Sunday, January 20, 2013

A New CNC Machine Monitor And Keyboard Desk Planned

  While setting up the new Tinker's Workshop I find that I now need a place to put the computer monitor and keyboard that I use to run my CNC machine.  In the old shop I simply placed these pieces on my large work table that sat next to the CNC machine.  With the new workshop this is not possible as the work table is now on the other end of the room and makes the idea useless.  So I need to make a new desk to hold the computer monitor and keyboard. 
  I have been working on the new design for the desk over the past week or so using my CAD software and have come up with something that I think will fill my needs.  


  This is the new computer monitor desk that I will be putting together. I found a design online that was similar to what you see here but was more elaborate that what I wanted.  I used some of the ideas I found in that design to make my own so here it is.
   The desk top surface is 36 inches from the floor with an area that is 29 x 18 inches in size. This will give me a good space for the keyboard along with room if I want to write something down. I wanted the desk height to be so that I could use my shop stool and sit at the desk comfortably and not have to stand while using it. The drawer makes a nice place to store paper and pencils if I need them along with anything else that is called for while running the CNC machine.  The design evolved from over five or six different designs that I worked on over the past week or so.  I wanted the holes in the sides and back of the desk just to give it a nice touch and get away from having the desk looking like a podium.  The casters on the bottom of the desk will help if I ever should have to move the desk in the shop along with the CNC machine. 



 The vertical arm on the back of the desk will hold the monitor in place easily.  The addition of the two vertical 2 x 2's  on this arm will stiffen everything up and make it nice and solid. The arm will be bolted to the back of the desk using 1/4 inch bolts.


 On the vertical arm will be another pivot arm that I found on Ebay for a good price and will allow the monitor to be pivoted and moved from side to side should the need arise. 


 This pivot arm is mounted to the back of my 19" monitor that I removed the base off of.  This was an easy task to accomplish as it was only a couple of covers and four screws to get the base removed.  The pivot arm is made for this type of mounting and so almost any monitor can be used for this installation.  





Here is a few good photos of the actual pivot arm that will be on the new desk.  It only cost me around $15 for the arm on Ebay with free shipping.  Works for me. I still have to crunch the numbers to figure out what kind of wood to use on the new desk.  This will be used in my workshop so it does not have to be made out of oak or teak or something else that is more expensive than it needs to be.  I want it to look good but not cost me an arm an a leg to put together.  As I said earlier I had gotten some of the ideas for the desk from another site that I had found but their desk ended up costing them around $400 to make.  A beautiful desk to say the least but I do not want to spend that kind of money for my design.   Here's the site for the desk that I used for ideas for my design.


  This will actually be the first project in the new Tinker's Workshop.  I think it will be worth the effort as it will be another piece that will fit in well with the shop and help me get the CNC up and running again.  So it will be a nice addition to the shop and another interesting project to post here.  Stay tuned.



3 comments:

  1. Looks well thought out. Looking forward to post of its completion.

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  3. This post is very helpfull for us.Thanks for sharing
    industrial monitor mount

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