It only took a month to finish it, but the monitor stand is done. It’s five feet long by one foot wide, with a couple of one by fours supporting it in the middle, and two screwed-together one by fours on each end. It’s sturdy as heck.
Painting it is what held everything up.
It’s been so ridiculously cold here that it’s been too cold to paint. I’ve been using spray paints, too, and they’re even fussier about having temperatures well above freezing.
I started with a simple grey primer, then added two coats of black satin, but it just didn’t do anything for me. It looked very “meh.”
Then I remembered an old woodfinishing project from years gone by. I finished a small 3-legged table with a nice black top, and faux stone legs. The faux stone effect came right out of a spray can.
So I went looking for more of that stuff. It’s been at least ten years, but I figured I could find it somewhere. I did. It was at the last place I checked. It’s a muted Black/White/Grey faux granite look that’s kind of muted. It also needs to have a clearcoat sprayed over it, so it will hold up better with time.
It took me two days to apply the paint, and one more to apply the clearcoat. Now it’s sitting in the garage, off-gassing. I’ll leave it alone for a few days, because I don’t want the house to stink, and I like my brain too much to melt it with the various chemicals in the finishes.
But it looks smashing! The faux-stone spray hides anything I may have screwed up well.
And it’s not made out of cheap MDF that will sag in a year. It’s made out of good old southern pine.
Would it have been cheaper to just buy the stand on Amazon? Well, yeah. It would have been faster, too. But my stand looks really cool, is a custom fit to my desk, and won’t sag. The finish has a rough bumpy stone feel, even. No regrets!
Piano class has also started up again. I’m still terrible at piano. When I get the stand in place, I should be able to practice more.
Also, Push is still fun, although I’ve been using it so much, my fingers are starting to hurt from thwacking the pads so much.