Eyefinity steel and glass desk design help please

I'd like to get a new computer desk for my near future upgrade to a 3 lcd eyefinity setup. My current desk is too small, and the desks that I can buy locally aren't to my liking or size requirements.

All of the height adjustments in my design are to my liking.

I was looking at making a wooden desk but have changed my mind recently to steel or aluminum and glass. The desk should be wide enough to fit 3 24 inch monitors side by side, and be sturdy and strong, and relatively simple.

I live in Thailand so the cost of labor to make a desk like this is relatively cheap. (I'd love to make it on my own but don't have any tools to do so.)

If anybody has any suggestions on my design I would appreciate the feedback. All of the frame is 2" square steel, but I'm not sure of the gauge. The glass top and keyboard tray would be 1cm thick tempered glass. The price of the steel is under $20 and the glass would be around $80 for a total for raw materials alone of around $100. I've looked at stainless steel but it is about 10x the cost. I haven't been able to find any aluminum yet, so am not sure of the cost of that.

I am not an engineer and don't have much experience in making things out of steel. I am just curious about the strength of the table legs etc and whether I should put more bracing in. Possibly a brace between the back legs or another leg or 2 in the back, or possibly even an angled brace from the legs to the keyboard tray?
Does anybody have any other elegant designs for the keyboard tray?

Also, if I do go with plain old steel, does anybody have any recommendations on paint?










Here is the link to the google sketchup model

It looks like the rear horizontal steel bar is holding everything together. There should probably be another one to create a boxed frame. You could probably get away with a shorter steel bar just in the mid section where the keyboard tray starts. Otherwise the glass keyboard tray would become a weak part of the frame.

Thank you for the quick response!

Is this what you mean?

I'm not sure what you mean about the shorter bar in the mid section though. Where should I put it? or is the above sufficient enough.
The cost of the steel is relatively cheap, so putting in an extra piece or two isn't a big deal. I just want to make sure that it will be strong enough, but yet simple.

If you look at the desk from the top (bird's eye view), I think you only have 1 support bar to support the glass and the load on the desk. I hope this image helps explain what I mean.

@JohnleMVP Now, I understand. Yes, that support there in the middle over the keyboard does seem like a good idea. Option number 1 seems more aesthetically pleasing to me. I also added a brace towards the floor between the back 2 legs. I'd rather not put that in. Does anybody think it is needed?

I'm also curious about using little rubber pads between the glass and steel. It would seem to make sense since, I'm assuming that it would be difficult to get the welds all perfectly flush, and to prevent the glass from scratching. In the picture below, does the location of the pads seem to make sense, are there too many or not enough?



Oh and thank you for taking the time to illustrate what you meant!!

I would use longer strips of rubber pads just to deal with the additional weight that 3 monitors will have on a desk. The longer strips should be at least twice, preferable thrice, the size of the rubber pads in that picture above.

@Danny Bui, thanks. As far as the pads go, I just have to see what I can find locally. Finding things to buy online locally is next to impossible. Hardware stores such as Home Depot are non existent as well. I have to resort to searching through all of the little mom and pops stores. Some of them can be treasure troves, just not the convenient 1 stop shops.

lhhbjw said:

@Danny Bui, thanks. As far as the pads go, I just have to see what I can find locally. Finding things to buy online locally is next to impossible. Hardware stores such as Home Depot are non existent as well. I have to resort to searching through all of the little mom and pops stores. Some of them can be treasure troves, just not the convenient 1 stop shops.

Click to expand...

Good luck with that man.

Oh, you probably won't need that back brace between the two rear legs. However I would recommend an angled brace connecting the rear leg to the back support bar for each leg.

wow.. No input on the build as that already so much nicer then my big ass homemade desk. Looks very nice though.

If you have the cash and just want to do something neat, add a mounting point for a triple monitor arm on to the back support bar (middle of the top rear steel bar) to hold all 3 monitors, removing the need for the original stands.

Otherwise looks pretty good to me.

@silent-circuit The monitor mount sounds like a good idea. I will have to look at some good adjustable mount designs.
I have passed my plans around town to a few different metal shops to get some estimates, I may have to add the mount before I have anybody make it. I'll keep ya posted
Thanks for the suggestion