Starting Major Project - Input / Opinions / Pointers are helpful

[bluesinged]

My rickety old desk has finally gotten to the point where I have deemed it unfit to perform its duties any longer. (my chair too but that's for next month)

I've gone to the trouble of designing my own desk that I'll be building, but I'm having a bit of trouble with the following.

-- Finding the right materials (durable, cheap, scratch resistant)
-- Finding someone (or the right tools) to do the work.
-- Finding the cylindrical parts for the two main leg/cabinets.

My ideas for the top were to make it out of plexiglass (I'll frost it myself) covered in a thick clear laminate. I'd make the legs and shelf out of plywood, covered by a thin sheet of chrome or stainless steel. The bottom leg will have my computer BUILT INTO IT. The glass above the leg which houses the computer will be clear.

The following are some images/drawings from the top of the desk.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/bluesinged/th_DeskMKIII-1.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/bluesinged/?action=view&current=DeskMKIII-1.jpg)http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/bluesinged/th_DeskcaseMKII.jpg (http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/bluesinged/?action=view&current=DeskcaseMKII.jpg)


The arrows on the 2nd picture are intake and exhaust fans that will be inside of cutouts in the leg.

[Mohonri]

If you can make the top out of glass (rather than plexiglass), that will make it a lot more scratch-resistant, though at a significant cost.

For making the semicircular cabinets, it'll probably be easiest to make a frame out of cheaper wood (like pine) and then apply 1/8" plywood to the outside (possibly multiple layers of plywood to build up the thickness).

I recognize that you have a clear picture in your mind of what you want, but here are a couple things to consider:
1) cables. Computers have lots of them. With a glass top, they'll all be visible. Do you have a plan for managing them?
2) fingerprints. Plexi and other super-smooth surfaces collect them very quickly, and the transparent nature of plexi (or glass) will make that worse.
3) corners. Rounded corners look great, but drastically reduce your usable working area. You might consider using a smaller radius on those outside corners.

[bluesinged]

"1) cables. Computers have lots of them. With a glass top, they'll all be visible. Do you have a plan for managing them?"

** My plan was to have a black or silver hinged and springed tube that i'll be able to fold down and put all my cables inside to run them from the computer to the back corner of the desk. Also, I wanted the glass to be frosted, therefore making it difficult to see anything underneath the desk.

"2) fingerprints. Plexi and other super-smooth surfaces collect them very quickly, and the transparent nature of plexi (or glass) will make that worse."

** Once again, being that it is frosted and laminated, hopefully I would be able to avoid having the fingerprints pop out... realizing that this is a possibility, I had considered making the main part of the desk out of wood, and the bottom corner containing the computer out of glass.

"3) corners. Rounded corners look great, but drastically reduce your usable working area. You might consider using a smaller radius on those outside corners."

** the reason for the outside corners roundness is due to the fact that the radius will match the radius of the inside corner that is rounded. I would be able to buy ONE tabletop (4' by 6') and have enough of the material to use for top. My corners would already be cut when I finished cutting the main tabletop.