Home-made Comp Desk

[Wasabisam]

Hey guys well iv been thinking of a new desk idea and i designed it and all but im strapped for cash ( im only 15 and dont have a job yet ) But i thought i would post my idea for my desk and explain it. This was my first time using SketchUp yeah its not that good

Firstly the front view. As you can see theres a green square ( right hand side ) that will be my inbuilt mouse pad. It will be grooved out abit so it fits on and is the same height as the top.
The next thing is the Silver circle bit that is abit higher than the desk. This my friends is a Glass holder, My current desk has cordial stains all over it and water stains because i always get a drink. So i figured make one that is abit higher so its easily washable and so no more cordial stains on my desk .

Next is the yellow and purple thing. Well Im at my desk most of the time and whenever im playing a game i need to write someones address down or if im doing my homework i write it down or just something when writing or measuring stuff. So this will be like Colored Plastic working as a "whiteboard" but see through because the purple will be Purple Lighting. So if its dark i can still write.

Now the hole all around the board. This wont be actually fulling cut out it will only be a little bit deep but i dont know how to do that on SketchUp. This will be EL wiring, El wiring all around the top. It will only be deep enough so u cant feel the wiring once its put in. This is also done around the keyboard. I havnt decided for a color but since the backing is green on the screens it will either Orange or green or if u know a better color tell me

Next up is the four holes just above the "whiteboard" These will be the switches to power all the lighting. 4 switches as its one switch per thing ( 1 for both screens, one for top el wiring, bottom el wiring and one for the whiteboard. I am still deciding whether to use normal push ones with lights on them, normal push ones and put the desk wood on them so they are hard to see or tactical switches so if something is ontop of them it doesnt turn it on unlike normal push ones.

Next up is the black box thing in the middle. Well since i have 5.1 surround sound that is simply my center Speaker nothing special about that.

Then theres the lights on the back of the screens. I saw this on someones else's mod and it looked awesome. A Cold Cathode on the back of each screen to reflect off the wall and shine

The middle where the keyboard is will have EL wiring around it like the top where its cut out. The silver is the slider things so the desk comes in and out. And there should be enough room just to put anything else there like a gaming pad or something. You will also notice a little box on the left hand side near the keyboard holder. Yes thats right its a Power supply. For all the lighting i was going to link it to my computer. But that means more cables from my computer so i thought what they hell and gave the desk its own power supply. I will remove the metal off it and put wood instead so it doesn't stand out too much

Finally the bottom. Nothing that special about it. Its where the case goes and because i got 5.1 its also where my sub woofer would go and the rest of the room for my legs

I have also been tossing around the idea of acouple of computer fans build in around the desk/mouse/keyboard area just for extra cooling like my hand when im typing Putting upside down fans so it blows on my keys from the top of the desk but i don't know about it i need your input

Well thats my desk which i would make but i have no money i will be getting a job in the next 2 months so i will want to have this desk nearly finished by the end of the year.

So thanks for reading and if you could tell me what you think of the idea, how i could make it better, or how bad i am with Sketchup

Cheers

Sam

[Ticien]

Impressive...that is going to be a really elaborate desk. I will tell you a couple things I thought of while reading this:

1. Glass holder=good idea. But instead of making it raised, why not make it lowered, and make a coaster you could set inside of it? that way if it gets stained or dirty you can either a: take it out and clean it, or b: throw it away and get another coaster...

2. This is just an idea, but with a desk that creative, why is it just a rectangle? It seems pretty modern with the EL wires and everything else you have planned for it, you ought to shape the desk to suit the rest of the design? make it curved in the front or something so the desk goes around the front of you while you're sitting in it...

Other than that, love the idea + rep for creativity (and your sketchup skills arent half bad)

[Wasabisam]

Thanks Ticien yeh lowered sounds better so if its slippery it doesnt fall thanks and as for the shape i cant take it to much outta whack my room is rather small ( need a new house ) but i was going to round the corners and the edges wont be shape they will be rounded but like i said i dont know how to do that yet on Sketchup

[CanaBalistic]

One thing i noticed is the lower shelf on the desk. With that design, you might get the effect of sitting infront of a wall or a computer hutch. It might be a bit of a reach to the keyboard with no leg room to get you closer.

Another potential problem is your writing board. With lights underneath, you'll be able to see the writing on the other side of the paper. Which could make it hard to focus on the correct side of the paper.

I dont see any measurements... Solid wood or ply wood might be to heavy for a large desk.

Good concept & design skills.

[Wasabisam]

Thanks CanaBalistic
1. For the keyboard holder it will be on sliders so the wood comes out and goes back in.

2. It wont be paper that i will use to write on it will be plastic so there wont be writing on the other side and then writing can be simply rubbed off.

As for the measurements I havnt done any yet :p but it wont be too big. It also may be on wheels depending on the weight and stuff ( just little plastic chair wheels ). The weight i dont think will be a worry as its only going to be roughtly 1meter long.

I will be doing measurements latter tonight

Cheers

Sam