Piano Console Desk

I've been neglecting my blog for a while, so I figured this would be a great post to break the dry spell.  I recently completed this desk for my home office, which doubles as a laughably amateur recording studio.  The desk needed to hold my monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, recording interface, and a keyboard, without compromising surface area, and still fitting in the designated "nook".  So I started by sketching out a concept on my iPad, using the fantastic new Apple Pencil.  Take a look...

You'll notice that the original concept employed solid legs, but I came across a bit of scrap metal and decided to go with steel legs instead.  Only problem is, I've never welded before - nor did I have a welder.  Minor detail.  So I went to work on this jagged, rusty 2.5" steel tubing with a $100 welder from Harbor Freight - cheapest one I could find...

First weld was hideous - the kind of ugly only a mother could love... a blind mother...

Thank goodness for angle grinders.  After some (lots) grinding, and a little paint, the legs were done.  

I used 3/4" birch ply for the desktop.  Exposed ply is gross, so I mitered the joints, used a solid board to cap the back, and edged the face with birch veneer.  That also allows the grain to continue seamlessly from the top to the sides, and around the whole piece.  The drawer tracks for the piano platform needed to be installed before glueing all the sides together, because there would have been no way to get screws in after the fact - too small a space.  

I used a walnut colored gel stain and finished it by spraying a several coats of semi-gloss lacquer.  Hinges on the face that sits inside the desk opening, flush with the front.  I also used scraps to build pedestals for the monitor and speakers.  For one, they look cool.  Secondly, they save surface area by allowing me to stash the computer, keyboard, mouse, and hard drives under the pedestals.  Nice and clean. 

Here's how it came out...