about tweenage engineering
When Teenage Engineering released the Field Desk, the response in my internet circles was generally focused on the price. For example, here's a line from the top comment about it on Hacker News:
I mean $1600 USD for a few bits of aluminum and a piece of plywood?! This thing would be overpriced relative to manufacturing costs if it cost $160, yet Teenage Engineering have slapped an entire extra digit onto the end of the price.
On pricing, I generally agree with that sentiment, but my opinions diverged from most commenters when it came to aesthetics - I really like the look of it.
Having recently binged Steven Bennett's excellent series of build logs documenting his attempt to recreate Dyson's $600 task light, I felt inspired to try my own product recreation. That's what Meadow Desk is: a free to use starting point for creating your own affordable, simple to build, and completely custom desk.
project goals
My initial goal was just to build myself a cool desk, but now I'd like to make it easier for others to do the same thing. I'd like this site to include all of the tools, information, and links necessary for someone to plan their own Meadow Desk build.
Convincing people not to buy the Field Desk is not a goal. To be honest, I don't expect there to be much overlap between people who are seriously considering buying the Field Desk and people who would seriously consider building their own desk.
current status
completed
- Learn enough Fusion 360 to design an initial version of the desk
- Try out different fasteners and brackets from McMaster-Carr to find ones with an appropriate price-to-performance ratio
- Build an initial version of the desk (pictures here)
- Publish an initial version of this website
- Publish a blog post describing the first build
in progress
- Iterate on the desk design and parts choices to balance aesthetics, affordability, and structural stability
- Make the configuration tool more flexible
- Make the auto-generated parts list more complete and useful
future work
- Laminate a plywood desktop with Formica at home
- Create a step-by-step assembly guide for the desk
project credits
inspiration
- field desk by teenage engineering
- Steven Bennett's DIYson project
- Various comments in this HN thread
general help
- Structural advice from Kyle Rodgers
- Design advice from Gabrielle Pearce
fonts & models
- Berkeley Mono by Berkeley Graphics
- Inter by Rasmus Andersson
- 3D models from McMaster-Carr and 80/20
If you have any feedback or questions about this project or would like to get involved, please let me know!