Desk Design - Schematic Pixel Art?

[Alexander Morou]

Well,

I'm going to be buying a super over priced computer in a few months, so I figured I might as well upgrade my desk, since I'll have to.

So I decided to try to make a little schematic on how it will look.

http://lhq.rpgsource.net/images/schemat ... d_2009.jpg[/img]

The middle center view shows the monitor in a straight on view, but I forgot the trim on the sides.

The upright depth and lowered depth refer to the desk area where the keyboard would go, since I'd have it upright to type, and lowered to draw.  I figured a double guide system should suffice in adjusting it so that the surface is flush with the front of the desk at all times.  One to guide it up and down along the desk front, and one to guide it back and forth towards the back under the area the monitor would set upon.  The only size difference between the upright depth and the lowered depth is 8/9 of an inch, but it had to be accounted for so there's no gap between the monitor and the work area.  The gap would be unfavorable if I ever had pencils in the area for drawing.

It took an ungodly amount of time, because I'm picky.  The measurements on the sides don't add up to the overall length because I calculated the sizes based upon the estimate: 162px = 24 inches.  Since two parts shared a pixel, there's overlap.

Anyone know some better CAD programs than Paint Brush. >_<

Also does anyone know of a good method to support the back and front of the desk in a way that would allow the guide to work and allow pressure to be applied while drawing (so the thing doesn't just break if I put some pressure on it, for whatever reason).

 

[Mascarpone]

Wow o_O

Cad stuff.

Unfortunately i have no training in industrial/product design =\

But i just had to comment. I mean, wow. it's a CAD drawing >.>

 

[Alexander Morou]

Well,

I've already posted my crap art in the past, so I figured I'd post something I'm actually working on.  I haven't done any real drawing in nearly a year \:

 

[Venetia]

you can download autocad and autocad LT (which is all you really need in this case) (a 30day trial) for free from the Autodesk website. For a small project like this, it'd be nice to use.

So you're actually going to build this? That's pretty neat. I've built a couple pieces of furniture. It's a lot of fun, woodworking.

What is the empty space on the right for, drawers (I am assuming the left is for the tower? I assume you don't have a case with a fan on the side. If you do, you'll need to either make the sides of the tower niche out of mesh, or give it a hole for airflow)?

IDK how tall you are, but the measurements for the height of the legspace seems pretty good, though I think the keyboard tray will need to come out a little further, and be positioned a little higher up in the angled position (your legs might get cramped). The design is much much simpler than I would prefer for myself, but I stray from minimalism in design, favoring more traditional or rustic looks.

 

[Venetia]

oh, and you can support the middle of the desk by either adding a backing, or else by adding a reinforced joist beam (probably a piece of strong wood, like ash, preferably with a metal pole running down the fuller, though you may not have the capability of making that since it involves a very small circular saw) running down the center, underneath the desktop, through the drawers, screwed directly into the sides and connected to the shelving supports by L brackets. you'd have to lower the resting position of the keyboard tray. you'll have to anyway, since no keyboard would be able to rest nearly flush with the space between the desktop and the keyboard tray.

Even better would be a similar support joist, running along the back and one running along the front, though that'd be difficult to manage with the pull-out tray.

 

[Alexander Morou]

The left side is for the tower, and the right side is for an XBox 360 system.

I was planning on having the airflow done through front-back since the tower has 4 120mm fans on the front and expels through the back and the top (that's what the odd square above it is  on the top of the desk is for).

As far as the keyboard/drawing surface, I'm not sure how clear it was, but I'm hoping to have it so the center area can be angled at about 18.8 degrees or straight with the monitor (though slightly recessed since the surface is intended to be adjustable, the angled dimensions are still flush with the front of the desk so to remove the gap that would occur on the back side after angling things there's a bit of extra material on the board which will recess underneath the area for the monitor when in an upright position).

I'm not sure what you meant by a support joist, the tray in the center isn't really a 'tray' so much as it is a surface, it doesn't pull out, but lowers, on the front end only, for drawing/drafting.