
A minimalistic desk to handle cables and electronic clutter elegantly - elzr
http://elzr.com/blag/a-new-desk
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jrwoodruff
Wow, this thing is beautiful. I love the cost to have it built: $190USD. I'm
fairly certain it would cost me 3 times that to build it myself here in
Michigan.

Is it solid wood or veneer? Also, anything you would do differently?

~~~
elzr
It's veneer, I guess. I'm not very familiar with carpentry vocabulary but here
in Mexico they call the technique "tambor" (drum): sheets of cedar enclosing a
simple skeleton of cheap wood. Solid wood would have been more expensive and
too heavy (this one's heavy enough!).

Nothing yet that I would have done differently about this desk: it's barely my
second day with it and I'm just happily overwhelmed by the response its
getting from the interwebs.

That said, if I had to design a desk all over again, I would probably do a
standing desk. That NYT article on sitting as a lethal activity was definitely
the last straw for committing to a future with less sitting.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.h...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.html)

The problem is that I haven't yet the slightest clue into how to make an
elegant standing desk, all the designs I've seen are pretty terrible.

Thanks for your kind remark :)

~~~
bosie
i thought about getting a standing desk as well. what do you don't like on
standing desks like the steelcase activa lift [1]? (other than the quite
outrageous price ;)) what would you change?

[1]: [http://www.steelcase.eu/en/products/category/desks-
tables/sy...](http://www.steelcase.eu/en/products/category/desks-
tables/systems/activa/pages/overview.aspx)

~~~
elzr
For one thing, of course I would add a slot and back drawer, like my current
desk ;) And I'm much more fond of wood than steel.

I'm guessing the sloping common in old standing desks [1] is a good idea.
Legroom requirements are very different too and that would be interesting, I
would probably continue the back drawer all the way to the front... keeping it
open of course (I don't like lids or movable parts).

[1]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:031030-F-2828D-166_screen....](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:031030-F-2828D-166_screen.jpg)

I also think some sort of (metal?) foot bar would be a good idea. Perhaps even
have two foot bars? One for resting a leg when you're standing, one higher and
further back for when you're sitting on a high stool, as if to simulate a
higher floor?

The main perplexity I've been wrestling with is how to have it be both
standing and sitting without moving parts. Total pipe dream... or maybe that
second rest bar is part of the answer?

It also seems like displays need to be somewhat higher than on a sitting desk.
But it's hard to have several levels and still keep it elegant...

Anyway, I'm getting excited already! Perhaps I'll sell this desk and make
another one before the end of the year. :)

~~~
jrwoodruff
Do you ship to the US? :)

------
johnohara
Rain gutters also work great.

[http://lifehacker.com/#!5299994/rain-gutters-as-cable-
manage...](http://lifehacker.com/#!5299994/rain-gutters-as-cable-management-
tools)

~~~
alex_c
Oh... another pointlessly broken Lifehacker link. Thanks Gawker.

~~~
deadbadger
I see from your profile you're based in Canada - here in the UK, I've found
it's the regional redirects that are breaking things (because the regional
sites aren't on the new setup yet). Assuming the same thing is affecting
Canadian users, if you delete either the "ca." from the hostname or the #!
from the path string, the link should work.

~~~
JonnieCache
It seemingly applies everywhere except the US. Even though I now know the
workaround, I still refuse to read their articles out of spite at their
incompetence. It's all I can do to stop myself spitting at the screen.

~~~
ElbertF
The link works for me in Australia but the sidebar is positioned over the
content.

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chromejs10
That is a beautiful desk. I also found the link to the underdesk with the peg
board to be ingenius. I currently use a glass top corner desk. The glass is
pretty awesome because I can use it as a whiteboard :D. However, a smaller
corner desk is kind of awful for the 3 monitors I work with.

One problem I see is if you had the desk up against the wall, it would be a
huge pain to access everything to say remove drives or add new stuff. Though
judging from the picture he doesn't keep it by the wall.

Fantastic design though! Too bad I'm sure it would cost a fortune more to have
it done here in Cali :(

~~~
elzr
You should still try asking around, it's a very simple design requiring very
straightforward workmanship and few, simple materials.

Thanks for your kind remarks! :)

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ilikepi
I really like the look of the slot. My only concern would be small stuff (e.g.
writing utensils) falling into it, but I suppose as long as it wasn't backed
up against the wall it wouldn't be an issue.

~~~
hernan7
You could install a brush seal. Some cable management solutions use them.

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sigzero
The binder clip cable catcher ... so simple ... so perfect!

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trickjarrett
This looks fantastic! I may incorporate some ideas in my standing desk when I
get it built later this year.

~~~
elzr
Please share pics when you do build it! I'm VERY interested in how you evolve
the design for standing desks. :)

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sliverstorm
Have you considered adding something like recessed USB ports on the desk front
for flash drives and other transient USB accessories? I always thought that
would be pretty slick, but I haven't had a chance, and this desk, being custom
designed seems like a great place to try it

~~~
elzr
Could you please send me a pic or further description of what you mean? It
sounds interesting and I'm trying to wrap my head around it but I guess I've
simply never seen it.

~~~
sliverstorm
I can't find a good picture, so here's the best I've located:

[http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseI...](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseIII/7feb08/usb2.jpg)

Like that, except finished and/or polished.

~~~
elzr
Ah, I see. Thanks for the tip and the pic.

It sounds interesting though somewhat against the simplicity of the current
desk. As I detail in another comment, it's not solid wood so it would be
pretty easy to create the recessed outlet and a path through the tabletop...

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mr_november
Any chance you are planning on selling this commercially? I would definitely
purchase. Awesome work.

~~~
elzr
Thanks for your interest. I would love to sell this commercially as a side
project but the market is entirely on the US while I'm in Mexico. Cross-
country shipping and customs is too much of a pain.

The story of my life: I should be in the States. Only now it comes with an
interesting twist: If I lived in the States I would very likely sell plenty of
these desks, yet if I didn't live in Mexico I would very likely never have
built this ultra cheap proof of concept in the first place. :)

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tcskeptic
This is neat, is sort of reminds me of a desk I have hade my eye on:

<http://www.bluelounge.com/products/studiodesk/>

I'd really like to see one that is counter height so that I could sit or stand
as desired.

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mikerg87
Well done. My thought thought is to fashion a vanity panel for the back to
obscure the cable or device clutter if you are going to keep the desk out on
the open. Something like two panels to cover the back affixed by magnets.
Maybe one in each corner.

Another possibility would be to make the shelf back on a hinge affixed to the
underside of the desktop so that you could access the gear on the shelf from
the front. if the desk was ever positioned against a wall it would be painful
to access that back area to install new gear or retrieve the odd pen that fell
into the table top slot.

A very cool design to be sure

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hartror
All I can think of when I look at that desk is constantly losing things into
the gap, pens being the main loss.

~~~
dpcan
Maybe. Adding a simple shallow groove in front of the gap may be all that's
needed to catch the roll-away items.

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dfischer
I've done something similar with a standing desk. I'll clean it up and post
pictures soon.

~~~
dvdhsu
I'm very curious, do you have an update?

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jaxn
Unfortunately this wouldn't work for an office where other people may be
sitting on the other side of the desk for meetings.

~~~
brianpan
As an engineer, I had to think really hard to imagine this world you describe
where people have meetings around the other side of the desk. Luckily, I've
seen offices in movies.

The back could be closed up assuming you're running everything out the large
side holes.

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bdobynx
you can get just the adjustable lift/legs parts from Geekdesk GDB1 the base-
only is expensive, but not so expensive. My company is about to build about a
dozen desks based on the Geekdesk legs and custom tops. but now that we see
your desk, we may build a cable slot/box on the back that matches your design.
Awesome.

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carbonx
I love it. A simple, elegant solution to a seemingly complex and frustrating
issue.

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stevedekorte
Instead of changing your desk, get rid of your electronics. A phone and a
laptop are all you (probably) need.

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lobster_johnson
That's clever, but I wish you had chosen a nicer-looking veneer. For all that
work, the result hilariously cheap- and cheesy-looking. Jennifer Newman's slot
desk, by contrast, is gorgeous; love the firetruck red (although the grey is
also lovely).

~~~
electromagnetic
I hate Jennifer Newman's slot desk. It looks like she stole pieces off of $50
ikea desks.

I work with aluminium, you can do a lot of elegance with it and hers is just
awful construction with no effort put in.

~~~
lobster_johnson
I was referring to the choice of surface, not the desk design itself.

