Does any one have photos of desk they might have built in their rigs? I've come across a few through random Googling, but would like more inspiration as to design and materials I could use.

I'll be taking one of the twin beds out of the back of my coach and building my desk there. I thought of just getting a counter and laying it across a couple of bookcases, with some support along the back screwed into studs, and then adding a tray for the keyboard, but more inspiration would be nice.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rae,

Hi Rae...I recalled seeing your post, but couldn't remember where I saw it!

I found this picture of an office set up while looking at used Bluebirds...

click below...I wanna know how they did this...must have a flat dash...ours has that huge curved part in the driver's area...

http://www.buybyebluebird.com/enlarge/121431379617328.jpg

(copy and paste if the link is cut off anywhere at the end).

I am always looking at used RV's for ideas on decorating, storage, etc. This one was on
http://www.buybyebluebird.com. I showed it to my dh and he just rolled his eyes...I finally got him to make me a steering wheel table after nagging for four years.

dennise

Hi Dennise,

Waitaminute. Is that desk over the steering wheel?! That's brilliant! It wouldn't work for me since I use a desktop computer, but I'm filing that away for future reference!

Both Tioga George and Andy Baird have done precisely what you propose to do; remove one Twinbed in the bedroom of a Class C and build a desk to fit in it's place. The link to Andy takes you to his article detailing the project. My connection here is too slow for me to work through the corpus of George's 5Yrs of Posts but having read all of them I know there are Posts with PICs of his desk (one hint I remember is that his Battery Bank resides under the Desk).

Lew

Hi Lew,

Andy is actually the person who convinced met to go with a class C with rear twin beds! I like Andy's desk and will probably end up doing something similar, but I wanted to see other examples before I committed to a design.

I checked out Tioga George's site, but couldn't find any pictures of a desk.

quote:

Originally posted by Fedexman: <snip> ...I finally got him to make me a steering wheel table after nagging for four years. dennise

Do you know of any plans or pictures of steering wheel tables. I've been wanting to make one but I have not had the time to do it. It would be nice to see a pic or two on how it is leveled and how it is attached to the wheel.

The stearing wheel table was really easy. We are workamping in Branson, and the local Home Depot didn't have pre-cut table tops, either a circle or a square..so off we went to the dollar type store and got a "decorator table" for about 8 bucks, and tossed the legs. We purchased a clamp that is used to hold a broom or mop to the wall. (You just push the handle of the broom or mop into the clamp and it grabs and holds it up.) We attached the clamp to one edge on the table top and then dh made a "T" out of some scrap wood and attached to the opposite side of the tabletop. This levels the table out as our steering wheel doesn't tilt flat. That's about it...would have preferred a wooden table top, but the particle board works fine...I would do two push type clips, but dh said no...(they come two to a pack, so go figure ) I put a small lamp and a couple of items like pictures on it and it looks great. I had a square tablecloth and a lacy topper hidden away and it looks nice. I was not gonna pay $45 plus for the plastic one sold at CW plus the cost of a "custom" tablecloth. OK, so I am cheap! I will be posting this to my blog soon with the pictures and when I have this accomplished I will post when it is ready.

hugs
dennise

quote:

I checked out Tioga George's site, but couldn't find any pictures of a desk.

Rae, when we get to an EVDO Campsite I will do some looking at George's archives. I know there are some decent PICs of his desk in there somewhere. It is pretty similar to Andy's but simpler as I remember it.

Lew

quote:

Originally posted by geysergazers:]
Rae, when we get to an EVDO Campsite I will do some looking at George's archives. I know there are some decent PICs of his desk in there somewhere. It is pretty similar to Andy's but simpler as I remember it.

Lew

I did a search for 'desk' and didn't find anything. I did find one picture that showed him sitting at a desk, but you couldn't actually see the desk. At any rate, no worries, I'm sure I'll come up with a good idea on my own.

Rae,

I would recommend that you go to Home Depot or Lowes and look at pre-made base cabinets. They are available in several different styles and sizes. It beats a couple of bookcases and a counter top. Just remember that if you go with a pre-made counter top Home Depot doesn't cut them and as assembled they require a 3/4" spacer below them, and you will have to space your computer drawer down the correct amount or it won't open.

Boogity,

Your best bet for a steering wheel table is a large round serving tray. By placing it upside down on the wheel the lip holds it in place and it stays pretty much where you put it. Measure your wheels diameter for the size you need. Try a restaurant supply to find the size you need. It works great and we just throw ours under the bed when we travel. Our steering wheel is adjustable for height and tilt and will stand straight up.

quote:

Originally posted by TRTech:
Rae,

I would recommend that you go to Home Depot or Lowes and look at pre-made base cabinets. They are available in several different styles and sizes. It beats a couple of bookcases and a counter top. Just remember that if you go with a pre-made counter top Home Depot doesn't cut them and as assembled they require a 3/4" spacer below them, and you will have to space your computer drawer down the correct amount or it won't open.

My local home store has some 'butcher block'-style counter tops that aren't super heavy and which I think would make a nice surface. They don't have that 'lip' that standard counters have, so I'd be able to avoid the spacer issue (Ikea has something similar: http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/20057397. As for base cabinets, what a great idea! The same store sometimes has pre-assembled mis-matched or never-picked-up units for dirt cheap, so I'm definitely going to keep an eye peeled for something suitable.

I've been renting for a year and have hardly had any chances to pull out my tools. I'm itching to start renovating.

Thanks for your ideas!

My steering wheel table is also made from one of the round 3-legged "decorator tables" (about $8 at WalMart) and covered with a small tablecloth, but we used a little different method than Dennise (Fedexman).

We first placed the top of the table on the steering wheel and measured how long the legs needed to be cut for 2 of the legs to sit on the crossbars of the steering wheel. Our wheel doesn't tilt to exactly flat/level either. Those 2 were cut just a bit shorter than the measurement to accommodate rubber caps like you'd use on a chair leg or walking cane. In our case the legs are about 3-1/2" long. The rubber protects the steering wheel AND makes the table a bit more secure--although it CAN be tipped if you put too much weight on one edge of the table.

The 3rd leg was cut about the same length, but is bungied to the top center of the steering wheel--I wrap one of the bungees with a ball around the steering wheel so the leg fits in the bungee on the inside perimeter of the wheel. Just have to make sure the steering wheel is straight when we turn the engine off because it won't work if the wheel is off-center. It took a bit of experimenting to learn how & where to attach the bungee, but now it's easy to get just right.

Not sure if that makes sense or not, but it was cheap and easy to make and works well.

Brenda

Rae, here are pictures of the desks I put in two of my rigs.

http://home.earthlink.net/~derekgore/rvroadiervfulltimi...eallylike/id109.html


The top one I built from one sheet of 3/4 inch plywood, and re-used the wood panels from the booth I took out that it replaced. I did the formica myself, and although those digital pics were taken in 1999, when my camera had less than 640X480 resolution, you can still see how I custom built a secure space for the then enormous multifunction printer. It gave us more entry space and opened up the kitchen area with a counter and chairs. As well gave me an office with little actual space taken up.

The bottom one was a sauder desk I ordered an extra top for to make the right shelf and top extension.

quote:

Originally posted by RV:
Rae, here are pictures of the desks I put in two of my rigs.

Derek, thanks for the pictures! What model Sauder desk was it that you used? Finding an 'assemble-it-yourself' desk wasn't something I'd considered, but if I can find a Sauder product that would fit, why not?

Cheers,

Brenda, have you any pictures of that steering wheel table? It's not something I'd need for this rig, but I'd like to file it away for future reference.

Cheers,