I’ve been on a mission to keep modernize my systems. Computers and monitors were getting very old. Ready to hit the graveyard. I also wanted a better desk setup. More room and preferably adjustable in height. Sit and stand would be a goal. And maybe something that looked cool too would be nice. Cool is always good in my book.

So I came across this interesting blog entry a while back on Lifehacker about how to build a laminate table from scrap wood. Laminate in the sense that the wood is glued together. Real wood. It really stuck with me how well this looked. Of course there is no way I’m building this myself. Yes I’m an engineer, but I’m not very handy. OK. I’m a nightmare with a hammer and a nail. So the DIY notion was never going to happen. So I kept the image floating around in my head.

Some months after I was surfing around Craigslist for something and came across these guys in the Philly area that made butcher block cutting boards. Philadelphia Custom Block and Board. They do some really nice butcher block cutting boards and early on in the process they sent me this one. Very nice stuff.

Rick Basilio from the company and I started talking about the possibility of them doing a table top for me. I started searching for a motorized base high and low and came across this one that seemed like it would work and not too pricey from Geekdesk.  They make a nice table to go with the base, but I wanted something unique. Geekdesk sells the base by itself. Here’s a pic of one with with their tops:

So the project got under way and I selected a bunch of woods (some rare). I might have got carried away with the design, but others can judge that for themselves. The lineup of woods are:  Padauk, Purple Heart, Maple, Cherry, and Walnut.

The project did suffer one power failure after the strip were glued, which caused a redo. Glue does poorly in freezing temps. The weather has really sucked here in Philly -I’m sure Rick would second that. So this week things ramped up and I received some progress pic taken by Rick on his Blackberry. Pardon the quality. We will have some better pics after completion.

After milling:

Mounted on base before finish applied:

First coat of poly:

Rick has the base built and motor works. I’ll have to see the quality of the frame when I get it.

Delivery on Tuesday night. I’ll chat how it all turns out.