Opinions on my desk sketch up

[JG96]

Hi everyone. I am planning on treating my room and building a proper desk once I have the funds. The desk design i was thinking of is 52"X30"X30" It also has a 6RU hutch which will support the computer monitors.
I do not know a ton about woodworking and I am unsure if the desk can be supported by 8 2X4's. If not how could I add more support? Also would it be a good idea to make the desk a bit wider and get my monitors more spread out? If I go that route I can widen the hutch and fit a pair of auratones I am building on there too.

 

[mjbphotos]

Certainly 2x4s will support it. 2x3s would support it. Even 2x2s, assuming you weren't going to sit on it or use a solid granite top.
Before finalizing your design, think of everything you want to use it for, and what needs to be on it, on one of the shelves, etc. For example, I don't see an interface in your drawing. You haven't dimensioned those legs/shelves, so how much space is there in the center area for your legs? You don't want to be banging your knees into the supports every time you move.

 

[JG96]

Thanks MJB. Thats a good point about my legs. This setup would give me 2 feet across for my legs. I am considering going slightly wider though. Right now I have the shelves designed for keeping baskets of junk and some gear but in the future I may want to convert one into a rack which would cut down my leg room significantly.

 

[JG96]

Also how thick should the wood for the desktop be? Would half an inch to 3/4ths of an inch be secure?

 

[JG96]

Heres an updated version:

The desk is now 59" and the hutch is wide enough to have space for rack gear and other do dads. I can even fit some mixcubes on top.

 

[Tadpui]

I like the hutch (I've seen them called overbridges) made for rack equipment. Remember that racks are 19" wide and each rack space is 1.75" tall. So you can gauge your overbridge height as a multiple of 1.75" to determine how many rack spaces you can accomodate. Personally I use dual monitors, so I'd like side-by-side "hutches" that can each accomodate 4 rack spaces.

For future-proofing, you might even make one or both of the side shelves 19" wide, in case you get more rack gear and run out of room on the desk top. Then you just have to slap some rack rails on it and you'd have a ton more rack spaces.

 

[mjbphotos]

3/4" thick wood for the top, 1/2" is too bendy. Tadpui's "2 hutch" idea is merited if you are not using separate speaker stands as you have shown in your sketch. Size-wise, make it as big as you have room for. A regular office desk is 60" wide, so sit at one at Staples or some place and see if if 'feels' wide enough for your use. Because I'm also using my desk top for a printer and a work surface, I made mine the full sheet of plywood wide - 96".

 

[JG96]

Good idea tadpoi!
MJB I've seen your desk and its very cool, unfortunately wouldn't fit in my room. I actually have the same printer as you and I used to have the US-800. I would feel right at home on your desk.

Its gonna be a struggle because I have a room with things I can't block in every corner. Theres a closet, a door, an AC, and a radiator preventing me from going all the way to the corner anywhere.
I have modded the desk to be 60" Maybe I will widen one of the shelves on the bottom Its just an issue of not blocking my closet. My current desk is 60" and I could definitely go a bit wider but I dont want my monitor to be too close to the corner of the room.

 

[mjbphotos]

You definitely want to try to keep your monitors centered in the room/on the wall - the less-centered they are, the more trapping you need to try and even things out.