And now, the rest of the story...

In my head, the title of this post is said in a deep, dramatic manly voice, about to explain to me The Rest Of The Story.  Anyone else remember that old radio program???  Man, I used to love catching that on the radio. My dad used to listen to it all the time too.  Maybe it was only a Canadian thing? I don't know.  Anyways, The Rest Of The Story.


After clamping the leg into the vice, Dad hit the welds with the grinder in order to loosen off the flat plate that used to attach the leg to the desk top. I wanted the desktop slightly lower than my old one, so the plates had to be removed, legs cut, and then the plates re-attached. Dad has this nifty little machine that saws metal in a nice straight line effortlessly.  I can't remember what the heck it was called though..

Checking the length against the previously cut one.  If nothing else, they will both be the wrong length.  That my friends, is man logic in my family.

Perfectly cut leg. 

Next up, straightening the plates by the tried and true method.  Covering it with a steel plate, and smacking it really hard with a sledge hammer. 

Oh, don't worry, we all had on what passes for safety precautions in my family.  My brother even posed for you with his on....

Now, if only I had remembered to cover my ears as he was smacking that iron plate!

Dad re-welded the plates on the newly cut legs.

Too bad the legs were only made of questionable metal!  Amazingly this was the only hole out of all the welds. 

It will be hidden under the desk anyways.  I'm pretty sure the only people who will ever possibly notice it will be the kids as they play Hide-and-Seek!

My dad's shop is a treasure trove of stuff just waiting to be found and used by me.  Found:  black paint to re-paint the legs.  Found: wood to make a base for the filing cabinet to bring it up to the right height.  Found:  all tools and screws and power toys to make it all happen.  And when I say make it happen, I mean Ryan did it while I took a few pictures!

Back at home, Ryan took the old door outside and sanded down all the chipping paint.  As you can see in the middle picture, the door was far from square! I give Ryan all the credit for getting this desk done. I was beat from working at the farm, and he sanded, primed, and painted both the desk and the stand for the filing cabinet, as well as actually putting it all together again.

The desk finally getting put together. Everything fit. Everything was level. Everything looks fabulous!

And finally, after about five days of no computer (I was much too lazy to set it up some where else, so it sat on the floor behind the couch), all systems are a go again!

Only thing left to do, is build a small platform with casters for easier access to the paper shredder. I didn't end up getting any drawers but I do have the filing cabinet, and I have a huge space to put a large desk calendar.  Plus, we get to scratch #4 off of the list!!

Oh and the whole project was free! Yay!  Now to get rid of the rest of the left over desk pieces....