desks

[swamp rat]

I'm finding that my fly-tying/rod building mojo is a little off these days. I think it is largely because I have one small workspace to do both. I would like to have a desk that was useful for both activities.
Can y'all describe for me an ideal desk to serve for fly tying and rod wrapping? We could make this kind of an experiment. I'll try to take everyones suggestions, and buy the desk described or design and build a desk. I'll report back when it's purchased or built. I've posted this on the rod building forum as well. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
Swamp

[Eight Thumbs]

Hey Swamp,

You haven't mentioned how much space you have or much money you want to spend on this project. A big roll-top desk is always a good solution but they are hard to find at a good price. I made myself a great multi-purpose table by using a whole 4'x 8' sheet a half inch sheet of plywood as the top and two by fours for the legs and bracing. It was way more room than I needed for fly tying, plenty of room for rod building, and great for war gaming. I even slept on it a night or two when I in the dog house. I haven't priced this stuff lately by I built mine for under $25 years ago. 8T

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You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it's a real short camping season.

[Jim Hatch]

Hey Swampy,

To my way of thinking, you would first
want to consider the amount of room you have
to accomodate the desk. Then look for the
one that provides the largest work area and
storage capacity that would fit the selected
area.*G* Again, I can't say too much about
the bargins that one sometimes finds at the
Goodwill, Salvation Army and Habitat for
Humanity recycle stores. I've seen quality
stuff for peanuts.*G* Warm regards, Jim

[James Smith]

As the others have already mentioned, you need to first determine the amount of room you have to work in. A rod building desk usually needs quite a bit more room since you will need room to dry the assembled rod, usually at least 10 feet. If you do not plan on buying a rod lathe, then you can get by with a 10 foot piece of laminate counter top supported on either end with drawers or filing cabinets as a dual purpose desk . That being said, you will need to provide some support in the middle to prevent the counter top from sagging in the middle. I used two metal posts like the kind used for signs. They sit on top of the wooden cabinets and the laminate sits on top of them. The support cabinets are positioned about 1/3 the distance towards the center of the laminates, which leaves me a leg room space of about 4 foot. Since I use a rod lathe, I ended up with two desks that pretty much take up most of the space in "my" room. I also routed a 1/2 inch groove the length of my rod building desk top. I then put in a tape measure which shows both standard and metric scales and filled the groove with epoxy. It makes a super easy way to measure for guide placement etc. Just a thought...

Good luck and post some photos of what you come up with.

Jim Smith

[Jim Hatch]

Hey Jim,

I really like you tip on epoxying a tape
measure into your desk top. It's great to
have a ready reference there that does not
require a third hand to activate.*G* Warm
regards, Jim

[swamp rat]

Good stuff so far, fellas.
To be more specific, I'm looking at a corner in my family room that's about 7'6". The desk would need to be attractive, because I like to do my fly tying and rod wrapping procedures in the family room. I already have an entire chest of drawers to hold fly tying stuff, but I would like to have more accessable storage. I don't plan on getting a lathe any time soon. I have a regular wood late in the shed, and that's where I turn handles and reel seats. Lately, I've been finishing rods in the spare room, on a 4by 8piece of ply. I'll take pics of my current situation amd post them.
Thanks,
Swamp

[swamp rat]

Hey, y'all.
Sorry it's taken so long to post pics as promised. This was the last week of school, so I've been runnin' around like a nut case. Here are the pics.


Sorry the second one is sideways. I should have edited it before uploading.
Swamp