Open for suggestions comments

[Ronn W]

I would like to get some comments/ suggestions on a desk that I am designing for myself.  It is taller than most desks since I have worked at a drafting table for many years and prefer the height and sloped surface. Top shelf is for 2 computer monitors.  Shelve space behind the drawers a basically because no one needs a 24" deep drawers. I may do drawer fronts with book matched veneer -  that looks continuous from drawer to drawer.  Any comments welcome.  I won't be offended.

[Chestnut]

I"m assuming the sides are intended to be open so the drawers end up being the star of the show?

I really really like it. It's different and out there.

The shelf space behind the drawers is a good idea as really deep drawers are excessive. Do you have a spot planed out for the computer tower? I"m not sure if you are a laptop person or desktop person. It's not really a problem if you don't want to account for it because there are computers out there that are small, and i mean really small like 11" x 11" x 2". Have you thought about cable management at all and having openings to get power cords ect from one level to another?

Personally i don't like the idea of seeing the drawer runners on the front face. It'd be far more complicated but I'd attempt a stopped dado for the drawers and have the front of the drawer and front face of the desk be smooth and uninterrupted.

I also think I'd want a hair more than 22" for the opening. I think 24" would be the smallest I'd go. Unless you think you are comfortable with that dimension and you have space constraints.

[Mick S]

Reminds me of a piece from fellow instructor at school, Christoph Neander.

[Chet]

21 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

Personally i don't like the idea of seeing the drawer runners on the front face.

I actually like the drawer runners exposed.  I think it could look real nice sanded the way Darrell Peart rounds some of his parts.

 

24 minutes ago, Chestnut said:

I also think I'd want a hair more than 22" for the opening.

This I agree with, even though drafting stools are narrower then a desk chair the thing that has me thinking it needs to be a little wider is that you have a design element to your drawer runners that look like the bow in, which I like but this could end end up being an ankle biter.

[wtnhighlander]

Very interesting design. What about wrapping the drawer runners across the drawer face to form full width pulls? 

[Mark J]

Ronn, the problem with the design is that it's "unique".  So clearly you should make two of them and send one to my house .  

I like it.  It's different in a very interesting Bauhaus sort of way.  I like wtnhighlander's suggestion of continuing the runners across the front to be pulls.  I'm looking at the behind the drawer shelves and wondering what I would put there?  Being open on the knee hole side things might tend to fall?  Would using the "shelf space" for side opening drawers add to the functionality?  

[Ronn W]

Thanks for all of your input.  I like the idea of contitnuing the runners acroos the drawer fronts.  I have yet to layout the peices of veneer (I think it is an elm burl but don't know for sure) for the drawer fronts so I have not decided  about that yet.  But I will keep that suggestion in mind if I don't use it on this project.

I have widened thee chair opening to 24" and narrowed the drawers slightly.  It forced the length of the overal length of the dest to 49 1/2". I can live with that.  I have discovered that I only have 29" to ever get the desk out of the basement so I have had to revise some dimenson and make the top and upper shelf removable.  Thank God for table 8's I have removed the lower right drawer to leave an open space for computer CPU.  Still have plenty of drawer space.  The drawers on the left and right are no longer symmetrical.  Just call it a design quirk.

Have yet to decide on wood species.....1) Maple frame with walnut drawers and top with burl drawer fronts.  2) Walnut frame with maple drawers and top and burl drawer front. (Have to be able to get 8/4 walnut for legs). Maple frame with sapele drawers and top and burl drawer fronts.  Using walnut for the drawers will be the most expensive since they are exposed.  That's a lot of walnut.  I have discounted cherry since I am sure that the the various parts will darken at different rates and only lsowly becuase it will be in my basement office space.

I have never actually used a story stick but for 8 legs with many dados and mortises and dovetails this may be a good time to make one.

Thanks again, all.

 

[G Ragatz]

I’m late to the party here, but thought I’d offer a few comments and a couple of questions.

• I think it’s a neat design.  It seems like the desk could be used comfortably either standing or sitting in a draftsman’s chair.  The open sides look is cool.
• I like the idea of continuing the drawer runners across the drawer faces, but I wonder how that will look on the top drawer, where the runner seems to be closer to the top of the drawer than it is on the others.
• While I like the idea of the exposed sides, I’m wondering about that top drawer.  As drawn, there’s a significant gap between the bottom of the top drawer and the top of the next drawer (vs. the pic that Mick posted, where spaces between drawers are all the same, and pretty small).  Is it possible to make the top drawer deeper and align the rail at the bottom of the kneehole with the runners for the second drawer?
• It looks like you’re not putting a drawer in the center.  Since it sounds like you’re using a desktop computer, is there a way to configure that space for keyboard storage so that if you’re not using the computer, you can get the keyboard out of the way?
• It looks like the runner for the bottom drawer is at the bottom of the drawer.  If you’re going to continue the runners across the drawer faces and use them as drawer pulls, I’d move the runner up closer to the top of the drawer, like the others, even if it means sacrificing the taller shelf behind the bottom two drawers.
   

[Ronn W]

6 hours ago, G Ragatz said:

While I like the idea of the exposed sides, I’m wondering about that top drawer.  As drawn, there’s a significant gap between the bottom of the top drawer and the top of the next drawer (vs. the pic that Mick posted, where spaces between drawers are all the same, and pretty small).  Is it possible to make the top drawer deeper and align the rail at the bottom of the kneehole with the runners for the second drawer?

I see what you are saying and that gap under the top drawer has bothered me, too.  I have revised the depth of the top drawers on each side to be about 2 " deeper than the 3" center drawer that drops the rails under the side top drawers down a little but that just moves the gap.  I have moved all of the drawer runners to be at center depth of each drawer.  That includes the bottom drawer.  I have thought about removing the rail(s) under the top drawers to eliminate this gap but i think I need overall stability that those rails add to the structure.  Right now I have removed the back panels so that the front and back of desk is all open.  I then added back an upper and lower apron on the back so the back will remain square and stable.  The upper apron hides cavity created by the sloped top and the bottom apron keeps my 3 ring binders on the bottm shelf in place.  But the front has only the rails immediatley under the desk top.  Gotta think more about that. 

6 hours ago, G Ragatz said:

It looks like the runner for the bottom drawer is at the bottom of the drawer.  If you’re going to continue the runners across the drawer faces and use them as drawer pulls, I’d move the runner up closer to the top of the drawer, like the others, even if it means sacrificing the taller shelf behind the bottom two drawers.
 

I have moved all of the drawer runners to be at center depth of each drawer.  That includes the bottom drawer.  The runner for the bottom drawer will only travel half way back along the side of the desk terminating at the post on the center of the side.  I really want the shelf behind this drawer for 3 ring binders of wood working reference materials.

6 hours ago, G Ragatz said:

It looks like you’re not putting a drawer in the center.  Since it sounds like you’re using a desktop computer, is there a way to configure that space for keyboard storage so that if you’re not using the computer, you can get the keyboard out of the way?

There is a front center drawer, gotta have that.  I have designed the 2" high space under the raised shelf to be home for the keyboard.

Thanks for the input.