Folding Computer Desk
made by Nicholas McKinley
Description:
As a very laid back person I like to do my school work on my bed using my laptop. Most of the time I simply rest my computer in my lap but the heat from the computer and other electrical components are not the best to be resting on my lap so I usually end up resting a pillow on my lap before hand. While this is a decent solution the curved pillow is not to good at holding anything else other than the computer such as books, pencils, drinks. Due to this problem I wanted to create a Folding Desk that I could use instead of a simple pillow. As mentioned in the title, this project is a basic wooden computer desk that has the ability to fold, which can increase its uses and utility. The board itself can fold out flat for a wider desk space, can fold up for easier storage, and finally the legs can fold down acting as table legs and making the board a portable desk I can put above my lap. The board has a number of other small features such as an groove in the front to allow for easy pencil storage, a hole in the upper right hand corner to help with easy cable management, and finally a raised square in the upper left hand corner which can act as a coaster for a drink. While I am certainly not a master with wood working I can comfortably say that I very much enjoy working with wood and the hands on tools in the lab, which made this entire project a blast.
Steps:
Step 1: I first started out by making a foamcore prototype of the board, which helped me decide on the dimensions and where I would want to put the different features on the board.
Step 2: For the next step I had purchased the wood from Home Depot but I still needed to cut and sand the wood. During this step I ended up cutting five total pieces which consisted of the two folding legs, the main body of the board, the backstop which would go at the back of the board, and finally the raised square that would act as the coaster. Once each part was cut I then sanded each piece to make sure I would not get any splinters from the wood.
Step 3: Now that I had all the pieces cut I could now start to work on the main board. It was during this step that I added all the main functions such as using a rotary tool to make the pencil groove, laser cutting the Hackberry Labs logo on the board, cutting the hole with a drill press for where the cables would go, etc.
Step 4: For my final step all I needed to do was attach all the pieces together. I first started off by drilling the backstop and the square coaster into the main board using a drill and some screws around the lab. Finally, with the hinges I purchased at Home Depot with my wood, I attached each leg of the board the the side.
Pictures:
