Suggestions needed for a cabinet top

[Cooler]

Hank,

That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. Added advantage is that there would be no movement concerns with the top.

Cliff

There is a long history of doing just that, this a Sotheby's Auction item:
 



The leather top makes an excellent writing surface, especially with ball point pens.

[Lynden]

I think he is most worried about the effects of UV on the wood, and its changing color.  Glass is a great option for protection from scarring, but not from sunlight or UV.

I've only used it in picture frames, but coated glass is also available for table tops. Here's some information from a glass supplier's website.

The Best Furniture Protection

A glass top is the best way to protect wooden furniture from dings, scratches and moisture rings. A coating can be applied to glass for UV protection, preventing damage from the sun's rays.

[cpolubin]

Lyndon,

Was The Best Furniture Protection supposed to be a link? If so it's not working for me.

Cliff

[Lynden]

Lyndon,

Was The Best Furniture Protection supposed to be a link? If so it's not working for me.

Cliff

No, just some information from the Internet. Here are a couple of links.

http://mountainwestglass.net/Table_Top_Glass.html

https://glassdoctor.com/content/table-to...ut-to-size

[ianab]

Why?  Leather has lots of give.  It will stretch and contract.

Yeah, leather (or even vinyl) will stretch plenty enough to move with solid wood. (Glass or ceramic tiles won't).

But if you are going to cover the top with something, then using solid cherry seems a bit of a waste. Make a frame, drop in some cheap ply, as it won't be seen, and then cover the whole thing with the material of your choice. Bonded leather will work fine for this use.

[Cooler]

Yeah, leather (or even vinyl) will stretch plenty enough to move with solid wood. (Glass or ceramic tiles won't).

But if you are going to cover the top with something, then using solid cherry seems a bit of a waste. Make a frame, drop in some cheap ply, as it won't be seen, and then cover the whole thing with the material of your choice. Bonded leather will work fine for this use.

This makes sense.  Edge the plywood with cherry moulding or a narrow piece of solid cherry so it will make the piece look like solid cherry.

[Pirate]

Consider putting the printer on a slide out shelf, and keep the top for something else. Keeps dust off the printer.

I built the one below, and it has a flip up top, for access to the scanner. I May be changing it to a pull out, so I don't have to remove stuff to flip the top up.

Also, easy rolling casters, and a mostly open back, makes for easy cable work.

Be sure to post pictures when done. Or along the way!

[MidwestMan]

[Bob10]

I'm designing a small cabinet for my SIL's home office that will hold a printer on top, the cpu on a shelf and printing paper on the bottom. Dimension will be 22" wide, 24" deep and 28" high.

The table will be in the space below.

The cabinet will be cherry which brings me to my question. Since cherry darkens with light and there will be a printer on top, I thought it would be good to have something else on the top besides cherry so it doesn't get a shadow. A leather or cork pad, for example, or some type of veneer or inlay.

What would you suggest?

Cliff

Stone that can be removed later if the table is used for something else in a place less likely to shadow

[cpolubin]

I had a chance while visiting over Christmas to look over where the cabinet will be located. The desk it will sit next to has a leather inset so using leather will help the cabinet fit in better. Also I was able to redo the design to also pick up the rounded beaded corners of the desk. The top will hold the printer, the middle shelf will slide out to hold the CPU and the bottom shelf will be for paper. The middle and bottom shelves will have open space at the back to allow for cabling.

Thanks for all the input.

Cliff