I found this table at another seller for less than the price listed at amazon.com (including shipping) and bought it. It comes unassembled and the instructions are not the best but if you take your time it is possible to complete.
The little side drawers are plastic and could be omitted to allow more leg clearance. The metal pencil drawer is large enough for most storage. The little plastic trays on each side of the table top are good for keeping current project tools easly available. I would have liked these trays to be wood (maybe I'll have some made).
The support frame has enough clearance between it and the glass top to place linkable undercabinet flourescent lights to make the table into a light table.
Make sure to buy a light fixture that will fit. I used 2 Lights of America brand model 7114 fixtures and a white poster board for a reflector. You could use the smaller model 7108 or use more fixtures for a larger illuminated area. Works as well as my light box.
This is great for tracing your sketches to make ink drawings or other art forms like a colorized finished copy of a drawing (no lines on your color copy to erase or hide)(remember to put a plastic sheet protector, tranparency or other clear film between your original and color or ink project to prevent spill or leakage. Also, this is a glass top so don't use it for cutting or other projects that could scratch the surface.
Over all I am vey pleased with this table. It has inspired me to draw again after years of making excuses.
There is a little "putting together". It took me a little over an hour, and I did take time studying the diagrams. There was only one part of the instructions that I couldn't quite figure out, and ending up fixing later once I realized what direction the metal pieces had to fit in order to hide the plastic sides, but that was easy.
As someone said, I did spend a little time getting the screws through the sliding draw brackets, but I'm pleased to say all the parts were there and all the screws went in easy. It's light, sturdy, and I will probably experiment with some lighting underneath to turn it into a light table.
The holes in the plastic side sleeves are a little smaller. They'll hold brushes, but not pens, and yes, the plastic drawers did require a little effort to snap together, but nothing too frustrating. I also put the front drawer in backwards so it stuck out before I turned it around. It would've been nice to have a "Front" or "back" engraving or sticker. (The legs have stickers with "R" and "L".)
If you're not handy or have never put together any furniture from Ikea or anyplace else, this might be a little bit of a struggle, but it can be done. And if you've ever put together any furniture, you won't have any problems.
I also wouldn't waste time with the screwdriver provided (which is attached to the other end of the Allen wrench). All the tools work fine, but I found a normal Philips screwdriver much handier.
I like the design. It's very clean and stylish, and I love the glass top. I also went elsewhere (CSN) to buy this product. The price was about the same, but I found free shipping elsewhere, and it only took a couple of days to arrive.
UPDATE 12/17/10: I've had this desk for several months and had no problems. I added a clip on light and did finally remove the drawers on the bottom left, because I kept banging my knee against it. I still love it. It's stylish, clean and strong.
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I had read in other reviews that this table was a real pain to set up, but I found it to be pretty simple. The directions had some misleading images in which the parts were switched inexplicably, but it only took a little bit of analysis to figure out what was going on. If you've ever put anything from IKEA together, you shouldn't have too hard a time with this. The plastic trays on the sides of the table that are supposed to hold pencils, etc, are kind of crappy and are not attached very securely, but the sliding drawers are sturdy enough and it seems to have plenty of storage space, at least for my purposes. The table is, generally speaking, more attractive than most drafting tables that I've seen and I'm looking forward to working on it. Glass is definitely a better surface than the crappy particle board that most drafting tables (in fact, most inexpensive furniture in general) rely on. Overall, I would say that you could find a usable, less expensive table on amazon, but this seems like an excellent value for what it costs.
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The instructions were a little vague, but the pictures really helped. I have plenty of experience with flat pack, but this could have come out backwards if I wasn't extremely vigilant.
I love the glass top. Taping a drawing or painting to the surface, the glass makes sure it's secureunlike particle board. I've put a small lamp under the desk to serve as a light box for tracing, and it works beautifully.
The one thing that is keeping me from giving this desk five stars is the lower pencil catch. When at its lowest position, it still rests about three or four millimeters above the surface of the desk. If you're using a t-square, this is a huge problem for vertical lines. I know I could just get something to rest on the t-square, but that's just not how i like to do things.
I love having the plastic bins on the right side, but didn't put them on the left. The drawer is fantastic. All around great productbut just know that if you plan on using a t-square, you'll miss out on some of the functionality.
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I was a little concerned when I bought the item about how sturdy it would be but after getting it together those fears were not realized.
Pros:
Looks great
The glass is much nicer than some cheap composite wood
Lots of storage that is out of the way
I can still draw on this without having a drafting stool
Sturdy
Pretty easy to put together
Cons:
The side trays are really cheap and not really usable
While the instructions for putting the table together were good save one spot. Make sure you dont mix up the front and back table support (the front has the metal rings on the top).
My metal pencil drawer came with a cracked corner.
All in all this was a great buy and should last for a really long time.
The Royal & Langnickel Premier Painting Chest Deluxe Art Set really is as nice as it looks in the pictures.
