So the bits and pieces I need to work on my next piece of retrocomputing are stuck on a (very) slow boat from China, I have been doing a lot less retro stuff recently.
So for now, I have a plan to spend my upcoming holidays working on a new desk for my retro room. Currently I’m working off an old school desk of unknown provenance, with a particularly funky melamine finish, and a toy chest full of Lego.
What I want from the project is:
- Contiguous space. The current setup has a step down in the middle, and no leg room under the toy chest. I look forward to being able to have two retrocomputers set up at once.
- Built in cable management. I need this. A lot.
- Built in Power Boards, including USB power. Also needed, especially if I play with Raspberry Pi setups, like Pi1541.
- Built in Monitor Management. I’m putting in some special railing that will allow me to “suspend” monitors from the back panel of the desk. This will get me MUCH more desk space (no stands) and make rearranging a lot easier
- Contiguous anti-static workbench. I’ll cover the entire desk in anti-static material, which will let me work anywhere down the length. I’ll also put the clip points at the back this time, rather than at the front. This will be more useful.
- Space for key tools. Yes I’m looking at you, multimeter and soldering station. I pull these out all the time but they don’t have a permanent spot on my desk. They should.
- More storage. Because I just always need more storage.
- Built in scaler. I have a really top scaler. If it’s built into the desk, I will actually use it more often. This will help when debugging outputs from retrocomputers.
As you can see, I have very grand designs for this workspace. The current plan involves a plywood top, a plywood back wall (For tools, monitors etc etc) and a simple pine frame for legs.
Once done, I’ll post pictures.
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