What's up guys, I'm Brad Rodriguez from Fix This Build That and today I'm going to show you how to make a desk with hidden wireless charging I'm also going to show you a tip on how I install this metal copper inlay into the desk.
Stay tuned I'll show you exactly how I did it I've had this stack of walnut boards in the back of my shop for a couple years now Just waiting for the right project And since I'm going with a simple metal base for the desk And I thought this was the perfect time to dip into the stash for a couple boards to make an amazing top I'm going with a 20 inch desktop to try and minimize clutter that will land on it So I cut the rough boards in half to give me four boards for the top When working with rough lumber you can get some pretty twisted boards like this and one of the things that helps before milling is to knock down the high spots on the opposite corners of the Board with a block plane this removes some of the rocking it makes milling go a little smoother but to get the rest of the twist out of the board's I took them to the jointer and face jointed each board it basically does what I just did with the hand plane, except a whole lot faster and more consistent after a few passes I got down to fresh wood and the board now sat flat on my bench.
I ran the other three boards through the jointer as well to get one flat face on each board before moving on to the planer Using the flat face from the jointer I ran each board through the planer until the mill marks were removed and I revealed fresh-cut wood, which looked amazing I finished the rough milling back of the jointer by putting a straight edge on each board Then I cut the board's a little larger than final width at the table saw Now if you don't have these rough milling machines You can buy nice walnut lumber like this already surfaced from many woodworking stores locally and online.
I labeled each board to keep them organized and then I went into the first glue up Instead of gluing all four boards together.
I glued up to smaller halves This is gonna let me flatten the pieces on my planer into a final glue up then I'll just have to worry about one seam instead of three After the glue is dry on the first glue up I took the halves out of the clamps and brought them back over to the bench to fill some of the defects in the wood with epoxy Some of the knots and cracks went all the way through the boards So I taped them off on the back side to keep the epoxy from leaking out Then I'm small portions of a two-to-one clear epoxy with a slow hardener and started to fill the defects in Their words a lot to fill including a huge void on the bottom side and some nice little bug holes.
These guys had a feast After the epoxy dried I knocked down a few high spots with my block plane Then I ran each half through the planer until I got the fresh wood all over again Now this is where using the two halves really comes in handy It eliminates a lot of epoxy scraping as I just send that thing through the planer and let it do the work To prep for the final glue up I took the sections to the jointer and ran each one across to get a pair of nice straight edges.
I glued the halves together just using clamps to line everything up I get asked this all the time And yes, the glue joint alone is more than strong enough to hold the top together You don't need any screws dowels biscuits dominoes or any of that While I was waiting on the top to dry I moved over to make the base I'm using one inch tube steel for the base and I haven't really gotten fully set up with metal cutting equipment yet So I had my local metal yard cut it to the exact size for me, which was a huge time-saver.
I mark, the joint connections and I used a flat disc on my grinder to prep the metal for the welding Like I said, I'm new and I'm still trying to figure things out but my welding table setup is a bit rudimentary but my welder on the other hand is the 210 MP from Lincoln Electric and it is smart enough to set the wire feed and The voltage for me based on just a few inputs It takes the guesswork out of the welding and as a beginner, I really appreciate that You can find out more about the 210 MP and a link down below in the description I started by welding together the rectangular ends of the desk first.
I tacked them in place Then I ran a bead of weld around each side of the joint I also quickly realized that clamping the parts down as tight, as you can was key to a square joint These little magnetic squares are more like a suggestion of keeping things square.
I worked my way through the welds and I ended up with two ends ready to be joined together But before joining the ends together with the long stretchers I ground down the weld joints with a flat disc on my grinder again here when you're welding You really want to have nice fresh clean metal since the desk is so large I had to move it to the ground and use these magnets to hold things in place.
I tacked in Well the back of the desk first checking Foursquare along the way Then I flipped it over and welded the top front stretcher in place to complete the frame I've got to say I really enjoyed welding a full project by myself This was only the second welding project that I've really ever done And this is the first time I've done it solo in my own shop I got better as I went, but I still have a ton to learn So hit me up with your welding tips in the comments.
Let me know what I'm doing wrong and how I can get better To finish off the base.
I wanted to add some tabs to screw down the top I got some one-inch angle iron and I laid out six tabs of the marker After marking each tab.
I took the angle iron to the drill Press and I drilled an oversized hole for the screws after that was done I took the angle iron outside and I cut the tabs apart with an offcut wheel on my grinder After cleaning the tabs up a bit with a flap disc.
I turned the base upside down and I tacked each tab into place Oh, and welding 101 don't weld your clamps to the work cheese.
I Prep the base for paint by grinding all the weld joints smooth and I sprayed on a couple coats of self-etching primer I FolIowed up with several coats a flat black enamel and matte clear coat now by this time the top was all ready to go So I took it out of the clamps and I cut it down to final width By joining a straightedge on one side and then cutting it to final width on the table saw To cut the top to length I used my circular saw I Put painters tape on the top side and then I turned the panel upside down Now both of these things are gonna help prevent tear-out from the circular saw cut I laid out my cut line with a carpenter's square.
You know, I made the cut with my track guide.
I Spun the top around and I made the second cut Which made the top to final length and I had exactly what I was looking for I'm loving the new wireless charging feature on my phone, but I don't like having the extra wires on my desk So embedding the charger on the bottom was a great alternative I traced the shape of the charger and then I used a router to remove the waste free hand And since I don't have a plunge router, I drilled a starter hole with a Fortuner bit And then I started the router in the middle and slowly circled outward until I hit that layout line that I had traced After confirming the fit I took another pass taking about 3/8 of an inch off at a time I also routed a little recess pointed towards the back so I could fit the USB plug for the charger for the final past I use an eighth of an inch piece of scrap to position the bid I Tested the charger through this material and it's still charged.
So I figured I would be good to go with this depth After I was done I couldn't wait to test it out So I put the charger into the slot Flipped over the top and held it in place with one hand and then the moment of truth I Was pretty stoked it actually worked even with this case that's on my phone I'll link the charge that I used down below If you want to use the same one To give the USB cable a sleek way to come out of the back of the desk.
I cut a trench for the cable I used my smaller palm router and a quarter inch bit and just made one shallow path straight back to the edge of the top the test fit looked great and I flipped the top over and I sized up where the phone would sit while it was charging and Hey if this is your first time visiting my channel Welcome if you like what you see be sure to subscribe and hit that bell to get notifications when I upload new videos thanks a lot and hope to see you around I Wanted an easy indicator to know where to put the phone in Nick Kyle from Blackbird machinist sent me this awesome Copper bowtie a while back So I figured it would make a perfect accident and give a reference for the charger at the same time.
I Positioned the bowtie where I want it and then jumped into the inlay now I've never done any inlays like this and I was pretty scared to do it, honestly I didn't want to ruin the top because I just worked so hard on it but I made a couple test runs in scrap wood and then I just dove in I used some double stick tape to hold down the bow tie and then I scored an outline with a razor blade and I set my Palm router to the thickness of the inlay and routed out the majority of the waste staying pretty far away from the lines And then comes the time-consuming part of cutting to the line I Really took my time here because I knew with metal that I wouldn't be able to fill the gaps as easily as if it were A wooden enlight and only had one shot at it and the rest of the work is done with chisels I just switched back and forth between my 1 inch chisel Which I used to make long straight cuts and the smaller chisels which remove material a little easier since there was less cutting surface Just take your time here again, and finesse it until you get the right fit When I was done I mixed up some epoxy to hold the inlay in place and I spread it on the bottom of the recess I used a scrap block of wood on the inlay and tapped it into place I actually think I put a little too much epoxy in and it caused the inlay to be just a little proud of the surface So flush everything up I started with sixty grit paper and stain of the copper until it was flush Then I work my way up through the grits this took a long time So I would err on doing it too deep with a metal inlay versus too shallow in the future And now is the part that I've been waiting for ever since I milled this walnut for the finish.
I'm using fast-drying polyurethane From Minwax a sponsor of today's video and it's an oil-based durable protective finish that really makes this walnut look amazing and since the desk surface is gonna get a ton of wear this tough polyurethane finish is perfect for the job I applied one thick coat with a foam brush and then I came back later with a thin down second coat to get that nice Smooth finish you can find out more about the fast-drying polyurethane via the link down below in the description When the finish was dried it was time to install the charger I opted for a quick and easy Mounting by just hot gluing it in and don't be a goon here and hot glue all over the wire It just makes a mess put those glue in the channel and then press the wire into it you live and you learn I Finished off the assembly by flipping the base onto the top and mounting it with 3/4 inch screws Then I tapped in some plastic feet into the vertical steel tubes and I was done This desk came out way better than I ever imagined it Would I got to try out a lot of new techniques with this one that stretched my skills as a woodworker and a metal worker? And on top of it all I got a desk that has a ton of character and wireless charging That's out of sight and always on the ready If you've loved this video, I think you're gonna love that one to go.
Check it out I got another one queued up there for you.
If you're not subscribe to the channel already I'd love to have you as part of the team and until next time guys get out there and build something awesome.
