Our dedicated desks are full, so in true Groover Labs fashion, we built some new ones in the Maker Labs. Over the past few months, we’ve added more than 50 members, and the offices, desks, and studios are all full.

Well, the desks were full until we built the new ones. But don’t worry–if you’re interested in a membership, we have plenty of dedicated desk and hotseat memberships available. We also keep a waiting list for the offices and studios. Since memberships are month to month, we can’t predict when one of our members might decide to make a change.

When Curt and Tracy designed Groover Labs, they planned for five pods of dedicated desks in the coworking area, with six desks per pod. They bought enough desks for four pods to get started. Since we opened right before COVID-19, we decided to stick with four pods so our members could spread out throughout the coworking area.

Curt knew the day would come when we would need to add the last row of desks. Last year, he found a good wood source, so he bought enough wood for the desktops. When we realized we were almost out of desks, Tracy bought the base stands using funds from our BASE 

Over the past two months, Maker Labs lead Jeremiah Burian and volunteer Paul Maseberg have been working in the Maker Labs to build new desktops to match our existing ones. We installed them at the beginning of June, and they look great!

We sat down with Jeremiah and Paul to ask them about the process. Below is a lightly edited version of our conversation.

Before we get started, Jeremiah, tell us about your responsibilities in the Maker Labs.

Jeremiah: I am the Maker Labs Lead. My main job at Groover Labs is helping companies or startups with rapid prototyping and product development. This can range from 3D printing, wood working, welding, electronics, PCB assembly, and more. 

But you will also see me doing my part to help throughout the building. 

And Paul, you’re the resident IT expert responsible for the network and a variety of other technology-infused operations at Groover Labs, from the electronic door strikes to pulling and terminating ethernet cables. You do this on a volunteer basis. The question our readers want to know is simple. Why?

Paul: I enjoy helping the mission of Groover Labs with the skills I have. The projects also help challenge me to learn new and interesting skills.

When we said we were close to capacity and might need to add a new row of desks, Jeremiah, you said you already had the wood. When did you order the materials? What kind of wood did you buy? How did you know what kind of wood to buy? What kind of work did you have to do to prepare the material before building the desktops?

Jeremiah: Curt Gridley and I ordered the rough sawn wood locally last year in anticipation of this project. Curt chose maple, one of his favorite types of wood. While we could have purchased ready-made tops, that's just not in our nature.

We are makers, so we make. 

Paul, you work full-time as a senior software engineer. How did you find time to work with Jeremiah on the desks?

Paul: I took a day off work for the majority of the work and then helped a little after hours. I left the hard parts that took the most time to Jeremiah ;).

Tell us about the process. The wood planks in the Maker Labs looked nothing like the beautiful desktops in the coworking space today. 

Jeremiah: The material was delivered as rough sawn 5/4. Paul and I started by cutting the pieces into manageable sizes, slightly larger than the finished desktop. Then we cut, jointed, and plane the wood. We laid out our width, measured and marked the individual planks, and added biscuits. Then it’s on to gluing the separate pieces into one desktop. After that, we had to flatten the wood tops. For this, we used our CNC Router table along both sides, bringing the total thickness down to one inch. The process after that is lots of sanding, rounding over the edges, and applying a finish to the tops for durability. As a finishing touch, I laser engraved “Made at Groover Labs” on the underside of each desk. 

Paul: If you think about it, all the wood started inside a tree. The process is to keep cutting until you get somewhat straight and flat boards. Those boards are glued together to get the final size, and then more cutting and sanding is done to get the final product. I like to think about it as you are "discovering" the final product from inside the wood, and no one has ever seen it until you cut into it.

Like most things related to the Maker Lab, imagining the outcome is easier than doing the work that brings the outcome to fruition. We probably take for granted having a level surface on our desks or the smooth operation of the sit-stand desks themselves. What hiccups or problems did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?

Jeremiah: The thing for me would be the amount of time it takes to do something like this. Making something from scratch is time consuming. Most people don't think about the time that goes into it, as most of us buy pre-made manufactured items. 

Paul: Working with wood is always interesting because every piece is different. Working out the warping takes the most time and effort. In our case, we ended up trying something I had never done before, which was using the router table to flatten the tops after they were glued together. This worked really well and was fun to try something new and let the machine do the most work.

Now that the desks are completed and installed, what’s next?

Jeremiah: There is a list of projects that are ongoing.  The current project is the development of the courtyard structure. I am prototyping some pieces currently and will document the process going forward. 

Paul: The portal? (A note to the reader: the member portal is software Paul wrote that governs how Groover Labs keeps track of member information and provides access to the door system. Each member has their own account that they use to access different parts of the building depending on their membership level.

Thanks to Jeremiah and Paul for all the hard work. The new desks look great. If you’re interested in a sit-stand dedicated desk, they’re $225 per month and come with 24/7 access pending a light background check. Desk members can leave items like multiple monitors, books, pictures, etc., at their desks overnight. They have gigabit fiber ethernet connections and lockable file cabinets, along with other great features like free conference room access, private call booth access, and easy-access curb-side parking. For more information, email contact@grooverlabs.org.