Bamboo Footrest

The other day I was looking around for a comfortable footrest for my "Developer computer setup." Sadly, a good quality footrest will set you back about ~$90+ which to me it seems over priced. (After all, it is only 2 pieces of material at a 45 degree angle or so...)

Going back to my office, I looked over at a messy corner and I found the following:

> An old 19 inch CRT monitor. ( Who uses CRTs anymore? )

So, I came up with this idea...

To make an "AWESOME Bamboo Footrest," you'll need the following:

1 - Old CRT monitor base (mine is 12.5 inches in diameter) - FREE~!

1 - Bamboo chopping board (mine is 15 X 10.5 inches) - $4

1 - Epoxy glue - $2

Extras:

6 - 3-inch long bolts with nuts and washers. (It depends on how thick your board and base are) - $2

Tools:

• Heavy duty utility knife.
• Screwdriver or wrench depends on your bolts.
• Drill, cordless might work best for this job.
• A few toothpicks and a piece of scrap flat plastic used as a base to mix the epoxy

Total Cost :

~ $6 - $8 and about 40 minutes of your time (Great weekend project!)

So, as simple as this is, some old CRT monitors are 1 solid piece and others are 2 or 3 pieces. The more pieces it has, the easiest it is to disassemble... The base I have here is from an old ViewSonic CRT which has 4 pieces.

Your base might have a latch you can just push, pull, etc. to dislodge the base off of the CRT monitor. Try looking for arrows or small imprints which will show you how or where to pull / press.

So, I am just going to take out the piece that connected the CRT monitor to the base. You don't need to do anything to the other pieces.

My CRT base has 1 single latch holding the whole thing together, I have seen others with 2 or 3 screws...

The other piece of the base rotates left and right while the one we just took out moves up and down...

:) This is going to be one fancy footrest!

Again, set this piece aside you don't need to do anything to this piece.

You'll notice that the piece that connected to the CRT has tabs or latches... We don't need those...

Use the utility knife to cut them out. You might need to cut a little bit more around the edges too...

You need to have a completely flat surface (leave no plastic bumps.)

I like to use bamboo in everything that I can put it in...

So, why not here?

The board I got has 3 layers with reinforcements on the edges. All solid bamboo, a plus to this is that it is very easy to clean and some people claim that bamboo is also antibacterial (not sure on that but that's a bonus.)

Since this is a chopping board, it is smooth and it has already been sanded down and treated. So, no need to do anything else...

Before you glue anything make sure you test it.

place the plastic base in the middle of the bamboo board and make some markings with a pencil so that you can place it straight when you glue it together.

"5 minute epoxy" works miracles!

So, just squeeze some of it in your scrap plastic and mix it for about 1 minute.

Use your toothpicks to apply around the edges and in between the divisions of the plastic base.

You have to work fast because you only have "5 minutes" :p

As soon as you are done place the plastic base on the middle of the bamboo board where you did the markings.

put some weight on it (a few books or cans ) and wait 30 minutes...

If you want more reinforcement, you can drill 6 holes and put your bolts and nuts in place but do not apply too much force to them since you don't want the ABS plastic to crack put the washers on the plastic side ...

Snap together both sides of the base and there you have it!

You just made a footrest that is super adjustable :) it moves up, down and side to side...

You could spray paint it or keep it natural. If you really want to make it tough, get a small can of Varathane Diamond Hard Clear Coat and give it 4 or 5 coats.

For about ~ $6-$8 you can have a footrest that does much more than those premium $90+ brands out there...

Have fun !