desk design

[JD Dolan]

I'm working on a design of a desk similar to one David Marks did on his show.
http://www.djmarks.com/photo.asp?ima...itingtable.jpg
He called his a "modern" writing desk, but it had no keyboard/laptop tray, no consideration for cables, etc. I'm a writer. I need a real writing desk. I'm thinking about using the drawer as a keyboard tray (though wider than Marks'), with a front that would fold down flush when opened. Any suggestions on this, on the hardware for the slides, and on the hinges/stops I'd need for the fold-down part?

Also, any thoughts about how to handle cables, a surge protector/waber strip, etc.?

Thanks in advance.
J.D. Dolan

[Jamie Buxton]

If you're building a fully custom desk, a keyboard tray is a bad idea IMHO. Instead, build the desk height whatever you like, so that when you put your keyboard on top of the desk it is the correct height for you. A keyboard tray pushes you back away from the rest of the desk, so it is farther to anything you put on top of the desk -- a mouse, books, papers, a coffee cup, whatever. Keyboard trays also tend to bounce around while you type, which is disconcerting. And keyboard trays entail extra hardware. Just put the darn keyboard on the desk and all these issues go away.

[JD Dolan]

If you're building a fully custom desk, a keyboard tray is a bad idea IMHO. Instead, build the desk height whatever you like, so that when you put your keyboard on top of the desk it is the correct height for you. A keyboard tray pushes you back away from the rest of the desk, so it is farther to anything you put on top of the desk -- a mouse, books, papers, a coffee cup, whatever. Keyboard trays also tend to bounce around while you type, which is disconcerting. And keyboard trays entail extra hardware. Just put the darn keyboard on the desk and all these issues go away.

Yeah, I've thought about just doing an L-shaped design, with a keyboard-height desk (a return), and then a standard-height desk for other stuff. But a keyboard-height desk presents certain design challenges (for example, an apron). I've used a solid-core door for years, but I'm hoping to come up with something a bit more refined.

[Jamie Buxton]

A modern laptop keyboard is less than 3/4" thick. Some are more like 3/8" thick. Just put it on top of the desk. If you move it out of the way to work on something else, that little difference in altitude won't be very noticeable. Try it out by writing on top of a couple magazines and then without. You can tell it is different, but it is difficult to decide which is better.