why do you keep your bike inside? There is no storage for it in the apartment you live in?