Mobile Standing Desk

by jcarnat in Workshop > Furniture

459 Views, 4 Favorites, 0 Comments

Mobile Standing Desk

IMG_1907.jpeg

Reading about back pain, I discovered Standing Desks. The thing is -1- they seem pricey and -2- I'm not sure I'd like to work standing all day.

But when I saw that (french) video about DIY Mobile Standing Desk, I decided to build one. Thank you Guillaume !

Supplies

  • An MDF board.
  • 2 metal hinge and small screws.
  • Stuff to measure, cut and screw.
  • Optional: a pencil and/or a pyrographer to decorate the boards.
  • Optional: walnut tincture to get a better color and beeswax to protect the boards.
  • Optional: self adhesive rubber.

Cutting the Boards

IMG_1758.jpeg

Measure the proper height required to get your elbows horizontal when working. Then measure the length required to support the laptop.

I'm 1.83m tall and will be using 15" MacBook Pro and 13" ThinkPad. So I went for 40x30 cm boards. It seems you'd better have your elbow to high than too low.

Assemble the Boards

IMG_1762.jpeg

I want to be able to put the mobile desk in my backpack. So it needs to fold like a book.

The hinges were then screwed on the side of the boards. This required pre-drill and using quite thin screws ; the boards are only 1cm thick.

Optional: Decorate the Boards

IMG_1783.jpeg
IMG_1784.jpeg

You may want to decorate the boards as MDF wood is not really pretty as-is.

I went for FOSS geek stuff. I first drew on the boards, then use the pyrographer to make it more permanent.

Then I tainted the boards using walnut tincture so that they look prettier. Finally, I applied beeswax to protect the boards from day to day fingerprints etc.

Optional: Rubbered Feet

IMG_1897.jpeg
IMG_1901.jpeg

The MDF was a bit scratchy on raw wood tables and a bit slippery on plastic or melamine tables. So I decided to add rubber feet.

I used self adhesive rubber for washing machine. Cut thin pieces and stick them on the edge of the boards.

Final Testing

IMG_1903.jpeg
IMG_1904.jpeg

The height is good for full-day usage. The depth is good for both laptops I use.

Working standing all day is really different from the usual sitting position. And this stuff is a really nice and cheap way to test before buying a real expensive standing desk.