Make A Stand

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Stephanie Downing
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Make A Stand

Post by Stephanie Downing »

We need your expertise and advice to help us make a stand.

At our 2017 User Group Meeting our partners CNC Router Parts presented their adjustable standing desk project and gave away the project files for free. To download the free project files log into your V&CO account here:https://portal.vectric.com/p/cncrouterparts-standingdes

We’re conducting an experiment to see if we can work with our awesome community to produce an improved design. Whether that be out of alternative materials and components, wire management, reduced cost or complexity, or other interesting features, we’re looking for the best ideas to make the standing desk more affordable for others to make and to serve as inspiration for participants of the 2018 User Group Meeting!

Rules:
1. We cannot change the integrity of the desk. It must be adjustable with a minimum height of 28” (710mm) and a Maximum height of 43” (1100mm)
2. The desk must be fit for purpose, It must be able to standalone and have a flat top that it able to hold a laptop

We will be taking your ideas and putting them together to make a whole new design, which will be used by the presenters at the 2018 User Group Meeting in Chicago!

You can contribute to the new design by suggesting a change to one single element or to the whole design.

The User Group Meeting is being held on 12th and 13th October at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Chicago.

Interested in making your own adjustable standing desk?
Based on the current design the desk as currently designed costs around $700 to reproduce using the same 20mm Linear Rails and Blocks. This has been calculated based on the materials and components used. Find the BOM here http://www.cncrouterparts.com/adjustabl ... p-497.html.

A more cost-effective version of the design replaces the industrial linear rails with heavy duty cabinet slides, or another captive slide solution (keep an eye on this thread for updates). If you make your own standing desk, make sure to post your ideas and pictures here and tag our social media channels using #cncmakeastand, we’d love to see what you’ve made!

Watch the full video here of how the original standing desk was made: https://release.vectric.com/makeastand
Attachments
Standing Desk 1.jpg
Standing Desk 2.jpg
Standing Desk 6.jpg
Standing Desk 8.jpg

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Leo
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by Leo »

That is just soooo cool :D
Imagine the Possibilities of a Creative mind, combined with the functionality of CNC

Stephanie Downing
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by Stephanie Downing »

Leo wrote:That is just soooo cool :D
Thanks Leo :D

We would love to improve it and make it more affordable for our community to make! Let us know if you have any cool ideas.

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FixitMike
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by FixitMike »

Suggested change: Replace the gears with 2 ratchets, one on each side, connected with a cross bar so they work together. The cross bar will have to be high so it does not interfere with knee room. Advantages: Stand can be raised by simply raising the top, and lowered by releasing the ratchet until the position desired is obtained. No need to line up the locking pin with a hole. Eliminates the gears. Eliminates the requirement to reach down and around to release top.
Laptop stand ratchet.PNG
Good judgement comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgement.

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FixitMike
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by FixitMike »

More: Put the teeth for a ratchet on the fixed part, and the ratchet pawl on the movable part. Place a pawl release lever under the top near the side so one can grip the top and squeeze the release lever at the same time to lower the top.
Good judgement comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgement.

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dwilli9013
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by dwilli9013 »

As a cost reduction method. Lose the linear rails and carriages and go with Hardwood ways. Also lose the 8020 cross members and going with plywood with doecorative cut outs. I like fixit Mikes take on the ratchet and pawl idea and the location for the release lever under the hand holds. I would seriously consider adding a tilting top to the desk with a lip in front to stop laptop sliding.
Great design as it stands that I would be proud to display in any environment. Thanks to all involved in unleashing this project on all of us. Just another example of how Vectric goes above and beyond for their customer base.
D-Dub
Dwayne
Dwilli

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FixitMike
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by FixitMike »

Include some storage. A shallow compartment under a hinged top for the laptop (and for me, room for a mouse, number pad and USB hub). And under that a drawer for pencils, paper, and bits. Be sure there is space on a side to mount a power strip.

Llocate the sides toward the back, with a provision to add shelves for components to the non moving sides.
Good judgement comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgement.

Stephanie Downing
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by Stephanie Downing »

Thank you all for your input so far!

We're listening to all of the feedback and great ideas! I especially like the idea of adding a storage compartment :)

Keep your ideas for improvements coming!

4DThinker
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by 4DThinker »

I'd scrap all the threaded inserts personally. Through bolts with a nice matching cap nut when plywood bolts to plywood. A square nut with the same thread as the adjustable feet can be slipped into a CNC-cut slot for them to thread into. Drop the aluminum cross bars in favor of a nice hardwood stretchers with cnc-vertical cut 2x2 tenons arrays that fit into 2x2 mortises cnc-flat cut to receive them. Throw in a nice headed bolt that threads through plywood into a square nut slid into a square slot cut in the side of the stretchers if you don't want to use glue.

Hardwood rails with a slight dovetail profile to slide on that have been waxed for sliding ease. Move the sliding sides that are attached to the top to the inside, and add a couple of stretchers between them to keep them square.

The lifting sides can join directly to the underside of the top with a CNC vertical cut end joint, or flat head machine screws flush through the top down into square nuts into a cnc-cut square slot in the sides. Lose the inner bracket used in the prototype. Or convert it to pivot around a bolt through the sides and allow raising/rotating the top to a slight angle as mentioned above.

I have a CNC that includes an easy way to clamp parts vertically for end grain/edge cutting of joinery is why I suggested a few of the solutions above.

4D

Oldmanofgf
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by Oldmanofgf »

I think that because we are all into CNC the stand needs to be CNC controlled. with the design of the gears to raise the table one could put small stepper motor to raise and lower it. and add a another to tilt the table to make the angle more comfortable to use the computer when you are standing. With the correct gearing these motors would not need to be very big. The power supply and controller could be put in a box on the bottom of the legs replacing the extruded aluminum. you could control the input either with a touch pad put in the stand top or with your laptop with Bluetooth connection. I know this would add to cost.
Happy CNCing
Glenn

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Ms Wolffie
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by Ms Wolffie »

Just one change.
I detest standing at a level surface, it is so bad for my back.
Make the tabletop adjustable.
Maybe not cost saving but, definitely more ergonomic.
I am going to have a go at how to make it useful as a bedside table.
I spend a lot of time in bed using my PC.
Cheers
Wolffie

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TSM2018
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by TSM2018 »

How much does it weigh and how large of a stepper motor is required to control it? And then I control it with a board in my laptop? It is a sealed laptop, so I'm going to need those stepper instructions on a USB.
For What it is worth, I have never understood wooden gears, they are pretty, but just an opinion, gears should be metal for long term use...Ok. I'm watching the vid! (Cool project!)

nathan.skalsky
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by nathan.skalsky »

Hi Everyone,

This is Nathan from CNC Router Parts - Thank you for all your feedback! We are open to suggestions on forum logistics/thread, though otherwise, I'm sure we'll figure it out as we go! Let's get all the ideas out and prioritize, perhaps with a forum poll here, and we can take them one by one.

Q & A:

TSM2018, Regarding weight, if you use 19mm Baltic birch plywood and standard profile extrusion as I've done, they weigh about 50 lbs as complete units.

Only one standing desks I've made so far used stepper motors. I used a 420oz NEMA23 motor using a 14 tool gear and connected it to a spare motor driver on our plug and play CNC controller. Since I was using this particular desk to hold our CNC control computer, it was convenient to map a jog key to that drive and have that all integrated.

I happen to like wood gears and how they sound, though I think aluminum gears would look and work great as well. Maybe that's something we should consider for the 2018 version. I used a few of them on our mechanical iris sample project http://www.cncrouterparts.com/make-iris ... p-443.html and the oversize-ness and sound they make is pretty cool.

Regarding Features

I've heard the following requests so far (no particular order)
  • #1 Reduce overall cost to make - Thanks dwilli9013, Yes - integrating the slide mechanism as machined features into the wood is a good idea, maybe an undercut or t-slot cutter could make the female side fairly simply
  • #2 Improve sync/brake mechanism - Thanks for the drawing FixItMike, this is a great idea to explore further!
  • #3 Adjustable Table-top Tilt - Thanks Ms Wolffie! I've used this desk as my primary workstation for the last week and I'm coming around to your point of view!
  • #4 Create interfaces for accessories, shelves, etc.
  • #5 Sustainable or more interesting material selection
Thanks everyone! Keep the ideas coming, drawings are awesome! We'll start prototyping, incorporating these suggestions, and post the results here!

-Nathan

GregP
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by GregP »

Hi,
For what it is worth I have had good results using Butchers wax to fill/lubricate wooden gears.
I love the design BTW

4DThinker
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Re: Make A Stand

Post by 4DThinker »

Any updates on this stand? Anyone made a new version lately? Just curious.

4D

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