Desk cutoutAfter completely milling out the large notch from part 1 I realized that there was a better way.  Originally I had planned to cut out the whole section and weld in a small piece a the top of the cutout but something hit me and I wondered why I didn’t just mill out a cutout instead of the entire notch.  I could continue on and at some point regret not having succumbed to that realization, or I could cut my losses (a few hours and 8 feet of angle) and start again.  The latter turned out to be an excellent choice!

The notch is 30 inches long but the travel on the mill was less than that so I had to unclamp the steel and move it to make the whole cutout.  Not a great method to get really clean work.  This time I used the other mill which has a long enough travel to do it all in one shot.  I did it in sections with tabs still attached to keep the steel from becoming too flexible and vibrating too much.  Then I milled out the tabs to have one large cutout, making a finishing path around the whole thing to get a nice clean inside edge.

Now I’ve got that piece as it should be – better than the initial plan.  Need to go buy another section of angle since the original one I milled is scrap.  Then they can all be welded together and this thing can take shape.

Not looking very desk-like, is it?  It will all become clear soon…

Here’s the gallery of part 2 with some explanatory captions: