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The Floating PowerBook
Pingsmoth writes "With the proliferation of laptops today, many replacing the traditional space-hogging desktop computer, this seems like a neat idea to free up even more square footage on your desk. It's the floating laptop, a 'stand,' if you will, that is invisible to the average user and just as functional as other traditional laptop stands. The obvious appeal of the 'Floating Laptop' is its aesthetic quality, especially when compared to some of the other stands out there, but it's also cheaper ($15) and only takes a half hour to build."
This is a simple page I've thrown together to show my "Floating Powerbook" laptop stand. I've had the idea to build such a thing for a long time, but just never got around to it until recently. Before this I used a Griffin iCurve on a stack of textbooks to have my computer at a height that I like. Doing this, though, wastes a lot of desk space. Even using just an iCurve uses up desk space, so I wanted to find a solution to that problem. Thus the Floating Powerbook Stand was born. Total cost: about $15.
Here are all the pieces of the stand before I had done any type of assembly. I went to a lumber store with just an idea of what I wanted to build, and walked out with four "oak fillets" according to my receipt. These are sturdy, somewhat finished pieces of wood about two inches wide and a quarter of an inch thick. They were plenty long that I could cut them down to size. While I was here, I also bought three small two-inch corner brackets for attaching the "arms" of the stand to the back brace. I picked up a couple packs of small nuts and bolts as well, making sure I had ones that were long enough. My total cost at the hardware store was $13.28.
Here is the assembled stand. This should give you a good idea of how it will work once it is "installed" onto the desk. I cut the oak fillets into three pieces, the two longer ones are ten inches in length and the middle one is eight. I think the back brace is sixteen inches long. On the top of each of the three "arms" are three little rubber grips. I picked these up at a hardware store, they're called "bumpers" and they cost me $2.66 for a pack of nine. One thing I had to be sure I did was get rubber grips that were thicker than the screw heads. You can see the screw heads on the back end of each arm. If I had grips that were too thin, the computer wouldn't sit on them and would instead sit on the screw heads - not good.
This picture shows the underside of the assembled stand. It's actually pretty simple. One thing I had to make sure I did though was bend the brackets just a bit so the arms of the stand would be tilted downward slightly. I didn't want my Powerbook to be sitting completely level for a few reasons. One, the iCurve is tilted just slightly, as are most other stands you can buy, and two, if the computer sat level, you'd be able to see the stand. That would put be the end of the "floating" aspect, now wouldn't it?
Here's what makes the whole thing work. My desk has shelves up the left and right sides of it with a bookshelf on top. On the back of all this is a "fake wood" durable cardboard sheet. It makes it look like there's wood all the way up the back of the desk when there really isn't. The stand will be attached directly to this cardboard sheet. It's about an eighth of an inch thick, and though it's not as strong as wood, it works just fine for holding my computer. The large hole in the center was there previously to run wires through. You can see the nine holes I drilled through the cardboard where the "backbone" of the stand will be attached. The "scuff marks" are from things I've taped and removed from the cardboard, exposing it's "fake woodness".
This is another view of the mounting holes, from the backside of the desk.
Here we can see the backbone of the stand attached through the holes we just drilled. Each of the arms is attached to this backbone, through the cardboard on the front side of the desk. This allows them to just "hang" there and look as if they're attached directly to the cardboard.
A view from the front of the desk with the arms firmly attached through the cardboard and into the backbone which you can't see.
Here is another view from the front of the desk. You can see a few of the cords coming through the hole (which will be perfectly hidden behind the screen) as well as the angle at which the arms are tilted. As a note, I didn't measure those at all. As I was drilling holes in each arm I would attach each one to a bracket just to see how it looked. I then put the bracket in a vice a
Bad newsday, or what?
Something bad is coming when people are suddenly anxious to tell the truth.
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That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
That project is pathetic. Cardboard!??!?! You're going to suspend your $3000 Powerbook in the air with cardboard?!?
If you want to do this, you should do it right. Like for example, the Ergotron Laptop Arm.
I have one of those standit gadgets. But I only paid about $3 instead of $38.
Err...
/. readers (and people with mod points) NEVER seen a laptop stand before?
The point is you plug (or use a wireless) keyboard and mouse. It ensures your screen is at eye level. The point of this is to strain on your wrist, back and neck.
It clearly indicates the point was to raise this laptop to a suitable height in the first paragraph (ref: "to have my computer at a height that I like").
Have so many
Scary...
...now I know why my ADSL router is lit up like Christmas and twitching and cringing under the desk, here. (-:
Good thing it's a 512/512 link and not a more typical (for Perth, WestOz) 512/128 or I'd have naff-all access left. Give it ten minutes, I may not have any anyway.
For the curious, the coccyx healed up much faster when I started using this, and is mostly fine now. I still use the lappyvator from time to time, e.g. when I'm totally knackered but still have stuff to do. With a comfortable pillow, and as long as I don't actually nod off, I can stretch out the last few hours of a day by lying down as I work.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
It's good to ensure your wood is from certified managed forests... Sure there are many alternatives to mahogany... I built that desk a few years ago. Another alternative is Northern White Maple with a mohogany stain. Cherry is also nice.
In reality, the amount of solid wood is fairly small since plywood is mostly used (and it has very thin veneers.) Good plywood is also very stable - tends not to warp, and has very little shrinkage / expansion due to humidity.