iMac Desk

This is a teak desk, with a 1" thick arcyclic top/inlay. The desk is 31" tall, 48" wide, and 24" deep. The dimensions were chosen to maximize leg room and working space.''

If you hate wires, this arrangement is for you...

I bought my iMac in early may, and refused to open the box until I had the proper desk to place it on. I had a few specifications in mind: I wanted luxurious leg room, and a simple and architectural design that both incorporated the sleekness of the computer as well as the darkness of the woods in my room. 

I didn't really have a specific budget in mind, but i figured a large desk with a veneer and a cool top would cost me around $300-$400.

Asides from being ripped off in Chinatown, the costs of this desk were kept pretty low... kind of.

**Home depot's 4" blocks are actually 3.5".

update: I recently added a remote controlled mount to my desk that allows me to use my iPad as a distant monitor and as a mouspad.

This is a motor driven iPad mount created using a Firgelli track actuator. The iPad can be used as a monitor or as a visual mousepad for your desktop computer.

Actuator: http://www.firgelliauto.com/default.php?cPath=104

Step 1: Materials and Equipment

*Everything mentioned can be purchased at home depot except for the veneer and acrylic.

Materials:
4X 4"x4"X6' pine beams/< $30
1X 2'x4'x1" acrylic sheet w/ 4" squares cut out of corners/~$300, I purchased this from canal plastics in chinatown, they did a nice job cutting and polishing the acrylic, but it should have been about 50 dollars cheaper.
1X 4'x8' teak veneer, with 20 mil backing/$120
1X Wood filler/$9
1X Clear Polyurethane Semi-Gloss /$12
1X Minwax finishing paste/$9
1X Dry wall screws/$10

Equipment:
1 Miter saw
1 Drill
220, 300 grit sandpaper
#0000 steel wool
Old Rag
Miscellaneous bits

Total cost of materials: $490

** If you can avoid buying wood from home depot, you should, their wood is wet and painfully crooked. I made the mistake of buying their beams, and spent an extra 6 hours sanding to get everything level.

Comments

[tigerbomb8]

i am making one
http://s883.photobucket.com/albums/ac40/tigerbomb8/?action=view&current=Untitle89d.jpg
http://s883.photobucket.com/albums/ac40/tigerbomb8/?action=view&current=Untitled.jpg

[Romado12187]

Very nice, I want to make a bigger one too... use one piece of glass or acrylic though!

what kind of wood are you going to use

[tigerbomb8]

pine and i might stain it to look like red wood

[eb3604]

your math doesn't add up. I'm confused

[Romado12187]

what math are u referring to?

[eb3604]

First off, when you buy lumber it is not actually the size it is called due to it being dried in a kiln, etc. So a 4x4 is really 3.5"x3.5". Yes one could buy a 6x6 (5.5"x5.5") and get it cut down to exactly 4"x4", but A. Home Depot doesn't do that, and it would cost more than $30.

Secondly, your math is wrong for the two shorter cross beams. Your instructions say that you need "18" 7/8 cross beams," and the depth of the desk is 24". Using your measurements, 19+4+4 = 27". Even using the true dimensions of a 4x4, it would give a depth of 26".

[Romado12187]

All of the wood used for this project ie. the wood beams, was less than $30... and it was purchased from home depot. Lets say the beams are just 3.5", they are referred to as 4" blocks in the store... so I refer to them as being 4" as to avoid someone looking for a 3.5" blocks that doesn't exist.

As for the measurements, I just remeasured it, and it's 17" and 1/8 (for both cross beams) and the legs are 3.5" plus a little extra for the veneer. So, 17+7 and change is 24" and change.

"For the crossbeams, cut 8x 18" 1/8 strips and 4x 39" 1/8 strips." that's in reference to the veneer for the cross beams, hence the 8x... but alas, it should be 17 and 7/8 and I will edit that in that section.

I'll also add a blurb that says the 4" beams are actually 3.5".

[sebgonz]

Have you run into the issue of the desk wobbling back and forth at all since you have a "floating" front lip? I've been building this design (without the acrylic top) and so far it seems a bit wobbly.

[Romado12187]

not at all, its very sturdy because of the 4" wide legs, if it's wobbly one of your angles may be off... try to use dowels too

[sebgonz]

It's got dowels in it. It's actually a lot sturdier once the glue dried. Thank goodness. :)

[forte1994]

Very nice work all you need to add is a couple leds and you will have a light up desk.

nice work

[nallen]

The table is a beauty. I suppose it's an iMac on (a) Window?!

[Warlrosity]

Win!

[sebgonz]

Geez! So many haters on a DESK instructable. Calm down folks. To the OP, this is a great design and right up my alley. I've been looking to build a new desk for months. I might have to use this one.

[criggie]

So how does it go with the scratching? Have you made any marks in the top from use? How about fingerprints from day to day use?

[Romado12187]

Haven't scratched it yet. Depending on what your doing, the top can get pretty smudged up. The acrylic has a few benefits to glass: I'm pretty sure it has a higher refractory index and it's much easier to work with. Glass would be easier to clean, and it would also be much more resistant to scratching.

[EmmettO]

Actually acrylic has a lower refractory index unless it's Pyrex glass. Thats why glass tables have a green edge and acrylic doesn't. At least thats what I've been told. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_refractive_indices

[MarcusAvery]

I have been looking for something like this! Very Cool! Thanks!

[Beergnome]

its a nice desk... why not just call it a desk though?

[dgrif]

Very cool, thanks for sharing. Love how half the comments turned into a apple hater parade. used whatever you want to, who cares ;) cheers!

[stageone]

For people talking about the price of this table and for the poster as well, it is best to look up a commercial plastics company in your area when looking to buy plastic goods. You can buy 4x8 ft sheets in all thickness and colors and they can cut to any size you wish as well. Using nice pine or any less expencive wood stained to teak or whatever you like and hitting the plastics store will build this desk for about a 4th of that $490 price. It's up to you what you feel like spending on this one. You could make the legs out of solid gold and it would cost a million dollars. Also when if you use acrylic you really should put glass on top of it or the plastic goods WILL scratch. Even if you buy coated scratch resistant material it still will show wear and scratches. Hats off, nice job on the instructo and the table. I'm sure that you will enjoy it for years to come. If it hazes of gets minor scratches before you get a glass top the same place you buy the actylic they sell a scratch removing polish. Enjoy!

[xhedos]

$490 seems like a hefty price tag for your simple design and materials. Any way to cut that down?

[zack247]

i think most of the price is the acrylic and the veneer, a sheet of 1/8" thick acrylic half that size is $75 at the home depot, and im sure veneer isn't too cheap either

[stageone]

I don't know where you live but online at HomeDepot a piece 24x48 .220 Clear Acrylic Sheet Model MC-20 is $55.00 Thats 2 times as thick as that $75 peice that is half the size needed you talked about. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?keyword=acrylic+sheet&langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

[Lord_Hate]

If you can afford the overpriced computer, than you can afford the desk. :P

[cloudbook1994]

it isn't really overprice I tried seeing how much it would be to build it with similar specs and the imac came cheaper

[Romado12187]

... and it's amazing looking

[mymixed]

well, they get thousands of the parts used to make it a day so ya, its pretty cheap

[Romado12187]

Don't use teak, and don't use acrylic. You could just paint the wood frame instead of using a veneer. You could also just make a wooden top... but then desk just becomes like any other desk. Good materials usually have their costs. The inlay design had it's costs as well raising the cost of a 1"x2'x4' from $170 to $300. So if you eliminate the veneer, and simplify the top design, you could make this for about, ~$240. While the modifications decrease the price, they would also decrease the aesthetic value of the desk. The desk is as much about the materials as it is about the design.

[Tampaguy]

Anyone who has ever visited an Apple store (where they sell iMacs) will recognize that the style of this desk is the same as Apple uses - simple, functional, and beautiful. This desk is built along the same lines. I believe the choice of kind of computer used is personal. Comments should reflect that. I have both Mac and PC but spend most of my time on the Mac.

[Romado12187]

I actually did base the design off the apple store desks

[tuckerton296]

why a mac? good desighn enjoy all those games your going to be playing

[NitroIX]

You do realize Steam is on Mac now.

[Tampaguy]

This has nothing to do with this instructable. It can be used for any computer. It is simply a beautiful and functional design.

[Timmymna]

Because a pc wouldn't look as good on the desk. I am a pc windows 7 user but I would buy a mac purely for the design and amount of thought they put into all the small details. The only reason I don't is due to the cost, I can buy a perfectly capable pc for £300-400 where as a mac will run into the £1000 mark. I would install windows 7 because I prefer windows to osx and the software I use is mostly windows only.

[Ghost Wolf]

(removed by author or community request)

[prodo123]

To be frank with YOU, Windows is FAR more customizable than any Mac. If you got a virus, you probably visited a bad website, downloaded illegal software, opened a weird email, streamed music encoded with a virus, got hacked, or simply neglected to install a FREE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE! Macs are just as vulnerable to viruses as Windows, do not be mistaken. I have used both. If you don't use antivirus on either platform, you are either brain damaged or just plain stupid. Linux is an OS by itself, and with some software on Windows, you can install it there too. Speaking of windows, "Windows Desk" is a more fitting name for this desk xD

[Kasm279]

You don't realize that there is a reason it's not customizable. The GUI is designed for efficiency. However, it is not for everyone. I wish people would just use what they use and not try to force it on others all the time.

[shrdlu]

I've always wondered how Windows if more customizable that OS X. In what way? I have not used antivirus software on a Mac in over a decade, and I do not limit where I go on the Internet or what I download on usenet, etc. I guess I'm just plain stupid, but I've never had a problem. You can install Linux on a Mac. I can also run Windows applications without an emu, type Unix line commands, and with Fink I can even run Unix software. But I think the main thing, beyond functionality, is that the iMac is one beautiful piece of art and this table compliments it wonderfully. When I upgrade to the 24" iMac, I'm making this project. Nice work, Romado. The only mod I might make is a place to conceal my Bose desktop speakers.

[prodo123]

http://prodo123.deviantart.com/#/d2u35dj This is my own screenshot. It's a Windows XP SP3. That's how customizable it is.