Whether you’re an architect, artist, engineer, cartographer, or anyone else who spends an inordinate amount of time hunched over with a pen, pencil, or stylus in hand, an angled workspace is essential for your own health, longevity, and in-session endurance. A good drafting table allows its user to adjust their working angle to their own personal preference and, depending the table, provides numerous other features that lend themselves to different use-cases and professions.
But not all tables are created equal. To help you find the perfect drafting table for you, we ran through some of the top choices of drafting tables in 2021 and highlighted what we think are the best drafting tables for numerous contexts.
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Best Drafting Tables in 2021
Down below is our curated list of the best draft tables, each one catering to different needs and niches. Remember that if you have any questions about choosing the right drafting table or any suggestions for tables that should be on this list, feel free to reach out to us in the comments below.
The Best Drafting Table: Studio Designs Futura
- Price: $191
- Brand: Studio Designs
- Overall Dimensions: 43.25” x 24” x 31.5”
- Work Surface: 38″ x 24″
- Material: Tempered Glass, Heavy-Gauge Steel
- Weight: 48 lbs
The Studio Designs Future may not have the portability of other wheeled tables, or an immense amount of storage built in by default, but the Futura stands atop our list of the best drafting tables, overall, because of its immense customizability and immortal build quality. This is a table to built to last. This is a table built to grow with you, according to your needs.
With a large, blue-tinted tempered glass workspace and an array of default side trays, the Futura can meet most needs right out of the box. But what really makes it shine is the immense number of accessories that can be purchased from the Studio Designs store — from honeycomb pencil holders to paint trays to added drawers and whatever other accessory you need, it can be attached to the Futura to build the perfect table for you.
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Best Drafting Table for Architects: Studio Designs 10053
- Price: $157.04
- Brand: Studio Designs
- Overall Dimensions: 28″ x 42.20″ x 28″
- Work Surface: 35.5″ x 23.75″
- Material: Glass, Steel
- Weight: 48 lbs
The Studio Designs 10053 is sleek, high-quality drafting table with the right kind of storage and accessibility for architects. As opposed to traditional artists and their array of paints, spirits, mediums, brushes of all sizes, and whatever other litany of dry and wet supplies, architects need compact, efficient storage for their drafting pencils, technical pens, T squares, ellipse templates, and other tools.
The glass workspace makes it possible to backlight it, allowing it to function as a light table — another bonus feature for architects who still prefer pencil-and-paper for the early phase of their process before moving over to their software. At $157, the 10053 won’t cost you an arm and a leg for the sturdy, dependable built quality that Studio Designs provides, and will fit in comfortably with most workspaces.
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Best Drafting Table for Comic Artists: Sedeta Drafting Table 55″
- Price: $135.99
- Brand: Sedeta
- Overall Dimensions: 55″ × 23.6″ × 30″
- Work Surface: 31.5″ x 15.7″
- Material: Steel-reinforced Wood
- Weight: 52.4 lbs
The Sedata Drafting table is a minimalist, no-frills drafting table that lends itself incredibly well to artists in particular. The mid-tone grey finish makes it an excellent, neutral backdrop that won’t leak into your work, and the side table provides just enough space to get your hands dirty without becoming over-cluttered.
With a few extra storage bins of your choosing, the added shelf space is adequate for all of your supplies and can be configured to your liking. Another major selling point of the Sedata Drafting Table is the shelf behind the drawing workspace that can support a laptop stand or monitor for your all-important reference material.
Alternative: SIDUCAL Mobile Standup Desk
- Price: $89.99
- Brand: SIDUCAL
- Overall Dimensions: 31.49″ x 21.65″ x 27.5″
- Work Surface: 31.5″ x 11.8″ x 2
- Material: Engineered Wood, Metal
- Weight: 30.8 lbs
Wheeling in at a paltry 30 pounds, The SIDUCAL Mobile Standup Desk is, as its name suggests, the most portable drafting table on this list, hands down. But what really nets it a place among the other, comparatively more heavy-duty (and expensive) options is its overall value; not only does it provide an adequate, if not aggressively minimalist workspace that can be moved around with ease, it also functions as a full-blown standing desk.
The secret utility this provides beyond just a healthier, more ergonomic feature is the fact that this second, adjustable shelf can be the perfect laptop stand for your laptop, ipad, or monitor, giving you a front-and-center display for your PureRef file. It does however lack a significant amount of storage but does sport a lower shelf
Best Drafting Table Under 100: Topeakmart Glass Drafting Table
- Price: $92.99
- Brand: Topeeakmart
- Overall Dimensions: 40.9 x 23.6 x 31.5’’
- Work Surface: 35.4″ x 26.3″
- Material: Iron, Glass, Plastic
- Weight: 40.1 lbs
The Topeakmart Glass Drafting Table is the safest bet for anybody looking for a top-notch glass drafting table under $100. In terms of functionality, the table is essentially interchangeable with tables at the $150 price point, giving even Studio Designs a run for their money.
It doesn’t look like a case of on-paper features at the expense of build quality and longevity either; the Topeakmart Glass Drafting Table is backed by a healthy base of authentic, positive reviews from customers well-satisfied by both the table’s material quality as well as its ease of assembly.
With 60-degree tilt, arrangeable side-trays and honeycomb pencil holders and a set of two non-woven drawers, the Topeakmart Glass Drafting Table should be a strong contender for those in search of top-shelf quality at endcap pricing.
Best Drafting Table with Light: Studio Designs Artograph LightPad
- Price: $449.99
- Brand: Studio Designs
- Overall Dimensions: 43¼” x 24″ x 31½”
- Work Surface: 38″W x 24″
- Material: Steel, Tempered Glass
- Weight: TBA
While the Studio Designs Artograph LightPad is, by a decent margin, the most expensive table on this list, $449.99 is actually a great deal for a light table. Due to lack of demand and increasing novelty, comparable devices have grown more expensive in recent years with many buyers looking to the secondhand market for old-school light tables.
The Artograph, on the other hand, costs as much as you can expect to pay for a craigslist light table in decent condition but comes with a brand-spanking-new LED Lightpad with a 50,000-hour lifespan, stowed securely under a thick layer of tempered glass. The entire table is constructed with heavy gauge steel and comes with easy-access storage options with a trio of drawers and side trays.
Best Drafting Table with Storage: Sedeta Computer Desk with Drawing Table
- Price: $129.99
- Brand: Sedata
- Overall Dimensions: 64″ ×23.6″ ×59″
- Work Surface: 23″ x 15.5″
- Material: Engineered Wood
- Weight: 78 lbs
The Sedata Computer Desk with Drawing Table is a heavy-duty workspace designed for the long haul. With five-tiered shelf space in the form of an attached bookcase and easy-access triple-tiered shelves to compliment an already-large working area, the Sedata comes with more storage space than you’ll probably need.
In our opinion, shelf space, as opposed to in-built drawers and trays, can offer better utility and customizability to those ready to pick up containers and accessories to suit their needs, making the Sedata more versatile to build on top of. It is also surprisingly light for its overall dimensions and sports a bare-bones, unassuming look that will blend with pretty much any home decor. Overall, the Sedata is more suited to artists, illustrators, and crafters rather than architects or draftsmen who would benefit from a larger work surface and more specialized tools.
Alternative: Studio Designs 2-Piece Comet Art Table
- Price: $134.00
- Brand: Studio Designs
- Overall Dimensions: 23.75 x 50 x 29.5 inches
- Work Surface: 36″ x 23.75″
- Material: Metal 58%, PB/PVC 25%, Polypropylene Fabric 8%, PU 3%, Foam 3% Plywood 2% Plastic 1%
- Weight: 56.2 lbs
While it lacks the immensity of the Sedata, The Comet Art Table gives you great storage bang for your spatial buck, with three larger-sized drawers right on hand.
If you’re cramped for space and looking to keep a majority of your supplies on-hand rather than in dedicated containers or shelving, the Comet Art Table has more space in its drawers than most drafting tables of this size and comes with a lower-hand shelf that can be used for more remote storage options. The only real drawback to the Comet Art Table is the lack of quick-access side trays, but that can be remedied with a quick trip to the Studio Designs website or the Container Store.
Your favorite table missing from this list? Tell us about it, we’d love to hear it. And feel free to shoot any questions at us in the comments below!
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